Science & Engineering Fairs

The AIAA NOS has been sponsoring special awards at science and engineering fairs within the Northern Ohio region for several years. Our Mission is to encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers. We select winners for our sponsored awards but that is not all we do. We seek to use our interactions with the students to inspire and encourage them in their interest of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Particularly as it relates to the field of aerospace. Some words of encouragement or the spark of a new thought in a young student's mind can have an profound impact. At the same time, the curiosity, creativity, and passion of the young student's is inspiring to us. It reminds us all why we choose to pursue a career in aerospace. We encourage students to consider submitting projects related to aerospace. We also encourage working and retired professionals in the field to give back by supporting our future engineers and scientists by taking the time to encourage them. One way to do that is to volunteer to be a judge for our special awards.

Fair Information

The AIAA NOS continues to sponsor special awards at science and engineering fairs in the region. Cash awards will be provided for the best projects with relevance to the aerospace field. Special awards will be sponsored at the following events.

- Northeastern Ohio Engineering and Science Fair (NEOSEF) - Held at Cleveland State University on TBD
- Mohican District Science Day (MDSD) - Held at Ashland University on TBD

Judging will take place in-person at these events. Judging is typically split across two grade ranges, typically elementary/middle schoolers and high schoolers. The best projects in each grade range will receive a cash awards. 

Participants of future fairs are encouraged to consider a project with relevance to aerospace engineering and other related fields of study. 

In the past, we've also supported the Northwest Ohio District II Science Day (NWDSD) held at the University of Toledo.

2024 Winners

NEOSEF: 7th - 8th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Winston Toplitz	University School	The Effect of Momentum in Power Generation of a Wind Turbine
Runner-up	Kyle Vaziri	Birchwood Elementary	How Does Surface Temperature Effect the Energy Output of Solar Panels
Runner-up	Sullivan Meneghetti	St. Joseph Elementary	Design a Better Battery for the Future

NEOSEF: 9th - 12th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Megan Kalail	St. Vincent St. Mary High	Creation of a Vitrimer
Runner-up	Kingston Lin	University School	Designing a contactless precision tracker for use in MDBM prototyping
Runner-up	Will Northup	West Geauga High	Prototyping a Cheaper Alternative for LIBS IR spectroscopy

MDSD: 5th - 6th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Olivia Kropf	St. Ambrose	Trade Your Waste for Energy
Runner-up	Megan Stevens	St. Ambrose	Why Is It So Hot? Investigate the Greenhouse Gas Effect

MDSD: 7th - 8th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Jesse Bell	St. Vincent De Paul	Drones
Runner-up	Joshua Knudsen	St. Francis Xavier	Turbine Power
Runner-up	Matthew Reichelt	St. Francis Xavier	Brace for Impact
Runner-up	Leah Gambaccini	Sacred Heart	Chill Factor

2023 Winners

NEOSEF: 7th - 8th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Maxwell Cremona	St. Mary of the Falls Elementary	Wind Resistance of Bridges
Runner-up	Caroline Lu	Birchwood Elementary	Renewable Biofuel: Shifting the Energy Paradigm
Runner-up	Brandon White	St. Albert the Great Elementary	Which Airplane will Fly the Farthest?

NEOSEF: 9th - 12th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Bryn Morgan	West Geauga High	DSLR Camera Photometry and Star Tracking
Runner-up	Justice Arai	University School	Designing and Testing UAV Propellers with Serrated Trailing Edges Inspired by Nocturnal Owl Flight to Reduce Noise and Improve Aerodynamic Performance
Runner-up	Eve Belding	Laurel School	Using Machine Learning to identify the Habitability of Exoplanets from TESS Transit Data

NWDSD: 5th - 8th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Audrey Nixon & Emily Tinnerson	Ottawa Hills	The Effect of Water Temperature of Plant Growth
Runner-up	Meral Humaida	Ottawa Hills	Under Pressure
Runner-up	Abdullah Hasseb	Toledo Islamic Academy	Does Sleep Affect Reaction Time

NWDSD: 9th - 12th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Mohammed Musa	Slovenia High	Optimizing Photovoltaics
Runner-up	Maxwell Chandur-Kouba	Ottawa Hills	Search for the First Stars
Runner-up	Joseph Blammsmaadt	Put-in-Bay	In, In 60 Seconds

2022 Winners

NEOSEF: 7th - 8th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Jacob Rolda	St. Mary Of The Falls	How Do Different Mediums Affect How Light Is Refracted?
Runner-up	Amaan Siddiqi	Lake Ridge Academy	Creating an Electromechanical Transducer
Runner-up	Owen Conway	Lake Ridge Academy	Making A D.I.Y. Water Filter Straw

NEOSEF: 9th - 12th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Justice Arai	University School	Developing Propellers with a Fringed Trailing-Edge Inspired by Owl Flight to Reduce Noise
Runner-up	Alexander Kmetko	University School	Testing Hexagon Supports on an Airfoil to Make it Lighter
Runner-up	Alexander Devine	University School	Fruit Dye and Sunscreen to Solar Power: Testing Graphene as a Replacement for Indium-Tin Oxide in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

NWDSD: 5th - 8th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Liam Anderson	St. Rose	Winging It: Investigating Glider Wing Shapes
Runner-up	Joseph Williams	Hilltop High School	How the Diameter of a Baseball Bat Affects the Distance Traveled
Runner-up	Deemah Alhmoud	Toledo Islamic Academy	To keep it warm

NWDSD: 9th - 12th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Jasjeev Singh	Sylvania Southview High School (Sylvania)	A Novel Approach to Martian Electricity Generation Utilizing a Rust-Iron Battery
Runner-up	Alice Lentz	Put-In-Bay High School	The Potential Applications of Algae Cultures for Oxygen Production in Extraterrestrial Environments
Runner-up	Elise Denk	Ottawa Hills High School	The Impact of Infill Type and Layer Height on a 3D Printed PLA Hinge

2021 Winners

NEOSEF: 7th - 8th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Jacob Rolda	St. Mary Of The Falls	Does Temperature Affect the Speed of Sound?
Runner-up	Michael Zhu	Birchwood	Ethanol vs Gasoline: Which fuel is more environmentally friendly?
Runner-up	Gavin Bouffard	Euclid High	How Far Can A Two-liter bottle Fly?

NEOSEF: 9th - 12th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Dmitry Lipert	St. Edward High	Adjustable Carburetor Intake
Runner-up	Ruth Anand	Home School	Smart Robotic Arm for Manipulation - A force sensitive robotic arm that utilizes AI based vision system to grasp objects intelligently
Runner-up	David Anand	Home School	Identifying Space debris from real satellites using an AI based vision system and RF signal detection

NWDSD: 5th - 9th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Elijah Moore	Trinity Lutheran School	Magnetic Force in Different Liquids
Runner-up	Isabella Marzano	Ottawa Hills High	Extending Shelf Life of Strawberries with Botanical Extracts

NWDSD: 10-12th Graders

Place	Name	School	Project Title
1st	Abdullah Muhammad Nasser	Bounty Collegium	Can Light and Magnets Make Spider Webs Move?
Runner-up	Donald Adams	Pettisville High	3D Modeled & Printed Drone Frame