Budding Einsteins bring home hardware

When it came to building her “trashbot,” Grade 7 Algonquin Road Public School student Megan Gran didn't program it to compact trash like the Disney character Wall-E.

Instead, it's been designed to take out the trash for disabled people, or just for people who could do with a few less chores. She can also see other applications for the technology, including carrying ore in mines or doing safety checks after cave-ins.

Gran's trashbot earned her a bronze medal at the Canada Wide Science Fair, which took place in Charlottetown, PEI May 12-19.

Attending the national fair was an “experience of a lifetime,” she said. “There was so much to do with so many other kids. You meet people from all around Canada.”

In the beginning, Gran, who has been working the project for eight months, received help from her father with the engineering, but for the most part, she figured out most of it for herself. She even taught herself a computer programming language called Arduino, which runs the device.

Next year, she plans to build a full-scale version of the trashbot, as she only has a small-scale one at present. She'd also like to improve its performance.

Gran wasn't the only local student who attended the national science fair. 

Grade 7 R.L. Beattie Public School student Helen Czapor, Grade 8 Marymount Academy student Marika Moskalyk, Grade 8 R.L. Beattie student Lauren Wood, Grade 7 Algonquin student John Laamanen and Grade 12 College Notre Dame students Marissa Sarrazin and Sophie Lamoureux also participated.

Czapor won a silver medal, and Moskalyk, Wood, Laamanen and Gran all walked away with bronze medals.

All of the local students who attended the national science fair were honoured recently at an event at Science North.

The students were congratulated by representatives of the Rainbow District School Board, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board and Conseil scolaire catholique du nouvel-Ontario, as well as the Sudbury Regional Science Fair.

Although the two high school students didn't come home with a medal, it doesn't mean their project wasn't top-notch, according to Nicole Chiasson, president of the Sudbury Regional Science Fair.

“The competition at the high school level is quite fierce,” she said, adding that Sarrazin and Lamoureux won best project at the local science fair.

The students' project focuses on finding out which natural substances make cells absorb glucose more effectively, thus helping those with diabetes to better control their condition. They carried out their research at the Northeast Cancer Centre's research labs.

“What we figured out was that fennel increases glucose uptake, which means that it can regularize metabolism and help it transform sugar into energy more efficiently,” Lamoureux said.

“This is helpful for diabetics. It helps to diminish the amount of blood glucose right after a meal if you incorporate fennel.”

The project was inspired by Lamoureux's own struggle with diabetes. She was diagnosed with the condition a year ago.

“We thought it would be really cool to see something that was accessible and that everyone could actually pronounce that would help with your blood-glucose levels,” she said.

Moskalyk's project focused on growing a type of biodegradable fabric using green tea, sugar and a bacteria-containing health drink called kombucha.

While growing fabric out of these substances has been done before, the Marymount Academy student wanted to see if adding fruits and vegetables would make it stronger.

“Actually it did,” Moskalyk said. “I found out that by using blueberries, it was was possible to make this textile a lot stronger.”

Although biodegradable fabrics are probably going to be used more and more in the future, she said this type of fabric — which has an odour and isn't waterproof — probably isn't the most practical without some molecular manipulation.

She's thinking of working with a mentor next year to make the fabric waterproof.

“That way if you get caught out in the rain, your clothes won't fall apart,” Moskalyk jokes.

Posted by Arron Pickard