Sophomores Ann Bryan and Emily Casey received a bronze medal at the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad, which took place May 3 to 7.
“They had a great idea and they ran with it and they worked very hard to work together,” science teacher Joelle Lastica said.
Lastica added that Bryan and Casey’s project was an example of how far students can advance with their project.
The team’s project looked at how to purify water. It did so by evaporating water multiple times.
“It took us a really long time to get a system that was actually successful in purifying water,” Bryan said.
Casey added that the nature of the experiment was something that people could connect with. Diarrhea and dehydration, water purification issues, are the top two killers of children in the world.
“It helps to have a project that people can connect with and feel the emotional tie to the project,” she said.
Lastica said there had been some discussion of Bryan and Casey continuing their project next year. She added that they had received “a lot of good suggestions” from judges at the regional science fair.
“It’d be awesome if we could make a full-scale size model and test it somewhere,” Bryan said about the team continuing its project.
“At internationals, there were just so many amazing projects and brilliant people that we learned from and that we felt really lucky to meet,” Bryan said.
“I think it’s a great sign for Marshall,” Lastica said about Bryan and Casey’s placement.
The team won a trip to go to ISWEEEP at the state science fair. International Science Fair and ISWEEEP are part of the same organization.