Solano County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Nikki Parr said it best at the Solano County Fairgrounds on Thursday — “By investing in our students, we are investing in a brighter, innovative future.”
That future was on full display at the Solano County Fairgrounds’ McCormack Hall, where nearly 200 students in grades kindergarten through high school showed off their knowledge, creativity, and imagination at the Solano County Science and Engineering Fair.
The event featured awards and a hands-on activity of attempting to use materials such as balloons, popcicle sticks, duck tape and cloth to create a boat that moved across a small pool of water.
It also featured a way for students to display their projects and earn awards.
“I’m incredibly proud of each and every one of you,” Parr told the students. “Whether or not you get an award, your participation in this fair is a remarkable achievement. You have already taken bold steps toward shaping the future, and I have no doubt you will become the next great inventors, engineers, or tech inventors that will shape the world in ways we can’t yet imagine.”
The keynote speaker was Nathalia Sandoval, a software engineer who argued that it was easier to learn coding and science when you were in areas with the right resources and familiar friends.
That was certainly the case with Shaheeed Evans Sr. and his son, Shaheed Evans Jr., a 12-year-old at Solano Widenmann Leadership Academy. Both of them worked together by building a small boat for the hands-on activity. The duo at first couldn’t get their boat across the pool, but they learned from the first experience and adjusted the boat’s materials to make it across eventually.
“At first, our balloons were a little too big and were hitting the side of the pool,” Evans Jr. said. “We then worked on giving it more stability. I loved the whole aspect of this, and it was fun to do.”
Mason Walmsley, a fourth grader out of Compass Home School in Vallejo, was happy to get the rank of skipper by designing a boat that also made it across the pool.
“I decided to make mine flatter and lighter,” Walmsley said. “This was my fifth time doing it. I focused each time on making it lighter, longer, and even.”
Walmsley brought a project to the event focused on gravity and how pumping air helps or doesn’t help with racing a BMX bike. Walmsley has been riding BMX bikes for six years, so the project was a fun assignment for him.
“Yeah, it was fun. I kept retrying it and pumping in different areas,” Walmsley said. “Pumping gives the bike more speed, but mostly in what’s called the rhythm section. On the backside, you want to push down and pull up.”
The science fair projects showed a lot of range. One asked if people remember pictures more than words. One student aimed to find out how air affects the bounciness of a ball. Another project aimed to determine how exterior paint colors affect the amount of heat a home absorbs.
Other projects asked if horses can remember pictures, if things we hear often affect the things we say and how we interpret things, and many focused on AI and the art it creates.
Music was a big theme in projects. One asked if, when testers hear high-pitched music, does the chocolate they are eating taste sweeter?
No matter the subject, Steph Morgado, the Program Manager of STEAM and Robotics at the Solano County Office of Education, was thrilled to see the families of students excited at the fair.
“It’s great to see how creative all the students are,” Morgado said. “We had the interactive part of the fair back, and it’s very popular. You see how these kids are great engineers, and it’s encouraging to see the interest in environmental science. The kids love hearing their names called and taking their families all over the exhibit.”
With any event, the participants loved hearing their names called to be announced as a winner. There were 19 categories spread out over three divisions of elementary, middle, and high schools. Winning the overall award for elementary schools was Everett Zander out of St. Dominic’s in Benicia. His project’s focus? Squirrels.
“It feels great to win,” Zander said. “I wanted to find out what squirrels like the most. I tested with walnuts, pecans, carrots, peanuts, sunflower seeds, and strawberries. It was fun to do because I got to see what squirrels like the most.”
The overall winner in the middle school division was Audrey Lai, also out of St. Dominic School. Her focus was on germs in school.
“It’s amazing to win,” Lai. “I was trying to help out the school community by figuring out which surface in a classroom is the germiest. I found out the whiteboard marker tray is the germiest, most likely due to everyone using the markers and not cleaning their hands afterward.”
Meha Balamurugan won an overall award with a project on Natural Antibacterial Hydrogel Wound Dressing.
While some projects started this year, some others were the culmination of hard work for three years, like the project by Aadeesh Jain, a junior at Rodriguez High of Fairfield. His project centered around genetic prevention in FTD.
“I feel very relieved. Before I heard my name, I was on pins and needles,” Jain said. “I developed a formula that optimizes Crisper to accurately eliminate faulty genes and malfunctions in genetic data. This project has taken three years, so when I finished the project, it felt very relaxing.”
The other winners for divisions are:
- Arjun Bhadane – Nelda Mundy Elementary School (Fairfield) for Science Showcase
- Samantha Lazaro – The Academy of 21st Century Learning (Vacaville) for Behavioral/Cognitive Science
- Selah Problete – Green Valley Middle School (Fairfield) for Behavioral/Cognitive Science
- Sage Sumbi – Center Elementary School (Fairfield) for Environmental Science
- Ryan Chaudhry – K.I. Jones Elementary (Fairfield) for Environmental Science
- Everett Zander – St. Dominic’s (Benicia) for Life Science
- Audrey Lai – St. Dominic’s (Benicia) for Life Science
- Nawal Haidar – St. Charbel Academy (Fairfield) for Mathematical/Computational Science
- Aadeesh Jain – Rodriguez High (Fairfield) for Mathematical/Computational Science
- Sean Garfinkel – Nelda Elementary School (Fairfield) for Prototype Development
- Hardaman Jhajj – Green Valley Middle School (Fairfield) for Prototype Development
- Ryan Choy – Rodriguez High (Fairfield) for Prototype Development
- Viaan Mendoza – The Academy of 21st Century Learning (Fairfield) for Physical Science
- Neha Mistry – Green Valley Middle School (Fairfield) for Physical Science
- Theodore Ferguson – Mary Farmar Elementary (Benicia) for Product Testing
- Anna Reyes – St. Dominic’s (Benicia) for Product Testing
- Meha Balamurugan – Benicia Middle School for Product Testing