UGA hosts 70th Georgia Science and Engineering Fair
Sue Myers Smith
North Oconee High School student Grace Pan won three awards with her project, titled “SAVEor: App Design for Sustainable Recovery of Eating Disorders.” Pan won Best in Category in the behavioral & social science senior division, the Mercer University School of Medicine Award and the NABT Biology & Life Science Project Award in the senior division.
Students must be selected to advance from one of the state’s regional fairs to exhibit in the GSEF competition. Winners were announced on March 24 following two days of judging and public viewing.
Marissa McAfee won the top prize, the Pinnacle Award, and will advance to the International Science and Engineering Fair with her project titled “Casualty Care Improvised Direct Pressure Adjunct.” McAfee attends South Forsyth High School. Grand Awards were presented to 11 students, and four of these students plus one alternate were selected to advance to the Intel ISEF in Pittsburgh May 13-18. These winners and 26 others already selected from regional fairs will represent Georgia in competition at ISEF.
“These students represent the top young scientific and engineering talent in our state,” said Laura Brewer, science fair director and program coordinator for the Office of Special Academic Programs, which administers the event each year. “The science fair experience gives them the knowledge, skills and confidence to pursue higher education and careers in advanced STEM fields and make unprecedented advancements toward a better world.”
This year’s award winners are listed below with their project titles, schools and counties.
Pinnacle Award
Marissa McAfee, “Casualty Care Improvised Direct Pressure Adjunct,” South Forsyth High School, Forsyth County.
Intel ISEF Award
Saadh Ahmed, “Development of a Drug-Likeness Rule for Natural Products,” Northview High School, Fulton County.
Marissa McAfee, “Casualty Care Improvised Direct Pressure Adjunct,” South Forsyth High School, Forsyth County.
Divya Srinivasan, “Acoustic Signatures: A Novel Tool to Detect Muscle Myopathy,” Johns Creek High School, Fulton County.
Joseph Zhang, “Expression of Arginase in Colitis During Recovery Confirms MDSC,” Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science & Technology, Gwinnett County.
Intel ISEF Award Alternate
Vikram Ruppa-Kasani, “Detecting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Using Nanoparticles,” Chattahoochee High School, Fulton County.
Grand Awards
Saadh Ahmed, “Development of a Drug-Likeness Rule for Natural Products,” Northview High School, Fulton County.
Susanna Dorminy, “Dynamo Powered Vaccine Carrier for Off-Grid Locations, Year 2,” Sola Fide Home School, Henry County.
Marissa McAfee, “Casualty Care Improvised Direct Pressure Adjunct,” South Forsyth High School, Forsyth County.
Suraj Modi, “Rapid Prediction of Seizures Using Machine Learning Algorithms,” Mountain View High School, Gwinnett County.
Vikram Ruppa-Kasani, “Detecting Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Using Nanoparticles,” Chattahoochee High School, Fulton County.
Divya Srinivasan, “Acoustic Signatures: A Novel Tool to Detect Muscle Myopathy,” Johns Creek High School, Fulton County.
Anderson Thrasher, “The Search for Newborn Stars: Observing Bok Globules,” Henry W. Grady High School, Fulton County.
Caitlin van Zyl and Jacqueline van Zyl, “Experimental External Neural Pathway for Motion in Stroke Victims,” McIntosh High School, Fayette County.
Zoe Weiss, “New Cell Type Detection via Single-Cell Gene Expression Algorithm,” Lakeside High School, DeKalb County.
Joseph Zhang, “Expression of Arginase in Colitis During Recovery Confirms MDSC,” Gwinnett School of Mathematics, Science & Technology, Gwinnett County.
Previous GSEF award winners have gone on to attend universities such as Harvard, Stanford, MIT and UGA, and many currently are working on some of the nation’s major challenges, such as public health.
