Students Among Top Competitors In National Stem Competition
Congratulations to recent Birchwood graduates Jasmine Chen (Westlake) and Michael Zhu (Avon) for earning spots in the 2022 Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS®, the nation’s premier STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) competition for middle school students.
Jasmine Chen competed in Ohio's State Science Day with her entry, “Making Biodegradable Alternative to Plastic Bags.” Michael Zhu entered his project, “Biodegradable Plastics: An Experiment Conducted on Diverse Types of Biodegradable Plastics to Test Which Type Can Degrade the Quickest and Withstand the Most Tension,” in the Northeastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair.
Jasmine Chen competed in Ohio's State Science Day with her entry, “Making Biodegradable Alternative to Plastic Bags.” Michael Zhu entered his project, “Biodegradable Plastics: An Experiment Conducted on Diverse Types of Biodegradable Plastics to Test Which Type Can Degrade the Quickest and Withstand the Most Tension,” in the Northeastern Ohio Science and Engineering Fair.
The Society for Science and Broadcom Foundation are sponsors of the Broadcom MASTERS, which seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve the grand challenges of the 21st Century.
Chen and Zhu are now in the ninth grade, but they completed their projects last school year while in eighth grade at Birchwood. Their entries were selected from 1,807 entrants from 35 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. From the select pool of Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS, 30 finalists will be chosen to compete for more than $100,000 in awards and prizes. Finalists will be announced on September 21.
“I am incredibly proud of Jasmine and Michael for their hard work and for earning this prestigious award,” said Birchwood science teacher Linda Brown, a three-time recipient of the Governor's Award for Excellence in Math and Science.
Those finalists will participate in Washington, D.C., from Oct. 28-Nov. 2, where they’ll compete for many cash awards and opportunities to attend STEM summer camps, as well as for the $25,000 Samueli Prize.
