Canada’s brightest whiz kids converged on Fredericton, N.B., this week for a national science fair, showing off their research projects and hoping to earn a chance to win some of the event’s $1.3 million in prize and scholarship money.
Reni Barlow, executive director of Youth Science Canada, said his organization is on a mission to engage youth in doing projects through STEM -- Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.
“It’s a way of understanding what science, technology, engineering and math are really about and experiencing it firsthand,” said Barlow, adding that topics range from aerospace to natural resources and climate change.
The nearly 400 students competing were previously recognized at one of 100 regional science fairs in Canada.
Six universities are providing scholarships to medal winners. The weeklong event wraps up this weekend.
Sara Waqas, a 16-year-old from Calgary’s STEM Innovation Academy High School, won the award for Best Project in the Discovery category.
She focused her project on schizophrenia and treatment, developing a prototype molecule that would target schizophrenia patients who are currently treatment-resistant—which she points out is about a third of patients.
“I look into neurobiological profiling,” she said. “I designed a prototype molecule that would target those defects, rather than just being like a large, nonspecific treatment.”
Waqas says her research is all “very preliminary” and that more validation tests and research need to confirm it.
Evan Budz, a grade 9 student from Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School in Burlington, Ont., won the award for Best Project in the Innovation category.
After getting inspired by the fluid movement of a snapping sea turtle, he created a robot that moves like one.
“I thought it’d be interesting to try to replicate it with a robot that would have a much lower impact on the swimming environment, compared with more traditional propeller-based systems,” he said.
Budz’s robot uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect and monitor threats in aquatic environments, such as invasive species and coral bleaching.
“I’m working at adding more in the future,” he said. “This allows a variety of important organizations to go and conduct remedial efforts in these areas, essentially allowing them to improve the health of aquatic ecosystems.”
Mateo Jarquin, a first-year CEGEP student at Champlain College-Lennoxville in Sherbrooke, Que., developed a robotic hand called F.L.E.X (Fully Leveraged Exo-Hand). The hand tracks and mirrors finger movements in real time and can be remotely controlled from anywhere in the world with a camera. It doesn’t require gloves or physical attachments.
His cousin, who lives in Ontario, tested it and was able to control the robotic hand.
“And he was able to control the robotic hand from Ontario all the way to Quebec, as if it was his actual hand in front of me,” he said. “This type of technology could one day be used to perform tasks that are too dangerous for humans, such as disarming a bomb or performing space station repairs. Maybe even surgery from across the world could all be possible.”
Sarah McGrath, a grade 10 student at Halifax Grammar School in Nova Scotia, focused her project on whether she could make fish feed for aquaculture by growing microalgae with recycled fish byproducts, like bones, tails and eyes.
“This microalgae is rich in Omega-3s, which is important because fish don’t produce Omega-3,” she said, noting that the important dietary nutrient for human health is sourced from what fish eat.
She said her method is a cost-effective and sustainable way to grow microalgae.
“This matters because fish stocks are depleting and the quality of our fish is rapidly decreasing,” she said. “My results show that there’s potential to use even more fish byproducts and utilize this waste that exists.”
Amy Clark, a 15-years-old from Sanford Collegiate in Sanford, Man., combined her passion for physics and the environment into a research topic and looked at which Prairie province has the highest amount of radon in its soil.
In her study, where she sampled soil from a few spots in Manitoba, along with Regina and Calgary, Manitoba had the highest levels of radon.
She explained that increased levels of radon in soil can attribute to health risks, noting that radon is the leading cause of lung cancer in non-smokers.
As fun as it was to build the project, Clark is also excited to be at nationals, saying the event is more than just talking about your project.
“It’s about making friends and meeting new people. Connecting with people who are like-minded individuals,” she said. “They love science. You love science, so they’re really easy to talk to you.”
