Science fair competitors, friends named to Team Canada

Two longtime science fair competitors and friends from Sarnia are teaming up to help represent Canada at a prestigious international science, technology, engineering and math competition.

Krish Modi and Annabelle Rayson are two of eight Team Canada members recently named by Youth Science Canada for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), May 14-19 in Dallas, Texas.

“It feels very good to represent the county and Canada,” said Modi, 17.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

His and Rayson’s respective projects earned them wins at last year’s national science fair competition in Canada, after they first went to nationals on respective projects four years ago, Rayson said.

“So for me, it’s actually amazing that we’re both doing our last science fair together internationally,” said the Grade 12 student at St. Pat’s.

They’re also neighbors and together helped judge this year’s Lambton County Science Fairthey said.

It’ll be Rayson’s third appearance for Team Canada after last year also winning the Stockholm Junior Water Prize and placing third at the European Union Contest for Young Scientists in the Netherlands in September.

She said she’s excited for this opportunity.

“I always love science fairs,” she said.

“It’s where I met my best friends and the most interesting people, and it gives me the chance to talk about my favorite thing, my project and research on treating, preventing harmful algae blooms.”

That project —Plankton Wars: An Innovative Analysis of Daphnia Genotype Biomanipulation for Algae Bloom Prevention — took two years of daily research in her basement and was an incredible experience, she said.

“I got to learn many new skills,” she said.

Modi’s — Pee Xylophone: A Novel Non-Invasive System to Measure Bladder Pressure — was inspired after his grandfather underwent a painful urodynamics test when being diagnosed with prostate cancer, he said.

“So I invented a non-invasive alternative,” the Northern Collegiate Grade 12 student said, noting he has a provisional patent on the device that measures urine-stream strength to calculate bladder pressure.

“I’m also in talks with a research clinic in London for performing medical trials and I’m hoping they start sometime this year,” he said.

There were 96 applicants for the Canada’s ISEF team, Youth Science Canada said in a news release.

Rayson and Modi are both preparing for post-secondary studies next fall, though neither said they’ve picked where they’ll attend yet.

Both also have significant cash prize and scholarship money from their past wins.

Rayson is planning to study either environmental or integrated sciences, while Modi is planning to study software engineering or computer science.

The ISEF is one of the largest science fairs in the world with around 2,000 participants, Rayson said, adding she’s also looking forward to meeting and interacting with teams from other countries.

A team of 10 from Canada last year earned seven grand awards and two special awards at a hybrid version of the fair in Atlanta, Ga., Youth Canada Science officials said.