ARTICLES
STEM down under students are on top of the world
By Stuart Garth , Young Scientist ISEF Fair Director
Young Scientist students win $ 194,200 in Prizes
Some of the brightest young scientists and technology students from NSW have just returned victorious from the largest high school STEM event in the world , held in Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania . Competing against the best 1,800 science and technology students from 81 countries at the 2018 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair ( Intel ISEF 2018 ), NSW students won $ 194,200 in prizes and scholarships including the ultimate prize of the best science and technology project in the world !
Oliver Nicholls won two 2nd prize awards sponsored by IEEE ( USD $ 750 ) & NASA ( USD $ 600 ) and an honourable mention from INCOSE . He then went on to win a 1st place Grand award in the Robotics and Intelligent Machines category . His project was also judged Best of Category , earning him an extra USD $ 5,000 , with USD $ 1,000 going to his school Barker College and USD $ 1,000 going towards our STANSW Young Scientist Fair . This Best of Category award is something that no other Australian student has ever achieved in our 20 years of representation at ISEF .
Oliver joining the other 21 Best of Category winners on the front row of the stage
As a grand finale to the Grand Awards Ceremony , the top overall awards were announced . Two USD $ 50,000 Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards were given to students from Arkansas and Washington
State respectively . These winners were Meghana Bollimpalli , 17 , of Little Rock , Arkansas , for her innovative and inexpensive method for synthesizing electrode-like materials and Dhruvik Parikh , 18 , of Bothell , Washington , for his low-cost composite membrane destined for use in large batteries that store energy from renewables like solar and wind .
16 SCIENCE EDUCATIONAL NEWS VOL 67 NO 2