DEARBORN, Michigan – Three Dearborn area high school students won awards and prizes at the 19th Michigan Science & Engineering Fair held at Kettering University in Flint on April 13. They advanced to have their projects judged at the statewide science fair after placing high at the 56th Annual Science and Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit, which was held at the COBO Center in March.
Sarah Makki, a 10th grader at Divine Child High School, competed in the environmental science category. Her project, “Optimizing the Bioremediation of an Oil Spill,” received Fourth Place. Makki was also one of five students to receive a $20,000 for Kettering University. Winners Robert Pakko, grade 10, and Philip Dragos, grade 12, are students at the Dearborn Center for Math, Science & Technology (DCMST). Pakko won Second Place for his engineering project, “Providing a Way to Help Visually Impaired People using Auditory Signals.” Dragos’ “HIIT Zone” project received Third Place. His project’s goal was to improve upon Android applications currently in the market place that are designed to assist people while exercising.
Elizabeth Giza is Makki’s teacher at Divine Child. DCMST’s Pakko is the student of Jeff Whittaker, and Dragos is taught by Kim Shawver. Information and results from the annual Michigan Science Fair can be viewed at http://msef.sciencefair.info/