BOARD AGENDA MEMORANDUM
SUBJECT:Title
Recognition of the Synopsys Science Fair Special Award Recipients. (PREVIOUSLY LISTED AS ITEM 2.1.)
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RECOMMENDATION:Recommendation
Recognize the Synopsys Science Fair Special Award Recipients.
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SUMMARY:
At the April 7, 2021, Santa Clara Valley Water District (Valley Water) Board meeting, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to support the Youth Commission’s recommendation to be a Synopsys Science Fair Special Award Sponsor up to $5,000.
The Santa Clara Valley Science and Engineering Fair Association’s (SCVSEFA) Synopsis Science Fair application was approved for an $1,100 sponsorship through Valley Water’s Community Partnering Sponsorship Program application process. The $1,100 sponsorship was used toward monetary awards for top placing water-related projects (six awards for Middle School division and six awards for High School division) in two special award categories: 1) earth and environmental science, and 2) chemical and environmental engineering.
Valley Water participated in the Synopsys Science Fair held on March 14, 2022, by providing staff judges for Valley Water-sponsored special award categories.
The awardees in the Middle School and High School divisions are below.
1. Middle School students from 6th through 8th grade who received a combined total of $450.00:
First Place Winners receiving $100 per Team:
Team 1
Student(s): Vivaan Kathapurkar and Spencer Liu.
Project: Did You Just Say Water Equals To Electricity?
Team 2
Student(s) Jayden Liu.
Project: Studying the multiple variables and their effects on a home-built aquaponics system
Second Place Winners receiving $75 per Team;
Team 1
Student(s): Nandana Maheskumar, Laasya Pandravada, and Sara Yoshida.
Project: Energy Efficient Vertical Farming
Team 2
Student(s): Avni Desai.
Project: Carbon Cleansing: The Effect of the Type of Activated Carbon Filter on its Ability to Filter Contaminants from Water
Third Place Winners receiving $50 per Team;
Team 1
Student(s): Irina Bohidar, Avantika Sawant, and Areha Shah.
Project: Generating Electricity from Runoff Rainwater and Purifying the Excess Water
Team 2
Student(s): Zahra Nahvi
Project: Designing and building an automatic irrigation system with a soil moisture detector and Arduino microcontroller
2. High School students from 9th through 12th grade who received a combined total of $650.00:
First Place Winners receiving $150 each;
Team 1
Student(s): Jaythan Dao
Project: ConveniMeterReader - Adaptable and Affordable Home Smart Meter Using IoT
Team 2
Student(s): Vedant Janapaty
Project: Effects of Climate Change on a Coastal California Wetland
Second Place Winners receiving $100 each;
Team 1
Student(s): Ian Aguilar-Hwang
Project: RoboTrash: Building a cleaner future with computer vision, machine learning, and robotics
Team 2
Student(s): Sritej Ponna
Project: An Automated Vessel That Utilizes Infrared Technology to Detect, Trace, and Clean Oil Spills
Third Place Winners receiving $75 each;
Team 1
Student(s): Aaditya Pillai
Project: Green Energy from Ocean Waves: A Simple Wave Energy Converter Prototype
Team 2
Student(s): Adhip Raghunathan
Project: Utilizing Light Diffraction to Cheaply and Autonomously Detect Microplastics in Our Water
The Certificates have already been distributed to the recipients and the copies are attached as information.
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
There are no Environmental Justice Impacts associated with this action.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding for this item is included in the FY 2022 Community Partnering Program (Project No. 60231005). In FY 22, Valley Water issued a check in the amount of $1,100 to sponsor twelve Special Awards (six awards for Middle School division and six awards for High School division) in two categories (Chemical and Environmental Engineering and Earth and Environmental Science) at the SCVSEFA Synopsys Championship.
CEQA:
The recommended action does not constitute a project under CEQA because it does not have the potential for resulting in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Copies of Certificates of Recognition
UNCLASSIFIED MANAGER:Manager
Donald Rocha, 408-630-2238