Lexington middle schooler among Top 300 in national STEM competition

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ/Press Release) – The Top 300 MASTERS have been announced in

the 10th annual Broadcom MASTERS®, including five middle school students from Kentucky.

The national Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) competition for middle schoolers seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve the grand challenges of the 21st century.

Each of the Top 300 MASTERS will receive a $125 award from the Department of Defense STEM.

The Top 300 MASTERS were selected from 1,841 students from 48 states, Washington, DC and three US territories (Puerto Rico, Guam and Virgin Islands) applying to be a Broadcom MASTER.  Only students who are named in the top 10% of their science fair are eligible to enter the Broadcom MASTERS, which is the only middle school STEM competition that leverages Society for Science-affiliated science fairs as a critical component of the STEM talent pipeline.

The Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS include:

• 58.7% of the Top 300 MASTERS identify as girls while 40.3% identify as boys.
• The MASTERS come from 41 states and Guam, a US territory.
• The state with the most MASTERS is California, with 23% or 69 students. Florida follows with 31 students (10.3%), then Texas at 22 (7.3%), Pennsylvania 20 (6.67%) and Oregon 18 (6%)
• The top two project categories are Earth and Environmental Sciences (42) and Behavioral and Social Sciences (38)
• More than 2/3 of the MASTERS (206) go to public school, with 59 (19.7%) in private school and 15 (5%) in charter schools. The remaining students are in home, magnet or online schools.

From Kentucky, students selected include Emerson Wyatt (Grade 8) of Saint Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Louisville, Lucy Angel Teng (Grade 8) of Meyzeek Middle School in Louisville, Nick Rodino (Grade 8) of Mary, Queen of Heaven School in Erlanger, Karthika Hariprasad (Grade 7) of Jessie M. Clark Middle School in Lexington and Aishwarya Ramasamy (Grade 6) of Meyzeek Middle School in Louisville.

A full list of the Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS can be found at https://www.societyforscience.org/broadcom-masters/2021-top-300-masters/.

Thirty of the top 300 Broadcom MASTERS will be selected as finalists by a panel of scientists, engineers and educators from around the nation. The 30 finalists, who will be announced Sept. 14, will be competing for more than $100,000, including the coveted $25,000 Samueli Prize, $10,000 DoD STEM Talent Award, the $10,000 Lemelson Award for Invention, the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation and the $10,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement.

“Congratulations to the 300 Broadcom MASTERS,” said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of the Society for Science and Publisher of Science News.  “These students have shown tremendous grit and perseverance by conducting scientific or engineering research during a worldwide pandemic.  Their curiosity and determination is inspiring for all.”

The Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS’ independent STEM research projects tackle a broad range of challenges such as:

• The efficiency of solar panels
• Early detection of algal blooms
• Circumventing ventilator shortages
• Using machine learning to detect heart arrhythmias
• Data security
• Face mask effectiveness

“Those of you in the Top 300 are exemplars of all young people who aspire to become scientists, engineers and innovators in Society-affiliated science fairs,” said Paula Golden, President of the Broadcom Foundation. “The Broadcom MASTERS serves as an important milestone in your STEM journey. Middle school is a time when many students gain confidence needed to follow their passions; and the accomplishment of being selected as one of the Top 300 is something for which each and every one of you should be enormously proud.”

In addition to the $125 cash prize, the Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS will receive a prize package containing an award ribbon; semifinalist certificate of accomplishment; Broadcom MASTERS backpack; a Broadcom MASTERS decal; a specialized Invention Journal, courtesy of The Lemelson Foundation; a one-year subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Notebook Edition, courtesy of Wolfram Research; a special prize from Jeff Glassman, CEO of Covington Capital Management; and a one-year family digital subscription to Science News magazine.

In recognition of the role that teachers play in the success of their students, each designated teacher also will receive a Broadcom MASTERS tote bag; a special edition booklet of Science News for Students’ Invention & Innovation articles from The Lemelson Foundation; and a one-year digital subscription to Science News magazine.