This spring, 263 fifth through 12th grade students from 17 regional schools participated in the 74th Northwest Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair, an event that qualified three projects for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May.

The regional science fair works to improve STEM education by encouraging students — future scientists, technologists, mathematicians and engineers — to explore STEM disciplines through their research and problem/project-based learning, to apply the knowledge gained from their research and to communicate their results.

Over 200 U of A faculty members, graduate students and undergraduate students served as judges and volunteers for the fair, all coordinated by Shawn Bell, director of workforce development for the UA Power Group in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and director of the regional science fair.

"The Northwest Arkansas Regional Science and Engineering Fair is not just a showcase of projects; it's a platform that shows students' dedication, hard work and the art of developing research skills," Bell said. "The fair enables students in our region to compete at a local, state, national and even global level. Without it, our students, especially in smaller districts, would never have this opportunity."

The March 7 regional fair's winners were announced in a ceremony attended by the students, parents and many teachers and judges in the Arkansas Union. The College of Engineering and College of Education and Health Professions sponsor the regional fair and cover travel expenses for overall Senior Division winners and their teachers to attend the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, held this year in Columbus, Ohio.

The international fair, a program of the Society for Science for 75 years, is the world's largest global science and engineering competition for ninth to 12th grade students, according to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair website.

It convened nearly 2,000 young scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and inventors from May 11 to 17. The finalists, who came from approximately 60 countries, regions and territories, spent the week connecting with peers and global STEM leaders, participating in events and competing for more than $9 million in awards and prizes, the website says.

At the international fair, the team of Ronak Pai and Veera Sai Joshik Unnam, from Bentonville West High School, sponsor Clinton Holderby, won a Third Place Award of $1,200 in the category of Translational Medical Science. Their project was "OralScan: A Multi-Stage Multi-Modal Architecture for Early Diagnosis of Oral Cancer and Potentially Malignant Disorders via Intra-Oral Images Captured on a Mobile App."

Pai will attend the U of A in the fall majoring in engineering and computer science.

The two other projects were:

• Xavier Christopher Herzig and Jack Snell, from Alma High School, sponsor Jeana Parker, in the Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design category, with "A Scalable Semi-Submersible Platform Utilizing Wave Energy Conversion and Shared Mooring for Floating Offshore Wind Turbine Farms." 
• Bethany Kinley Bowlin, from Alma High School, sponsor Jerry Kelley, in the Material Science category, with "Investigating Light Propagation Dynamics in Curved Fiber Optic Cables."