Freshman Named in Top 300 of Broadcom Masters Science Competition
Freshman Named in Top 300 of Broadcom Masters Science Competition
Freshman Nadia Ansari has been selected as one of the Top 300 in the 2018 Broadcom Masters, a national science competition for U.S. middle school students.
Ansari was eligible for the competition by placing at the California State Science Fair Competition last year while she was in eighth grade at Fairmont Junior High in North Tustin. Junior high students who place in the top 10 percent at state or county science fair are nominated.
“This year, there were 2,537 entrants,” Ansari said. “Being named in Top 300 means I am a semifinalist in this competition.”
She completed the Broadcom Masters application over the summer, before arriving at Sage Hill in August.
“In addition to explaining my project in the application, I also had to write several essays including about what things I do every day that I wish were automated and also about how I would combat rising sea levels,” Ansari said.
“In addition to explaining my project in the application, I also had to write several essays including about what things I do every day that I wish were automated and also about how I would combat rising sea levels,” Ansari said.
Her project involved research on wastewater and water recycling/remediation.
“A couple of years ago, while eating my favorite snack, Cuties (oranges), and watching the news, I was shocked to find out that Cuties were grown using wastewater from an oil refinery and were contaminated,” Ansari said.
“A couple of years ago, while eating my favorite snack, Cuties (oranges), and watching the news, I was shocked to find out that Cuties were grown using wastewater from an oil refinery and were contaminated,” Ansari said.
After hearing this, she was intrigued to dive deeper and learn more about the topic and it evolved into her science fair project.
“Last year, I built a xylem tree filter to successfully filter out bacteria from water, but couldn’t filter smaller particles (viruses). I found that dye particles are the same size as viruses and decided to examine their removal from wastewater to provide better remediation. It turns out that dye is the second leading cause of water pollution, after agriculture pollutants.”
The next step in the Broadcom Masters competition takes place on September 18, when 30 finalists will be announced from the Top 300.
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