32 Science Fair winners heading to state finals in Los Angeles

Eager to display their research, some 650 students from around the county packed into the Balboa Park Activity Center for the 59th Annual Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair. More than 160 students from San Diego Unified district schools participated, representing Wangenheim, Morse High, Pershing Middle, De Portola Middle and others.

The big winner this year was Elaine Gillum’s eighth-grade science class at Marshall Middle School in Scripps Ranch, where 28 of her 44 students won first place honors, two were sweepstakes winners (Alexander Poirier and John Gomez), two were sweepstakes runners-up (Matthew Bronars and Jason Provol), and 23 professional awards were earned from various societies and groups. The 62nd annual California State Science Fair in Los Angeles will have 32 entries from San Diego Unified, with two potential alternates, where they will have the chance to compete for awards totaling $50,000.

“I've been doing this for 16 years and have never seen a year like this,” said Gillum. “They did a project that they were interested in, which makes a huge difference. They also found amazing mentors that wanted to help them be successful.”

In addition, 17 students have been invited to compete for Broadcom Masters, a national science, technology, engineering, and math competition; and one student, Jacob Yoshitake, had his essay selected from more than 9,000 submissions to win the prestigious DuPont Essay Challenge. Most will be applying for the Google International Science Fair as well, an online science competition open to middle and high school students from around the globe.

Students submitted projects in one of the following categories: Animal sciences, behavioral and social sciences, biochemistry, computer science, Earth and planetary sciences, engineering--electrical and mechanical, engineering--energy and transport, engineering--materials and bioengineering, environmental sciences and management, mathematical sciences, medicine and health sciences, microbiology, physics and astronomy, plant sciences, and product testing/consumer science (junior division only).

Other notable winners include:

• Zachary McGaugh, grade eight, Wangenheim, first place, junior sweepstakes winner, Marine Technology Society Award;
• William Hang, sophomore, Scripps Ranch High School, second place, Human Factors & Ergonomics Society Award, San Diego Chapter, Office of Naval Research (US Navy Science and Technology) Award, San Diego Supercomputer Center Computational Science Award; 
• Sara Simpson, Patrick Henry High School, first place, senior sweepstakes runner-up, Acoustical Society of America, San Diego Chapter Award, James Lyon Memorial Award, Office of Naval Research (US Navy Science and Technology) Award; 
• Michael Du and Wenhao Lioa, juniors, Scripps Ranch High School, first place, American Society of Mechanical Engineers Award, General Atomics Sciences Educational Foundation Award; 
• Ryan Beck, grade eight, Pershing Middle, first place, Grantville-Allied Gardens Kiwanis Club Award, California School Nurses Organization Award.