Three MSMS students, seniors Sophia Ali and Maggie Ford, and junior Gary Nguyen, attended the Mississippi State Science and Engineering Fair after placing in their regional competitions a few weeks earlier. Each placed in their respective categories, while Ford and Nguyen won the Best in Fair recognition and will travel to Los Angeles in late May to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).

Maggie Ford placed first in Robotics and Intelligent Machines, and second in Best of Fair, qualifying her as an ISEF finalist. Her project was a “single refreshable braille cell.” She describes it as a device that “read words from a text file and displayed them in braille one letter at a time.”

“I was inspired to create this because only 1% of books are published in braille, and my project allows for any book, or file, to be read by someone visually impaired.”

For Ford, the best part of the competition was when she was able to meet a visually impaired man who could use her project. “He worked at The School of the Deaf and Blind and helped me understand just how important a device like this can be to someone who does not have books written in braille at their disposal. It was an  overall amazing experience,” Ford said.

Sophia Ali’s project, “The Effect of Humic Acid on Germination Rate and Seedling Weight in Selected Plant Species” placed first in Botany. Her project was inspired by her two years of research at The University of Southern Mississippi. “The professors that I collaborate with do a lot of work for a local fertilizer company, so this year I decided on doing a project that explored a fertilizer alternative.

Humic acid, found in the humus layer of the solid, is a common fertilizer ingredient, and I wondered if it would be beneficial on its own. This project tested the effect of humic acid concentrations on germination rate and seedling weight of canola, wheat, and lettuce plants,” Ali explained.

Ali says that conducting the experiments for her project was her favorite part of the science fair. “Working in the lab is really fun and it is an amazing experience that is not available to a lot of high school students.”

Gary Nguyen had already qualified for ISEF by placing first in his regional competition. In the state fair, he placed second in his category, Earth and Environmental Sciences, and first in Best of Fair. His project focused on improving the standard model of the automotive exhaust system to reduce toxic emissions and create a more environmentally-friendly car.

 Maggie Ford and Gary Nguyen will both travel to Los Angeles, California, next month to participate in ISEF.