Science Fair 2013 Report to AIAA Utah Section
Elementary School Division
The Utah Section of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics gave a $25
award to an outstanding project related to aviation and space to one elementary student.
This year’s winner is William Patton of Hawthorne Elementary School for his project Up,
Up, and Away. His project related the effect of wing shape on airplane lift. We at AIAA
recognized him for his in-depth knowledge of the Bernoulli principle governing lift, his
excellent visual display, his thorough research, and his recognition of his experiment’s
limitations and plans for improvement. An honorable mention certificate goes to Clayton
Kirk of East Midvale Elementary School for his project Clayton’s Meteorite and Impact
Craters. We were impressed by the originality of his project, his creative experimental
technique, and the thoroughness of his literature search.
JR. AND SR. HIGH SCIENCE AWARDS
The awards for the high school and Junior High Division are as follows:
The overall winner is Patrick Chin of West High School. His project is Analysis and
Simulation of Missile Interception. These techniques are used not only in missile defense
systems but also by the police and by robotic engineers. The problem is complicated by
the fact that the object being tracked is constantly changing direction and requires
advanced numerical methods such as Euler and Runge-Kutta finite difference equations.
He evaluated the efficiency of these alternative solutions using a Java program which he
developed.
The second place winner is Cassandra Ivie of Entheos Academy in Kearns, Utah.
She redesigned and built an educational tool used to measure velocity. We were
impressed by her three design iterations to improve accuracy, reduce cost, and improve
display capability.
Honorable mention goes to Zarina Ivanovic of Salt Lake Center for Science Education
for her project Coffee Biodiesel. We recognized her for her ability to take a product,
coffee grounds which Starbucks throws away, and through Chemical Engineering make a
product suitable for diesel fuels which can potentially used is airplanes. We were also
impressed with her study of available coffee supplies.
Teacher Awards
The outstanding teacher in each category received a $50 cash award and a laser pointer.
The student who nominated the teacher received a toy gyroscope.
ELEMENTARY
The outstanding elementary teacher award goes to Mrs. Ellie Ferrero of Liberty
Elementary School in Murray. She was nominated by Katie Cook.
Her creative teaching methods include rubbing balloons on student’s heads to teach about
electric charges and use of hand movements and stretches to teach about the earth and
erosion. She involves ALL students in her class in the teaching process and illustrates the
scientific method by different approaches. She takes time outside of class to help students
with their individual Science Fair project.
JUNIOR HIGH (Grades 7-8)
The outstanding junior high teacher is Mr. Craig Hollinger of American Preparatory
Academy, Draper Campus. He was nominated by Gracie Enniss.
Among his creative methods to “Cram their young juicy brains with knowledge so they
can become young, science ninjas” is his use of choral response. He guides the students
through their projects for the Science Fair in a systematic way, making sure they
understand the scientific method. Mr. Hollinger is also a judge at the Science Fair, but not
for his students, asking questions and giving tips and encouragement.
We give an honorable mention certificate to Mr. Paul Chung of McGillis School because
six students from this small school were selected to represent McGillis at the District Fair
and four moved on to the next level; quite and achievement for the first year McGillis
participated in Science Fairs.. More than one student letter wrote a letter recommending
Mr. Chung but the one by Robin Young was the best.
HIGH SCHOOL
The outstanding high school student is Mrs. Diane Crim of the Salt Lake Center for
Science Education . She was recommended by many students but the email we received
came from Hannah Harper Hanson.
Mrs. Crim designed and teaches a statistics class that includes a strenuous hike to a
research center in the Goshute Mountains of Nevada where students collect data on
raptors to be analyzed later in the classroom. She taught students how to use advanced
statistical methods to analyze scientific data. She also helps underrepresented students to
make sure they get through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)
courses.
We give honorable mention to Mrs. Jami Smith of Hillcrest High School. She was
nominated by Naveen Rathi.
She makes every student “undergo the scientific method through real life, informational
labs that include raising brine shrimp, examining qualities of sharks and squids, and
viewing qualities of Mollusca shells under a dissecting microscope.” She critiques many
student Science Fair projects and makes them aware of scientific opportunities outside
the classroom.
Weber/Davis Science Fair Report”
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04 Feb 2013 - Project mentoring at Mount Ogden Jr. High with two of Macie
Wolfe’s brightest science fair students. Louise Henrie (NG), Tyler Gentry (NG),
and John Metcalf (NG/AIAA)
21 Feb 2013 – Mount Ogden Jr High Science and Engineering Fair. John Metcalf
(NG/AIAA)
04 March 2013 – Davis County Science and Engineering Fair. Amanda Snyder
(NG/WSU) and John Metcalf (NG/AIAA)
05 March 2013 – Syracuse Arts Academy Science and Engineering Fair. Dr. John
Campbell (NG)
18 March 2013 – Ritchey Science and Engineering Junior Fair. Dr. John
Campbell (NG) and John Metcalf (NG/AIAA)
19 March 2013 - Ritchey Science and Engineering Senior Fair, ISEF Judging. Dr.
John Campbell (NG), Louise Henrie (NG), Wolfgang Schlagel (Boeing), David
Bernesser (L3), John Metcalf (NG/AIAA)26 March 2013 – ISEF project
mentoring. John Metcalf (NG/AIAA)
Email sent out to ICBM employees
From: ICBM Systems Communications
Sent: Thursday, February 21, 2013 12:34 PM
Subject: Call for Science and Engineering Fair judges
Scientists and Engineers –
The 2013 Science and Engineering Fair season is already underway! Did you know that
there are different criteria for a science project vs and engineering project? Competent
and non-biased judges are always needed especially for the District and Regional fairs
where projects competing to go to International Science and Engineering Fair.
If you can take half a day to support any of these fairs please contact me for more
information.
John Metcalf
John.Metcalf@ngc.com
801-525-4132
Science Fair Dates
Weber District SEF: 2/11-12 (Jr.=11, Sr.=12) http://blog.wsd.net/sciencefair/
Mt. Ogden JHS SEF: Monday 2/21. Check in at office at 1:30 PM
DaVinci SEF: Tuesday 2/26
Cache County District SEF: Friday 3/1-2 http://www.cachecountysciencefair.org
Davis District SEF: Davis Conference Center, Monday 3/4 http://www.davis.k12.ut.us/Page/597
Syracuse Arts Academy: 3/4-7
Ritchey Regional SEF: WSU Dee Events Center 3/18-19 http://ritchey.squishysoftware.com/
Central Utah SEF: 3/18-21 http://cusef.byu.edu/
Salt Lake Valley Regional SEF: UofU Rice Eccles Stadium 3/20-22 http://slvsef.org/
Southern Utah SEF: 3/22 http://www.suu.edu/cose/fair/
International Science and Engineering Fair: 5/12-17 http://www.societyforscience.org/intelisef2013
Central Utah Science and Engineering Fair Schools in the Alpine, Jordan, Nebo, Provo, and
Wasatch School Districts.
Davis School District Science and Engineering Fair Serves the public schools in the Davis
School District. Davis School District Science and Engineering Fair
Ritchey Science & Engineering Fair Schools in the Box Elder, Dagget, Morgan, North
Summit, Ogden, and South Summit School Districts. Ritchey Science and Engineering Fair
Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair Schools in the Granite, Murray, Salt Lake,
Park City, Canyons and Tooele School Districts and the Salt Lake Valley Catholic Diocese. Salt
Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair
Southern Utah Science and Engineering Fair Schools in the Beaver, Carbon, Duchesne,
Emery, Garfield, Grand, Iron, Juab, Kane, Millard, North Sanpete, Piute, San Juan, Sevier,
South Sanpete, Tintic, Uintah, Washington, and Wayne School Districts. Southern Utah Science
and Engineering Fair Website
The Cache County Science and Engineering Fair Serves all schools in Cache and Rich
Counties. The Cache County Science and Engineering Fair
Weber School District Science and Engineering Fair Serves the public schools of the Weber
School District. Weber School District Science and Engineering Fair