Four Shady Side Academy Senior School students won awards and cash prizes in the 82nd Annual Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair (PRSEF), held virtually on Wednesday, March 24.

Junior Steven D. Liu won first place in the Senior Division Chemistry category and was one of only seven students nominated for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) for his project, Optimizing Nannochloropsis Growing Conditions for Biodiesel Production Through Analysis of Lipid Content. He will advance to compete in the Regeneron ISEF virtually in May. Liu also won a PRSEF Perseverance Award as an Associate Scientist, given to grade 11-12 students with 3-4 years of PRSEF participation, and Sponsor Awards from FedEx Ground, the Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh and Ricoh USA, Inc.

Sophomore Smrithi Shyam won third place in the Senior Division Chemistry category for her project, Extracting Amygdalin (a cyanide precursor) from Various Fruit Seeds.

Sophomore Elaine Gombos won a Perseverance Award as a Junior Scientist, given to grade 8-9 students with 3-4 years of PRSEF participation. Her project was titled Investigating Wide Melting Point Ranges of Aqueous Solutions.

Sophomore Chennie Wang won a Sponsor Award from PPG Industries, Inc. for her project, Powder Coating and Diffusion Alloying for EV Grade Electrical Steels.

Each year, PRSEF invites middle and high school students to take on the challenge of designing, implementing and communicating an original experiment while competing for cash prizes and scholarships, and approximately 1,000 students from more than 100 schools participate. Students spend the 12 months leading up to the Science Fair developing and executing a project by utilizing the scientific method. PRSEF is open to all students in grades 6-12 from the 21 counties within Western Pennsylvania and Garrett County, Md. Learn more about PRSEF.

Congratulations to all four students and their faculty sponsor, Senior School science teacher Heather Fani!