Canada-Wide Science Fair presents Best Project Awards to projects on alternative cancer treatments and planetary defense
EDMONTON, May 19, 2023 – Nearly 900 people gathered in Edmonton at the 2023 Canada-Wide Science Fair awards gala to celebrate the curiosity and ingenuity of Canadian students and announce the fair’s top winners. A total of 220 students shared more than 1.6 million in scholarships, awards, and prizes with the top awards in Discovery and Innovation going to Elizabeth Chen (Edmonton) for a project on alternative cancer treatments and Arushi Nath (Toronto), with a project on planetary defense. Arushi, who also won best project award at last year’s CWSF, becomes the first back-to-back best project award winner since 1989 – 1990.
Edmonton, Alberta – Best Project Award winner Arushi Nath in the Innovation category receives the award during the ceremony presented by Jamie Parsons, board chair of Youth Science Canada on Thursday May 18, 2023, at the Edmonton Convention Centre. Photo credit: Youth Science Canada.
Edmonton, Alberta – Best Project Award winner in the Discovery category and local Edmontonian Elizabeth Chen receives the award during the ceremony presented by Jamie Parsons, board chair of Youth Science Canada on Thursday May 18, 2023, at the Edmonton Convention Centre. Photo credit: Youth Science Canada.
“Canadian students are as inquisitive and creative as ever,” says Reni Barlow, executive director at Youth Science Canada. “Getting back together in person to view these projects and meet the students was an exhilarating experience. Congratulations to all the finalists and those who supported them along their journey of exploration. This year’s event demonstrates yet again the important role that youth play in developing innovative knowledge and solutions that will help future generations.”
Top winners selected by over 238 judges include:
Best Project Awards
Best Project: Discovery
Elizabeth Chen from Edmonton, Alberta, for Optimization of CAR-T Cell Therapy using RNA-Sequencing Analysis for Biomarker Identification.
Best Project: Innovation
Arushi Nath from Toronto, Ontario, for Developing algorithms to determine asteroid’s physical properties and success of deflection missions.
Platinum Awards – Discovery
Best Junior (grade 7/8)
Andrei Marti from Saanichton, British Columbia, for Sweet Scores.
Best Intermediate (grade 9/10)
Noah Bryan from Richmond Hill, Ontario, for The Phage Takes Centre Stage for Water Quality Testing!
Platinum Awards – Innovation
Best Intermediate (grade 9/10)
Yurui Qin from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for A Novel Approach to Using Artificial Intelligence to Aid the Hearing Impaired.
Best Senior (grade 11/12/Cégep)
Moulik Budhiraja and Katelyn Wu from Waterloo, Ontario, for Nail Braille: A Novel Approach Towards Braille Education.
Edmonton, Alberta – Best project award winners and platinum award winners during the awards ceremony on Thursday May 18, 2023, at the Edmonton Convention Centre. From left to right: Jamie Parsons board chair of Youth Science Canada, Arushi Nath, Elizabeth Chen, Moulik Budhiraja, Katelyn Wu, Yurui Qin, Noah Bryan and Andrei Marti. Photo credit: Youth Science Canada.
Some 396 student finalists showcased a total of 340 projects at the fair which has attracted more than 7,000 visitors to the Edmonton Convention Centre in the first two days of public viewing, and more than 10,000 online visitors. The Canada-Wide Science Fair and STEM Expo continue in person, Friday May 19, at the Edmonton Convention Centre until 2:30 p.m. MDT. Projects will remain online for public viewing after the event has concluded.
The 62nd edition of the Canada-Wide Science Fair will take place in Ottawa at Carleton University from May 11-17, 2024.
The public is invited to meet the best project and platinum award winners on Friday, May 19 at 10:00 a.m. MDT. The panel discussion will also be broadcast live at https://www.facebook.com/ysc.sjc/live
Members of the media are also invited to participate.
Winners will also be made available to media throughout the week of May 22, 2023, by contacting Dalia Esposito at [email protected].
Photos and video from the Canada-Wide Science Fair are available here: CWSF 2023 photos and video. The complete list of Canada-Wide Science Fair award recipients will be available at youthscience.ca after 6:30pm MDT.
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About Youth Science Canada
Youth Science Canada fuels the curiosity of Canadian youth through STEM projects. A registered charity incorporated in 1966, YSC delivers on its mission through national programs including mySTEMspace, the National STEM Fair Network, Canada-Wide Science Fair, STEM Expo, Team Canada representation at international fairs and Smarter Science professional development for teachers. Through these programs, YSC provides direct support to the more than 500,000 students who do STEM projects in any given year. For more information, visit youthscience.ca
For more information:
| Dalia Esposito
Torchia Communications Cell: 514-984-4122 |
Sean Cotnam
Torchia Communications Cell: 416-560-9815 |