With more than 800 middle and high school students competing, Lakeside High School student Sang-Chan Kim and Henderson Middle School’s Zoe Weiss took first place at the Georgia Science and Engineering Fair in Athens last month. Kim competed in the computer science area and Weiss in microbiology.
Weiss also won the University of Georgia Department of Microbiology Best Project, an Office of Naval Research Judges Pick, a Merial Biotechnology Special Award and a Broadcom Special Award. The sixth-grader was accompanied in the state competition by schoolmates and eighth-graders James Traynelis (animal sciences) and Caroline Yoon (mathematical sciences) and sixth-grader Natalie Young (biochemistry), each earning third place.
Many of the award winners were from science magnet schools such as Chamblee middle and high schools, making the awards even more notable.
In addition to first place winner Sang-Chan Kim, Lakeside winners were:
- Aneesa Rupasingha, Animal Sciences – Second Honors Award
- Abigail Bocinee, Behavioral and Social Sciences – Second Honors
- Benjamin Hoover, Physics and Astronomy – Second Honors
- Ruth Anne Traynelis, Biochemistry – Second Honors
- Michael Boden, Computer Science – Second Honors
- Adiba Khan, Microbiology – Third Honors
- Conner Reinhardt, Energy and Transportation – Third Honors
- Jonathan Yaeger, Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical – Fourth Honors
Kim also won the U.S. Army Certificate of Achievement Award.
Nancy Brim, Lakeside’s chemistry teacher and senior class sponsor, praised what she said is the largest group the high school has sent to the state competition.
“Each (student) placed either first or second in the local school fair and first or second in the regional fair," she said. "They are an extraordinary group of students.”
According to an article in UGA Today, an invitation to compete at the fair culminates a string of achievements that begins for each competitor with a classroom or laboratory research project and experiment. Meritorious projects from school and local fairs are invited to exhibit at one of the 21 regional fairs held throughout the state in January and February. The best of the regional winners are considered for advancement to the state fair.
Students competed in 17 categories, including animal sciences, behavioral and social sciences, biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and planetary science, electrical and mechanical engineering, engineering materials and bioengineering, energy and transportation, environmental management, mathematics, medicine, microbiology, plant sciences, physics and astronomy.