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Maharishi School receives award for ‘Most Successful School’ at state science fair
Southeast Iowa Union offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
FAIRFIELD – Four high school students at Maharishi School took home some of the highest honors at the State Science and Technology Fair of Iowa in Ames on March 27-28.
But perhaps even more impressive than their individual awards was the award that the school as a whole received, winning the Claison “Clay” Groff Memorial Traveling Trophy given to the most successful high school at the fair. Maharishi School science fair advisor Asha Sharma said the award was a “dream come true.” She said she’s been taking students to the science fair since 2018, and was pleased that Maharishi School was able to field a large group of students to go to this year’s event.
The four students either placed first in their category or were selected as finalists to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair May 10-16 in Columbus, Ohio. The students are:
Antariksha Sharma
Antariksha not only won the Iowa Biotech Scholarship and placed first in her Biochemistry category, she also was named the science fair’s grand champion for her research into Alzheimer’s Disease. She wanted to find ways of testing whether a person was at risk developing neurological degeneration. She discovered that, by sampling a person’s tears, she could detect the concentration of a certain protein that predicts neurological degeneration.
“It’s a really low-cost, fast-testing method that can give people an idea of whether they should get further testing and diagnosis,” Antariksha said.
Antariksha said she hit upon her idea when reading about the world’s biggest problems that involved urine and blood analysis.
“I just started crying, and then I was looking at my tears and thinking, ‘We test literally everything, why don’t we ever test tears?’” she said.
Trent Hefner
Trent placed first in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category, received Grand Honorable Mention, and was named an ISEF finalist. His research project was about a trauma-informed parenting algorithm that pairs traumatized youth with mentors who have undergone and overcome the same kind of trauma.
“This was a project that’s been in the back of my head for awhile, from some stuff from when I was younger,” Trent said. “I pitched it to [Asha Sharma], and she signed me up for science fair.
Xiaohan Wang
Xiaohan received second place in the Biochemistry category, and was named an ISEF finalist. His research project was about how drinking green tea can prevent cognitive decline in the elderly.
“I focused on green teas because I personally like to drink green tea,” he said. “And cognitive decline is a severe worldwide problem. I wanted to find an affordable way to prevent dementia.”
Sohni Singh
Sohni won first in the Physics and Astronomy category, and won an Iowa Special Award, the Iowa State University Center for Nondestructive Evaluation, and a $1,000 certificate of scholarship from Loras College. Her research project involved testing the effectiveness of cell phone cases designed to block exposure to potentially harmful radiofrequency. She wanted to know if a homemade cell phone case with basic materials was just as effective as the ones sold in stores, and whether those commercial cases were really effective at all.
After conducting her own studies, Sohni concluded that a do-it-yourself RF-reducing cell phone case was comparable at blocking radiofrequencies to a commercial one. She said a homemade case could be made from materials such as carbon fiber, copper mesh and aluminum foil.
“I’ve been interested in RF and its potential health effects for awhile,” Sohni said, explaining her decision to pursue this project. “In my house, we follow specific precautions, like putting my devices on airplane mode when I’m not using them, and keeping a good distance from them, too. I feel like many people aren’t aware of the potential health risks.”
The three students going to ISEF, Antariksha, Trent and Xiaohan, said they are excited for the opportunity and to spend a week with students from 64 other countries. One of the days involves a full day of judging, where the students stand next to their project from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. while judges walk by and ask them questions. There are also lots of fun things to do during the event, like a student mixer with food and a professional DJ. The students said they’re looking forward to the college fair, where colleges seek to recruit the brightest students, and some of them receive a scholarship right then and there.
Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com
