Students Named Wyoming State Science Fair Winners at UW

High school students from Cheyenne, Greybull and Laramie were the top winners from this month’s virtual Wyoming State Science Fair, hosted by the University of Wyoming.

The students will represent Wyoming and will have the chance to compete for top prizes at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) May 7-13 in Atlanta, Ga. The ISEF is the world’s largest international precollege science competition, with more than 1,800 high school students from 75 countries, regions and territories competing for approximately $4 million in prizes.

This spring’s ISEF will be a hybrid event with a judged competition and an awards ceremony for both in-person and virtual finalists.

The Cowboy State ISEF representatives selected, listed by school, grade level, category and project title, are:

Cheyenne Central High School -- Zoya Khan, sophomore, computer science, “Modeling Genetic Changes Associated with Alcohol Use Disorder.”

Greybull High School -- Jose Atilano, senior, earth and environmental sciences, “A Low-Cost Device to Improve the Quality of Drinking Water: Utilization of Ultrasonic Transduction in Conjunction with Filtration.”

Laramie High School -- Padmalakshmi Ramesh, freshman, computer science, “Evaluating Machine Learning Methods for Modeling the Distribution of the Two Form Bumble Bee (Bombus bifarius) in Wyoming.”

Newcastle High School -- Senior Toby Johnson, with his behavioral and social science project, titled “The Effects of Test Question Design on the Accuracy of Tests at Assessing Student Knowledge,” was selected as an ISEF alternate.

The students qualified for the ISEF after competing in the state-level competition. Students, representing more than 40 schools, displayed their original science research and competed for award prizes. Student research projects, which spanned a broad spectrum of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines, were grouped into nearly 12 different categories.

Three Wyoming middle school students also were nominated for the Broadcom MASTERS (math, applied science, technology and engineering for rising stars) competition after qualifying through the Wyoming State Science Fair.

The Wyoming participants will join approximately 300 students nationwide for a chance to qualify for the next Broadcom MASTERS round Sept. 7. Two weeks later, finalists will be announced.

The Broadcom MASTERS is a national STEM competition that inspires students to study science and engineering, and to help achieve personal goals or aspirations.

The Wyoming Broadcom MASTERS nominees, listed by school, grade level, category and project title, are:

Big Piney Middle School -- Addalee Cunningham, eighth grade, microbiology, “The Antibacterial Properties of Different Bee Products.”

Lander Middle School -- Bryce Newman, sixth grade, mathematics, “Plants Using Fibonacci Branching Patterns Collect More Sunlight Than Plants Using Other Branching Patterns.”

McCormick Junior High School, Cheyenne -- Abdullah Khan, eighth grade, biomedical and health science, “Assistive Walking Device for the Mobility of Parkinson’s Patients.”

For a complete list of all category winners, for both high school and middle school participants, click here.

For more information, email Erin Stoesz, Wyoming State Science Fair director, at estoesz@uwyo.edu.