Ben Kawa, Grade 9, earned a Bronze Excellence Award in the Intermediate Division for his project "Driver Wake Up 2.0: A Compact Standalone Device"; Eden Abols, Grade 8, received a Bronze Excellence Award in the Junior Division for his project "Metallurgical Mushrooms"; Felix Naghi, Grade 8, captured a Bronze Excellence Award in the Junior Division for his project "Plastic Purge: Marine Debris Eliminator"; Jack O'Connell, Grade 8, garnered a Bronze Excellence Award in the Junior Division for his project "Are Adults Dirtier than Kids?"; and Zavier Simard, Grade 8, earned a Bronze Excellence Award in the Junior Division for his project "VAWT to WATT: Capturing Wind Energy on Cars."
"We are delighted that students from Rainbow District School Board had an opportunity to represent Sudbury at the Canada-Wide Science Fair," said Director of Education Bruce Bourget. "Our students offered practical solutions to real-life problems with promising results. We are certainly proud of them for their outstanding achievement on the national stage." Director Bourget thanked staff for their tremendous leadership and support of students throughout their journey of scientific discovery.
Ben Kawa engineered a device that uses artificial intelligence to detect and alert a driver if they have fallen asleep behind the wheel. This was the second iteration of his project from 2023. New this year, Ben built component parts for a standalone universal device that mounts on the dashboard for improved driver safety. For his project, Ben Kawa also earned the Harvey Travel Award - Intermediate Division, as well as Entrance Scholarships for Mount Allison University and Western University.
Eden Abols experimented with black oyster mushrooms to see if they could eliminate copper out of straw. The process of refining mined minerals creates copper tailings that are harmful to the environment. For the project, Eden grew black oyster mushrooms on pasteurized straw with varying amounts of copper sulfate. Once mature, the mushrooms were harvested, dehydrated, ground into a powder and measured using an atomic absorption spectroscopy analyzer. The results showed that mushrooms could be used to remediate environmental pollutants from the mining process. For his project, Eden Abols also took home a Western University Entrance Scholarship.
Felix Naghi developed a self-sustaining robot that swims through water autonomously to collect harmful plastic waste and save wildlife. Felix's small-scale robot, which measures 40 centimeters by 25 centimeters, can travel at a speed of five kilometres per hour. Felix hopes to expand his model to 2.5 metres by 4 metres to travel at 10 kilometres per hour, which would have the capacity to clean Ramsey Lake in 127 hours. For his project, Felix Naghi also garnered a Western University Entrance Scholarship.
Jack O'Connell developed a project "Are Adults Dirtier than Kids?" Research shows that 90% of cell phones in Ontario have traces of staphylococcus, streptococcus, bacillus cereus and E. coli, and only 10% of the population cleans their phone on a daily basis. Jack measured the difference in bacteria present on a cell phone in three groups - middle school students, high school students and adults. All three age groups had variations of bacteria in type and quantity. For his project, Jack O'Connell also garnered a Western University Entrance Scholarship.
Zavier Simard impressed the judges with his project, which analyzed the probability of replenishing electric vehicle batteries using vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT). To test his theory, Zavier designed, 3D printed, and assembled a functional wind turbine, gearbox and wind ramp. In combination with a DC generator, he measured the performance and power output of the generator and wind turbine with various gears, wind speeds, as well as with and without the wind ramp. For his project, Zavier Simard also earned a Western University Entrance Scholarship. Zavier's project earned the Best in Fair Award at the Sudbury Regional Science Fair.
