Students from Grade 5 to 12 got the chance to show off their science projects at this year’s Calgary Youth Science Fair at the Olympic Oval on Saturday.

The 56th Annual event involved work from over a thousand students across the city and touched on all sorts of aspects that affect issues in today’s world.

Amberly Dooley, who helped organize the event, says that the fair provides students to explore outside their regular school curriculum.

“They get to explore something using scientific method, they get to explore the world around them, analyze the information they’re receiving and they get an opportunity to present.”

Over 550 judges were also on hand to review the projects and learn from the students about how their work can help reshape the world in the future.

“If you think about the kinds of science projects that were here 10 years ago, they were focused on aspects that concerned the world 10 years ago. This year, it’s WiFi, the effects of microwaves and how do you improve WiFi strength. There’s a lot about piezoelectricity; how do you generate electricity without burning fossil fuels or having a wind turbine or whatever.”

Dooley says that previous winners of the fair have gone on to make real contributions to the world of science.

“We’ve have past winners who’ve gone on to develop and commercialize better ways to deal with tailings. We’ve had folks who’ve gone on to make robotic hands that have been used as prototypes for other aspects of development.”

The 12 winners of Calgary’s fair can move on to the National Science Fair in Ottawa next month.

Details on the winners are below:

  • Sheridan Feucht, Senior, Westmount Charter School, Using Deep Neural Networks to Analyze DNA
  • Sophie Hoye Pachoclek, Intermediate, Louis Riel School, Bioengineered Wings Inspired by the Avian Form
  • Mary Wan, Senior, Webber Academy, Artemis and Recovery after Chemotherapy
  • Aaron Abraham, Senior, Webber Academy, Applying Machine Learning to Predict Alzheimer's
  • Tim Gubski, Intermediate, Westmount Charter School, AI Based Driver Alert System
  • Mika Raber, Intermediate, Calgary Jewish Academy, Dyeing to Know
  • Nikko-Johan Lee, Senior, St. Mary's High School, Oxidative Stress in Breast Cancer Cells
  • David Popa, Junior, Louis Riel School, User-Centered Design in Educational Math Games
  • Monica Aida Lopez Quiroz, Intermediate, Westmount Charter School, Developing Hypoallergenic Plants
  • Catalina van der Raadt, Intermediate, Webber Academy, Growing pneumatic robot
  • Aaranyo Ghosh, Junior, Tom Baines School, Chemogenic Approach to Drug Resistant Hypertension
  • Claire Du, Intermediate, Western Canada High School, Carpet Lifting Machine

Two Calgary students were also chosen for the Intel International Science Fair in Pittsburgh:

  • Colette Benko, Senior, St. Mary's High School, Epigenetics Role in Cancer Differentiation
  • Crystal Radinski, Senior, Independent Project, EEG Coherence as a Biomarker for Alzheimer’s