Ottawa, October 5, 2021 – Youth Science Canada, Canada’s national organization engaging youth through science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) projects announces that Hardit Singh and Calvin Karthik have won awards at this year’s EU Contest for Young Scientists. Hardit Singh won second prize for his teleophthalmology project and Calvin Karthik won a special award for his biogas production project.

EUCYS took place from September 17 to 19 and was hosted virtually in Salamanca, Spain. The 158 young scientists, aged between 14 and 20 years, competed from 34 countries across Europe and around the world. Due to the pandemic-related postponement of the 2020 event, this year’s event combined contestants from 2020 and 2021.

The students presented 114 different projects to an international jury of renowned scientists, chaired by Dr. Attila Borics from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. The winners were announced in a virtual award ceremony held via Zoom. More than 40 core and specially donated prizes were given to participants at this year’s EUCYS.

“Congratulations, Hardit and Calvin, for your accomplishment at EUCYS,” said Reni Barlow, executive director at Youth Science Canada. “Each year, with the generous support of Youth Can Innovate, the winners of the Best Project (Discovery) and Best Project (Innovation) Awards at the Canada-Wide Science Fair represent Canada at EUCYS.”

Hardit Singh’s project entitled ‘Speculor: A Comprehensive Platform for People-Centered Eyecare’ won six awards at the 2021 Canada-Wide Science Fair including a Gold Medal, the Centre for Canadian Nuclear Sustainability Award, a York University STEM Entrepreneur Experience Scholarship Award, the intermediate Disease and Illness Challenge Award, a Youth Can Innovate Award and the Best Project Award (Innovation).

Calvin Karthik’s project entitled ‘A Mighty Mushroom and the Power of Poop: Testing Biogas Production using Spent Mushroom Substrate Phase 2’ won four awards at the 2021 Canada-Wide Science Fair including a Gold Medal, the intermediate Energy Challenge Award, the Renewable Energy Award and the Best Project Award (Discovery).

“We encourage students with a passion for STEM to create a project and enter it at their regional science fair,” said Barlow. “We hope to see Canada come out on top again next year, thanks to our talented youth with an interest in STEM.”

Next year, EUCYS will take place in Leiden, Netherlands.

Canada-Wide Science Fair 2022 – the event’s 60th edition – will be held virtually, May 16 to 20, 2022, hosted by Fredericton, New Brunswick.

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 youth STEM competitions and events, and Smarter Science professional development for teachers. Through these programs, YSC provides support to the more than 500,000 students who create STEM projects in any given year.

About European Union Contest for Young Scientists
The European Union Contest for Young Scientists was set up by the European Commission in 1989 to encourage co-operation and exchange between young scientists and to give them an opportunity to be guided by some of Europe’s most prominent researchers. Every year, the event gathers promising young scientists from all over Europe and beyond, to present their projects to a panel of international judges. Only projects that have won a first prize at a national science competition are invited to participate at EUCYS. For more information, please visit eucys2021.usal.es.

For more information, please contact:
Samiha Fariha
Torchia Communications
Cell: (647) 268-6687
[email protected]