Fifty-sive young scientists from middle and high schools across the county exhibited and presented science projects at the 2024 Monterey County Science and Engineering Fair on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Seven of the student scientists represented Monterey High School.
The annual fair was held at California State University Monterey Bay’s University Center, where students stood beside their science displays consisting of notebooks, images, tri-fold presentations, and other supporting materials for judging. Students presented projects in junior (6th through 8th grade) and senior (9th through 12th grade) divisions in multiple areas of study.
Fair participants are drawn from public, private, parochial, and homeschools in Monterey County. Through the annual competition, the county's students are challenged to go beyond their classroom studies to do independent project-based research. They work independently or in teams to address questions in a wide variety of scientific fields, including Computer Science, Environmental Science, Medicine and Health, Chemistry, and Plant Science.
A team of seven dedicated Monterey High student scientists were recognized with various awards. Notably, MHS students swept the microbiology category placing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
- Remi Morgan (11th) Evaluating the Impact of Glycerin Concentrations on the Mechanical Resilience and Tensile Strength of Sustainable Biofabrics
- 1st place Environmental Sciences
- Ricoh Award
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Award
- Qualified for California State Science & Engineering Fair
- Sreenivas Rajesh (11th) Assessing the impact of Radiofrequency and Static EMFs on the Antiseptic Sensitivity of Escherichia coli
- 1st place Microbiology
- Regeneron Biomedical Science Award
- Maryam Mousa (11th) Investigating the Zone of Inhibition and Antimicrobial Potential of Silver Nanoparticles Against Escherichia Coli
- 2nd place Microbiology
- California Association of Professional Scientists Award
- Zahra Sellami (11th) CRISPR Dosage Optimization: Exploring the Impact of Varying Guide RNA Concentrations on Escherichia coli Genetic Modifications
- 3rd place Microbiology
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Award
- Amelia Carlino (11th) & Siara Meehan (11th) The Precision of Prompting: Accuracy of Responses From Pre-trained Large Language Models Using Different Operations and Formats
- 3rd place Computer Science
- Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Award
- Samar Elyas (11th) Evaluating Sunscreen Efficacy on Yeast Cell Growth; A Comparative Study of UV Radiation Effects on Wild Type and Mutant Strains
- Society for In Vitro Biology Award