Northern Virginia Regional Science Fair Winners

Over the past few weeks, young scientists from the area had a chance to showcase their projects in the Northern Virginia Regional Science and Engineering Fair. The competition was conducted in a hybrid format this year.  Scientists and engineers representing 11 subject categories, as well as numerous organizations and societies, reviewed the students’ presentation videos, abstracts, and research papers. This year’s winners, which include students from APS middle and high schools, were announced on March 21.

The following are the 1st Place high school awardees, who will also compete in the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair (VSSEF). This year’s VSSEF competition, originally slated to be held in-person at Old Dominion University, will also be conducted virtually.

Behavioral and Social Sciences- 1st Place
Colin Berry – Yorktown 

Chemistry- 1st Place
Haley Baasansukh – Washington-Liberty
Gabrielle Cordero – Washington-Liberty
Mara Gerardi and Ellie Danaceau – Washington-Liberty
Leila Silva – Yorktown 

Engineering– 1st Place
Colin Sartori- Yorktown
William Savage and Alexander Shipley – H-B Woodlawn

Environmental and Earth Sciences- 1st Place
Harriet Shapiro – Washington-Liberty 

Medical and Health Sciences – 1st Place
Jaya Shah – Washington-Liberty 

Microbiology – 1st Place
Julia Brodsky – H-B Woodlawn 

Physics and Astronomy- 1st Place
Morgan Henshaw – Yorktown
Sam Watchman – Arlington Tech 

Plant Sciences – 1st Place
Daisy Maxwell – Washington-Liberty

2022 Broadcom MASTERS Nominees – The following are the 1st Place middle school awardees, who are also invited to compete in Broadcom MASTERS, which is a national, Math, Science, Engineering, and Technology competition for students in Grades 6-8. (Sponsored by Science for Society and the Public, students will compete online against other students from across the U.S.)

• Bailey Piper and Julia Power – Williamsburg
• Zara Musa – Williamsburg
• Krish Gupta – Swanson
• Declan Leighton – Williamsburg
• Zella Mantler – Swanson
• Kedar Kambhampaty – Williamsburg
• Nadia Lach-Hab – Dorothy Hamm
• Julie Piedrahita – Williamsburg
• Breanne Graham – Swanson
• Sebastian Monroy – Dorothy Hamm
• Josephine Van Hoey – Gunston
• Quincy Ayscue – Kenmore
• Rachel Zee – Kenmore
• Kyungsup Hwang – Gunston

Grand Prize Awardees
Julia Brodsky (H-B Woodlawn): Anti-biofilm Activity of Isolated Bacteriophages for the Treatment of Multidrug Resistant Pulmonary Infections William Savage and Alexander Shipley (H-B Woodlawn): Using Computer Vision and Augmented Reality to Utilize Pupil Movement as an Alternative to Traditional Tactile Input Systems

Alternate Awardee
Colin Berry (Yorktown): Bringing Truth into Fake News: The Diffusion of Fact-Checked Fake Stories on Twitter

Best of Fair – Middle School
Zella Mantler (Swanson): Testing Ventilation in Swanson Middle School During the Era of COVID-19

A complete list of the Category and Society Organization winners is available online.