Every year, the Broadcom MASTERS National STEM Competition hands out thousands of dollars in awards to the nation’s most promising middle schoolers in STEM studies — it’s basically a massive science fair that honors the best ideas and projects from the bright youngsters that will be tomorrow’s scientists, engineers and innovators.
For 2019’s class of winners at the Broadcom MASTERS competition, something special happened for the first time ever: the top five awards were all won by girls.
That myth that girls can’t do math and shouldn’t pursue STEM careers is gradually being put to rest and relegated to history, and this latest development shows how little that antiquated attitude matters.
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And this year’s winners show they’re well deserving of their awards.
Lauren Ejiaga, 14, took home the $10,000 STEM Talent Award.
Her entry examined how ultraviolet light, at current levels taking ozone depletion into account, affect plant growth and performance. Her research showed clearly how the progression of deterioration provides evidence of climate change.
Alexis MacAvoy, 14, won the $10,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement.
For her project, Alexis designed a low-cost, efficient carbon-based water filter that removes heavy metals from water. She was inspired to create her filter after learning about mercury contamination in San Francisco Bay during the gold rush, and about the lack of filtration on industrial wastewater at present.
Sidor Claire, 14, received the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation.
She and her partner, Kassie Holt, who won first place for the Technology Award, created a building material from simulated Martian soil. Mixing resin with the simulated Martian soil, they made bricks that could, in the future, be used to build long-lasting structures on Mars.
Rachel Bergey, 14, won the $10,000 Lemelson Award, which rewards inventions that “show a promising solution to a real-world problem.”
Rachel was inspired by the invasion of spotted lanternflies harming maple trees in Pennsylvania, where her family lives. Noticing that lanternflies had swarmed her family’s maple trees, she created a trap from foil and netting that captures the lanterflies as they climb the tree’s trunk.
She said that “spotted lanternflies are most likely the largest economic threat facing Pennsylvania today, and thousands of them have invaded my family’s maple trees.”
And Alaina Gassler, 14, was awarded the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize.
Alaina noticed that her mom had trouble with blind spots when driving, so she came up with an ingenious solution, even though she’s too young to drive. Alaina rigged up a webcam outside the car to broadcast to a projector inside the car that then projects the action outside onto the A-pillar, effectively filling in the blank.
Congrats to all of this year’s winners!
h/t: Forbes
