2018 Winners

MEET THE 2018 WINNERS
 

The Samueli Foundation Prize:

$25,000

Winner:
Georgia Hutchinson, 13, Woodside, California
Project:
Designing a Data-Driven Dual Axis Solar Tracker

Georgia Hutchinson developed a novel solar panel system, winning the coveted $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize, the top award in the Broadcom MASTERS. Georgia’s more efficient and cost-effective solar power system relies on data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to determine where the sun will be at any date and time. She built a computer model to illustrate how electricity from solar panels pointed at those spots would compare to electricity produced by fixed-position panels and created a computer program to control her tracker’s motor and the position of the solar panels.

The prize is a gift of Dr. Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom Corporation and Chair of the Broadcom Foundation and his wife, Dr. Susan Samueli, President of the Samueli Foundation.

 
 
 
 

Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation:

$10,000

Winner:
Jacqueline Prawira, 13, Mountain House, CA
Project:
Bio.fiber.plastic: The Effect of Lignocellulosic Fiber in Enhancing the Formation and Tensile Strength of Rice Bioplastic

Jacqueline Prawira won the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation, an honor made possible by Samueli’s generous donation of his 2012 Marconi Society Prize Award.  Prawira’s project explored how fibers from common plant-based materials found in garbage could improve the formation and strength of plastic, enabling people to make better use of materials that would otherwise be thrown away.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement

$20,000

Winner:
Jack Albright, 14, Hillsborough, CA
Project:
Predicting the Future: Using Machine Learning to Forecast the Progression of Alzheimer’s Disease

Jack Albright won the $20,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement, which recognizes the student whose work and performance shows the most promise in health-related fields. Albright developed a machine learning tool to predict the onset of mild and severe impacts from Alzheimer’s on cognitive abilities.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Lemelson Award for Invention:

$7,500

Winner:
John Madland, 14, Salem, OR
Project:
Terrella Aurora Model: A Demonstration of Charged Particle Shielding for Space Exploration

John Madland won the $7,500 Lemelson Award for Invention, awarded by The Lemelson Foundation to a young inventor creating promising solutions to real-world problems. Madland’s project involved creating a model showing that a magnetic shield set above the surface of Mars might, in the future, protect people on the planet’s surface.

 

 
 
 
 
 

STEM AWARD WINNERS

 

First and second place winners of STEM Awards demonstrated acumen and promise in science, technology, engineering and math. First place winners were awarded $3,500 and second place winners receive $2,500 to support his or her choice of a STEM summer camp experience in the U.S. Each STEM Award winner also received an iPad. Top awards in math were sponsored by Robert John Floe, President, Floe Financial Partners.

 
 

Science Award

 
 
First place: Amara Orth, Council Bluffs, Iowa
Chemical Analysis of Honey Bee Propolis: Habitat Diversity Affects the Quality of Propolis – An Essential Component of Honey Bee Colonies
 
 
 
Second place: Janani Kumaran Gainesville, Florida
Integrated Control of the Invasive Aquatic Plant Hydrilla Using Snails and a Plant Growth Regulator (Continuation Project: Year 2)
 
 
 
 

Technology Award

 
 
 
First place: Gabriella Lui, Palatine, Illinois. Design a Fully Automated Real-Time Presence Detection Safety System in a School Environment Using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Technology
 
 
 
Gary Zhan, Logan, Utah. The Colder, the Bluer—Significant Enhancement of Indigoidine Production Using a Cold-Shock Inducible Promoter
 
 
 
 

Engineering Award

 
 
 
First place: Alice Feng, San Jose, California. The Effect of Mushroom Species and Substrates on the Properties of a Novel Biodegradable Material: Mycelium
 
 
Second place: Mihir Nitin Joshi, Salem, Oregon. Terrella Aurora Model: A Demonstration of Charged Particle Shielding for Space Exploration
 
 
 
 

Robert John Floe Award for Mathematics

 
 
 
First place: Espen Slettnes, Castro Valley, California
Minimal Embedding Dimensions of Rectangle k-Visibility Graphs
 
 
Second place: Asmi Kumar, Milton, Georgia. Developing a Device to Predict Autistic Meltdowns Using Arduino and MS Azure
 
 
 
 

Rising Stars Award

 
 

In recognition of their promise as the youngest competitors, two Rising Stars win a trip to Phoenix, Arizona in May 2019 as the United States delegate to Broadcom MASTERS International and Official Observer at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest international high school science fair competition.

Kate Quinn, Louisville, Kentucky. Exploring Atrazine’s Neurotoxicity as a Possible Cause of Parkinson’s Disease

Sriram Bhimaraju, Cupertino, California. Low-Cost Archery Assistant with an Interface for the Visually Impaired

 
 
 
 

Team Award

 
 

Each member of the team that best demonstrates their ability to work together and solve problems through shared decision making, communication and scientific and engineering collaboration will receive an iPod Touch.

Black Team: Sriram Bhimaraju, Laura Maria Reilly-Sanchez, Tyler Bissoondial, Akshaya Venketesh and Asmi Kumar

 
 
 
 

Scott A. McGregor Leadership Award

 

Finalists select one student from the group based on their leadership abilities to represent their class as a speaker at the awards ceremony.

Gary Zhan, Logan, Utah
The Colder, the Bluer—Significant Enhancement of Indigoidine Production Using a Cold-Shock Inducible Promoter

 
 
 
 
 

2018 COMPETITION FINALISTS

 

Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science & the Public present the 30 middle school finalists who competed in the 8th annual Broadcom MASTERS® competition. The 14 girls and 16 boys were selected by a panel of distinguished scientists and engineers from a record number of 2,537 applicants from 35 states. The finalists won an all-expense paid trip to Washington DC and competed for cash and experiential prizes.

2018 Finalist PDF

Winners were announced in October 2018.

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