2012 Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair Winners

Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair - Students in grades 5–12, who attend public, private, or charter schools located within the Salt Lake City, Granite, Park City, Murray, Canyons, and Tooele school districts, are eligible to compete at SLVSEF. Salt Lake City School District entrants were selected through school and district fairs. For more information, project descriptions, and a complete list of award winners, visit http://slvsef.org/.

Dozens of Salt Lake City School District students scored impressive wins in the recent Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair (SLVSEF). Five district students were named Grand Champions. District students claimed 22 of the 49 category awards in the Senior Division (grades 9–12) and an additional five awards went to students at the AMES, a state-chartered school partnership involving the Salt Lake and Granite districts and the University of Utah. In the Junior Division (grades 7 and 8), district students took 13 of 49 category awards and four of the 10 “Broadcom Masters” awards for highest scoring projects overall. In a very large field of Elementary Division competitors (grades 5 and 6), Salt Lake City School District students brought home 17 category awards. In addition, three students from the Salt Lake Center for Science Education (SLCSE) were named “Broadcom Masters” in the Elementary Division

In addition to the numerous district student winners at SLVSEF, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Utah Section, named Shea Wickelson, who teaches chemistry and science research at SLCSE, Outstanding High School Science teacher after a review of student nominations.

Congratulations to the students and Wickelson for their outstanding achievements!

Grand Champions

Five district students were named “Grand Champions” at the Salt Lake Valley Science & Engineering Fair. They will compete as finalists in the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

Zerina Ocanovic, a freshman at SLCSE, will join team winners Christian Seipp and Hannah Harper Hanson, both juniors at SLCSE, and Andy Law and David Larkin, both seniors at West High School, along with Nicholas Corpuz from the Academy for Math, Engineering and Science (AMES) and Andrea Evans of Hillcrest High School (Canyons School District) at the prestigious fair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, May 13–18. All seven finalists were also awarded $80,000 scholarships to Westminster College.

Three West High students, Ian Miller and the team of Yuxio Michelle Wei and Jeannette Jiang were named ISEF alternates, along with Poojam Jairan of Skyline High School (Granite School District).

Senior Division Winners

Winners (by category) included the following:

Animal Sciences
First Place — Hannah Harper Hanson & Christian Seipp (SLCSE)
Second Place — Jade Bonomo & Jasmina Horozovic (SLCSE)
Third Place — Sara Campbell (AMES)

Behavioral & Social Sciences
First Place — Nicholas Corpuz (AMES)
Second Place — Luke Ahlemann (SLCSE)
Third Place — Andre Washington & Tess Edwards (East)

Biochemistry
First Place — Zerina Ocanovic (SLCSE)
Second Place — Malia Stephens (AMES)
Third Place — Sharon Pham & Emily Graham (West)

Cellular & Molecular Biology
Third Place — Kaylee Nelson (Highland)

Computer Science
First Place — Will Orton (West)
Second Place — Clement Lee & Oliver Richardson (West)
Third Place — Tingshiuan Wu (West)

Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical
First Place — Ian Miller (West)
Third Place — Jaerok Kim & Anson Li (West)

Engineering: Materials & Civil Engineering
Second Place — Sara Silcox (West)

Energy & Transportation
First Place — Andy Law & David Larkin (West)

Environmental Management
Third Place — James Belnap (SLCSE)

Environmental Sciences
First Place — Cameron Colony & Tristan Johnson (SLCSE)
Third Place — Jieun Kim (East)

Mathematical Sciences
First Place — Daniel Liu (West)
Second Place — Rachael Ainsworth (SLCSE)

Medical & Health Sciences
First Place — Yuxiao Michelle Wei & Jeannette Jiang (West)

Microbiology
First Place — Thomas Luo (West)
Third Place — Tia Thomas & Ashley Davis (AMES)

Plant Sciences
First Place — Caressa Pratt (AMES)
Second Place — Hayden Griffin, Joshua Peterson & Jacob Robinson (SLCSE)

Junior Division Winners

Six of 14 first-place-in-category winners were district students. Winners (by category) included:

Animal Sciences
First Place and Broadcom Master —Michael Broughton (SLCSE)

Cellular & Molecular Biology
First Place — Priya Swaminathan, Alexis McIntyre & Zoe Smoot (Hillside)

Earth & Planetary Science
First Place and Broadcom Master — Michaela Prasad (Hillside)

Engineering Materials & Civil Engineering
Third Place — Elliot Powell Hamilton (SLCSE)

Environmental Management
First Place — Peter Vroom & Nicolas Pryor (Hillside)
Second Place — Helen Lea & Eric Jenson (Hillside)

Mathematical Sciences
Second Place — Andrew Silver (Hillside)
Third Place — Emma Hanson (SLCSE)

Medicine & Health Sciences
First Place and Broadcom Master — Nina Filippova (West)
Second Place and Broadcom Master — Benjamin Hogan (Hillside)

Physics & Astronomy
Third Place — McKay Verkler (Clayton),

Plant Sciences
First Place — Jesse Li (West)
Third Place — Jake Takenaka, Bryan Molina & David Quach (Northwest)

Elementary Division Winners

The following students placed in their categories:

Biology & Biochemistry
Second Place — Marina Gerton, Ryann Denison & Sophia Johnson (Emerson)

Engineering & Computer Science
Third Place — Paul Harmston & Andres Ibarra (Dilworth)

Environmental Science
Third Place — Brequelle Smith (SLCSE)

Medicine & Health Sciences
First Place and Broadcom Masters — Jack Mismash & Gabriel Estrada (SLCSE)

Plant & Earth Sciences
First Place and Broadcom Master — Kaatje Fisk (SLCSE)
Third Place — Rebekah James (Hawthorne)

Honorable Mentions