NC students awarded $15,000 in STEM competition
Two middle school students from North Carolina won a total of $15,000 of award prizes in national STEM competition.
Washington, DC (WWAY) — Two middle school students from North Carolina won a total of $15,000 of award prizes in national STEM competition.
The Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) took place in Washington, DC from October 28 to November 2. They awarded two NC middle school students top prizes from among the thirty finalists. The finalists came from 1,807 applicants across 47 states and three U.S. territories (Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). In addition, each finalist’s school will receive $1,000 from the Broadcom MASTERS program to benefit their STEM initiatives.
The NC Science Fair Foundation sponsored the two students. NCSFF Foundation Chair, Dr. Tony Rice said, “We are proud of the success our North Carolina students had in such a competitive field and know this has been an opportunity of a lifetime to expand their
STEM journey.”
Elizabeth Shen, from Davis Drive Middle School of Cary, won the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation. Elizabeth drew inspiration from the way many flower petals grow and the golden ratio to design a system for better managing the wear on a computer’s memory. Over time, many heavily used cells within computers become damaged, and the memory must be replaced. Elizabeth’s system reduces the average number of times cells were accessed, compared to other options.
Ankit Biswas, from Metrolina Regional Scholars Academy of Charlotte, won the $5,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award. Ankit Biwas’ project and performance combines STEM knowledge and passion for helping one’s community through computation/coding. Ankit’s project was A Novel LP-Based Approach to Mitigating Launch Vehicle CO2 Emissions, analyzing carbon dioxide emissions in recent rocket launches.
