Edgewood Wins State in 3M Young Scientist Contest

July 1, 2022 – An Edgewood Jr./Sr. High School student is one of 31 state winners in the national 3M Young Scientist contest for inventing a way to mitigate harmful effects of algae blooms.

For the contest hosted by 3M and Discovery Education, students in grades 5-8  had to identify an everyday problem in their classroom, community, or the world and submit a one-to two-minute video communicating the science behind their solution.

Students could choose to solve a problem in one of six categories: health, safety, mobility, the environment, energy consumption or community. Judges, including 3M scientists and leaders in education from across the country, evaluated entries based on creativity, scientific knowledge, and communication effectiveness.

Sharanya Natarajan, an 8th grade student, described a plan to design affordable floating devices that track algae growth and mitigate harmful blooms. The devices would be controlled by an app and cast less than $250 per unit, far more affordable than existing solutions, Natajaran said in a presentation. Natajaran also placed in the state science fair and won the junior environmental engineering award for the Lockheed Martin Science Challenge at the Orlando Science Center for the same concept.

Natarajan is one of 31 national winners, each representing one state.

“The ‘3M Young Scientist Challenge’ supports young innovators who have demonstrated that same passion to create what’s next and see their creative discoveries unfold and improve the world around us,” Karina Chavez, senior vice president and chief strategy officer at 3M, said in a press release.

Source: Florida Today