Juniors John Bandek, Bhavin Shah, and freshman Brijal Shah participated in this year’s Los Angeles Science Fair, held at the Pasadena Convention Center, on March 17-19.  Bhavin Shah won second place in engineering research for his project on finding alternative materials for future batteries. Among the 1,000 participants, Shah not only won second place, but is also advancing on to the state level on May 23 and 24.

The fair was held over a three-day period. On the first day, students set up their boards and projects, and on the following day was the actual science fair. Participants were interviewed by judges to determine whether they would be finalists, and were awarded at the awards ceremony which was held on the last day.

The fair showcases middle and high school student projects in the science or engineering field. This year there were nearly 1,000 participants, each formulating research or producing a product.

Bandek and Brijal Shah were both recognized for their project on combating cyber crime.  “There was a lot of very good competition,” Bandek said.

Bhavin Shah also created a Science Fair Club at Clark whose goal was to think of a project for the fair. Shah’s goal was to address the safety and reliability of current batteries, and find a way to improve them. “I wanted to know how batteries work at a molecular level,” Shah said.

“I started working on this project during the summer and advancing onto the state level felt satisfying, and all my efforts felt recognized. I am very grateful to everyone who helped me.”