Students particicpated in the state ISEF competition this weekend, scoring well and landing a few first place spots. Our West Linn-Wilsonville school district winners include Talia Lichtenberg, scoring first in Medicine and Health, Nick Miller, scoring first in Microbiology, and Bo An, placing first in Plant Science.

With these placements, the first place winners also earned scholarships to Oregon schools, such as Lewis and Clark college, University of Oregon, and the University of Portland.

Students all over the country are taking part in Intels annual ISEF “International Science and Engineering Fair” all for the opportunity to earn scholarships and have their exhibits showcased worldwide. Students spent hours of their time during and after school preparing their exhibits for the WLWV district showcase, Friday, Feb 28.

Students from all over the world come up with experiments to investigate and answer a question that they develop Then they put together an exhibit to show off their data and findings to engineers and scientists, with the chance of earning scholarships and being able to show off their exhibit to even larger audiences.

There are challenges when it comes to creating such elaborate projects, and coordinating a large science fair like ISEF.

“The biggest challenge for everyone is finishing projects – that final push when there is no time left”, Amy Schauer, Head supervisor of the WLWV ISEF fair, said.

“You can expect to see a wide variety of innovations and approaches.”

8 students are now moving on to the international exhibit in Los Angeles California this May: Dylan Martins, Krista Wurscher, Jennifer Lauren Cramer, Shana Feltham, Melanie Martinsen, Talia Lichtenberg, Nick Miller, and Milo Webster. There they can present their exhibits to an even wider audience.

“I’m not so much nervous as I went last year too so I know what to expect”, said Milo Webster, one of the students heading off to Los Angeles for the international competition.

Milo Webster made it to the international competition with his own original sharing platform website between students and teachers.

“It is similar to websites you might be familiar with such as Edmodo, Edline, and Blackboard, however, through centralizing content for users and other key enhancements, my system is 20x faster. It streamlines teachers communication of homework, notes, test dates, and anything else students might need to have access to outside of the classroom, making it much easier for you to manage your classes and effectively communicate with your teachers.”

Milo is just one of the many students spending hours of their time on science and engineering projects with hope of bettering themselves, and if all goes well, the world.