SAN BERNARDINO — Six student science and engineer enthusiasts from throughout San Bernardino County are now making plans to compete at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). The six high school students learned of their next steps during the San Bernardino, Inyo, Mono Science and Engineering Fair Awards Ceremony held on March 5 in Ontario.
“We are incredibly proud of the innovative, high-caliber experiments our students are leading. It’s truly remarkable to see what our young scientists and engineers discover, not only about their topics, but about themselves throughout this process,” said County Superintendent Ted Alejandre. “This competition serves as a powerful launching pad for our elementary and middle school students, giving them valuable opportunities for hands-on exploration. For our high school students, it encourages them to build on their outstanding ideas, further develop their projects, and strengthen the skills that we believe will serve them well in higher education and future careers in STEM.”
The following students will compete at Regeneron ISEF from May 9-15 in Phoenix, AZ:
- Bettina Lee and Faustin Zhang, Los Osos High School, Chaffey Joint Union High School District
- Project title: Purifire: Zeolite-TiO ₂ Photocatalytic Adsorbent Composite Regenerative Filter for VOC Purification
- Dominic Bernardi and Zackary Lewis, Redlands East Valley High School, Redlands Unified School District
- Project title: Is it possible to detect Eosinophilic Esophagitis through the use of breath based VOC profiling?
- Leila Maleki, Chino High School, Chino Valley Unified School District
- Project title: PHOENIX (Perching Hybrid Omni-environment Navigation Integrated eXplorer) A Modular Aerial-Ground Biomimetic Robotic System for Novel Two-Body Locomotion
- Michael Stodelle, Redlands East Valley High School, Redlands Unified School District
- Project title: The Termoelectric Generator Using Hot Sand to Store and Generate Electricity
More than 300 students, grades 4-12, participated in this year’s tri-county competition. Students presented projects in 22 science categories including Animal Science, Biochemistry, Environmental Engineering, Physics, Astronomy, and Robotics. Each participant conducted their own experiments, analyzed data and defended their findings before panels of judges.
In addition to category awards, students were recognized with a variety of honors during the awards ceremony, including the Lemelson Early Inventor Prize, the NASA Earth System Science Award, The Office of Naval Research U.S. Navy Award, and the U.S. Department of Defense STEM Leadership Award. SIMSEF is dedicated to promoting STEM education and providing students with opportunities to showcase their talents on local, national and global stages. By encouraging inquiry-based learning and hands-on exploration, SIMSEF inspires the next generation of scientists, engineers and leaders.