On March 16-17, Alpha STEM students competed in-person at the 73rd Chicago Exhibition of Student STEM Research and Symposium Sessions. Projects receiving the Outstanding Gold Award moved on to the in-person IJAS State Science Fair at SIU-Carbondale, IL on April 28-29. Congratulations to all!

Exhibition Participants:

Alaina Valmassei (’25) - Effect of Wing Planform on Stall Angle – Aerospace Science – Outstanding Gold Award

Yumou Lu (’25) - The Effect of Oxytocin on Belief-Bias Effect – Behavioral Science - Outstanding Gold Award

Sophia Veranga (’25) - The Effect of Tone on Placebo Effects – Behavioral Science - Outstanding Gold Award

Bianca Verdin (’25) - Design of an Energy-efficient Walking Robot – Electronics – Silver Award

Itzaith Aguero (’25) - Digital Stethoscope Records Heart Beats – Engineering - Outstanding Gold Award

Sydney Curran (’23) - RFID Smart Toy – Engineering - Outstanding Gold Award

Divinefavour Osuji (’25) - Autonomous Technology in Drones and Detection – Engineering - Outstanding Gold Award

Alexander Czempinski (’25) - Effect of Time on Restored Biodiversity – Environmental Science - Outstanding Gold Award

Landra Ream (’25) - Effect of A. indica on Soil pH and Plant Growth – Environmental Science – Silver Award

Griffin Stofko (’25) - Effect of Bisphenol A. on Oscillatoria sp. – Microbiology - Outstanding Gold Award

Symposium Participants:

Yumou Lu (’25) - The Effect of Oxytocin on Belief-Bias Effect – Behavioral Science - Outstanding Gold Award

Indigo Wall (’26) - Effect of Temperature on Capsule Dissolution – Chemistry – Silver Award

Grier Burke (’25) - Rubik's Cube Composition on Solving Time – Engineering – Silver Award

Sydney Curran (’23) - RFID Smart Toy – Engineering Outstanding Gold Award

Ethan Hui (’26) - The Effect of Nozzle Configuration on Voltage – Engineering – Silver Award

Divinefavour Osuji (’25) - Autonomous Technology in Drones and Detection – Engineering - Outstanding Gold Award

Sydney Coomer (’24) - The Effect of pH on Cladophora glomerata Growth – Environmental Science - Outstanding Gold Award

Julian Olszewski (’23) - Effect of PFAS on P. lunula - Environmental Science - Outstanding Gold Award

Landra Ream (’25) - Effect of A. Indica on Soil pH and Plant Growth – Environmental Science  - Outstanding Gold Award (and 1st Place for Symposium)

Nayana Shah (’25) - Effect of Blue Light on Eye Strain w Placebo – Health Science – Silver Award

Makayla Ayala (’25) - Effect of Active Substances on S. epidermidis – Microbiology – Silver Award

Griffin Stofko (’25) - Effect of Bisphenol A on Oscillatoria sp. – Microbiology - Outstanding Gold Award

Karina Vargas (’24) - The Effect of Membrane Material on E.coli – Microbiology – Silver Award

Diart Metarapi (’25) - The Effect of Microplastics on Fish Eggs – Zoology – Silver Award

Congratulations again to LTAC 7th grader, Saatvik Viniak, for submitting an Essay for the Citywide STEM Exhibition. His 2nd place essay, Issues with T1D Treatment Accessibility, will be submitted to the IJAS State Science Fair student board for consideration to be presented at the State Science Fair in April.