On March 16, over 120 of the most academically gifted students from the school districts of Roanoke County and Roanoke City, as well as the Roanoke Valley Governor’s School (RVGS), gathered at Roanoke College to compete in the 2019 Western Virginia Regional Science Fair (WVRGF).

Sponsored by RVGS and presented by Appalachian Power, a team of three judges individually evaluated each student’s project in their assigned category. The team then determined the winners based on their cumulative scores and overall impressions.

“The science fair process allows students to research and explore something that interests them. Many students competing at this level go on to careers in the sciences. This exposure to the process in middle and high school can really direct their future,” Tom Fitzpatrick said.

The Co-Director of the Western Virginia Science Fair added, “The Grand Award Winners (Kevin Sheng, Roanoke County Schools; Erik Scarlatescu and Harrison Huang, Roanoke County Schools; and Luke Gardner and Luke Suess, Roanoke City Public Schools) will go to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix and compete with students from across the world.”

Approximately 1,200 students attend Salem High School. Three of them – junior Maya Reddy, senior Carson Pugh and senior Shayom Debopadhaya – participated in the WVRGF.

Reddy placed second in the Biomedical and Health Sciences Category. Pugh came in fourth place in the Engineering Mechanics Category. After winning first place in the Cellular and Molecular Biology Category, Debopadhaya was named an Alternate Grand Winner.

Glenvar High students Logan Dunkenberger and Rafid Mirza placed first and third in the Microbiology Category and Engineering Mechanics Category, respectively. Both Debopadhaya and Dunkenberger will compete at the Virginia Science and Engineering Fair on April 6 at the Berglund Special Events Center in Roanoke.

“The title of my project itself was ‘The role of QSOXI in the formation and development of skeletal muscles and synapses. In a nutshell, I decided to work on things that impact voluntary movement,” said Debopadhaya. “A good portion of this project was done last summer when I got a National Institute of Health Research Fellowship through the Virginia Tech Research Institute. I hope to pursue a career as a physician one day with a specialization in sports medicine.”

Roger Dickenson served as a judge for the Materials Science and Physics Category. He has found over the years that the best science fair participants have a few things in common: they are very engaged with their projects and are focused on communicating their message effectively.

“I like to look at how well students perform their experiment and apply the scientific method (identify their independent and dependent variables, test them properly, keep consistent in what they did for multiple trials and draw the correct conclusion based on their data) and put forth more than just average effort,” Dickenson said.