Five Quinte students advance to Canada-Wide Science Fair after standout regional event
Five students from the Quinte region have been selected to compete at the Canada-Wide Science Fair in Edmonton this May, following a strong showing at the annual Quinte Regional Science and Technology Fair at St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School. Organizers said this year’s fair drew more than 80 participants, who presented nearly 70 projects spanning environmental studies, engineering, health sciences, and computational thinking.
The event turned the school into a busy hub of student research and experimentation. “A major highlight of this year’s fair was the selection of five exceptional students who have earned the prestigious opportunity to compete at the Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF),” said fair organizers.
Those selected, according to organizers, are: Emily Esperanzate, The Estrogen Effect: Modelling the Impact of Soy-Derived Phytoestrogens on Eukaryotic Cell Growth (Nicholson Catholic College, Grade 12); Surya Narayan Santhakumar, VisionIQ: A Novel Multi-Model AI Approach for Visual Impairment (Grade 11, East Side Secondary School); Eli Poyner, Helping Hands: Modular Prosthetic Hands Designed for Global Accessibility (Eastside Secondary School, Grade 9); Alicia Zhang, Filtering Our Future: How Biochar Could Clean the Bay of Quinte (Home Schooled, Grade 7); and Charlotte Guan, Carbon Buster: A Novel Prototype to Reduce Carbon Emissions from Exhaust Systems (Bayside Secondary School, Grade 7).
Organizers said the fair also spotlighted other notable work, including a project by Grade 4 student Ethan Guan of Bayside Public School titled Play with Clay, Save the Bay! The Canada-Wide Science Fair is scheduled for May in Edmonton, where the Quinte students will present their work alongside peers from across the country.