Dr. Rachael Davis judges Joshua Kim’s project at the 2024 Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair.
Benjamin Jeong’s idea for his science fair project originated when an unsettling event happened after welding.
“I weld a lot,” said Jeong, a McCallie School sophomore. “I come out and blow my nose and it comes out black, which is not exactly a comfortable thing to see.”
He decided to research the effects of “the black stuff,” finding that at a certain concentration, it completely killed lung cells—which explains why many welders suffer from diseases such as lung cancer or COPD.
Jeong’s poster was one of many in the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Maclellan Gym on Wednesday, March 6, where over 100 local middle and high school students presented their projects for the Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair (CRSEF).
The event has been held at UTC for decades.
Joshua Kim
The Senior Division winners, announced on Thursday, March 7, included McCallie School sophomore Joshua Kim and Baylor School senior Rachel Chen. They advanced to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, which will take place May 11-17 in Los Angeles.
Kim won first place with his Biomedical and Health Sciences category project titled “Accelerating Breast Cancer Diagnoses: Leveraging Machine Learning to Accurately Predict Breast Cancer Presence and Growth with Hormonal Data.” Chen finished second with her Animal Science category project, “Transgenerational Effects of Atrazine on C. elegans Brood Size.”
The Junior Division winners for middle school students included Samuel Tyner, Emmaline Moore, Ainsley Olmstead and Aahil Bhagyaraj. They advanced to the next round of competition in the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, which may lead to competing at the national level in Washington, D.C.
UTC faculty members served as CRSEF judges, interviewing the high school students who went through two rounds of judging.
Dr. Jason Gordon, an assistant professor in the School of Education, volunteered as a judge for the past three years and chaperoned last year’s winners to Dallas.
“I believe in teaching the next generation of innovative scientists,” Gordon said, “and that’s what this is all about. I’malways impressed every single year and always learn something new.”
While judging, he said he learned a lot from the students through their research on machine learning and artificial intelligence.
“It’s nice to see that as a teacher,” he said. “It rejuvenates my hope in society.”
Before the judging began, Jeong reviewed his poster, “Cytotoxic Effects of Weld Particulate Matter on Human Lung Cell Health,” in preparation for the interviews.
“Prepared is an overstatement,” Jeong said. “Am I nervous? Very.”
Gussie Smith, a junior at Baylor School, presented her research titled “The Effects of Dietary Changes on Dopaminergic Neurons in Nematodes,” which looks at how changes in diet affect neurological function and how it plays into neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
“I’ve been doing a lot of science and engineering stuff since I was little,” Smith explained, “and one of my projects along the way was trying to help patients with Parkinson’s disease. Since I’ve come to Baylor and been able to start doing research, it’s been incredible to now be able to do the science behind why people get Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.”
Rachel Chen
Dr. Stephanie Philipp said projects like these make the research tangible and important and give students a sense of belonging.
“Any time spent in research and development work, students feel like they belong in the field, not just learning about it in a book,” said Philipp, a UTC assistant professor of education and interim director of the STEM Education Program.
Dr. Rachael Davis, lecturer in the School of Education and organizer of the fair, expressed how important it is that UTC continues to host this event. She said CRSEF encourages students to build relationships with other students and faculty members.
“It’s about a community of scientists, a community of engineers and a community of mathematicians,” Davis said. “We need to see these students.”
Students feel this, too, as there was an increase in participation this year.
“We have more projects this year,” Davis said. “The students are so giddy and excited to be back here and I’m happy to see a lot of the same faces come back this year.”
“We’re leaders in the community,” Philipp added. “If STEM is happening in the community, we are there.”
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Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair (CRSEF)
Two School of Education faculty share their chaperone experience
