Today I took the Grand Champion award at my high school's science fair for my fusor project.
I also took money prizes for the best physics project and best physical science project.
Thanks to everyone on the Forum and the HEAS folks for all the help and encouragement.
Wish me luck at the York County Science and Engineering Fair in March. The winner there goes to the ISEF.
Archived - Science Fair Results
-
Mike Kovalchick
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:37 pm
- Real name:
Archived - Science Fair Results
- Attachments
-
- IMG_1768.jpg (33.03 KiB) Viewed 4605 times
-
SteveHansen
- Posts: 294
- Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2001 8:37 pm
- Real name:
Re: Science Fair Results
Congratulations and good luck going forward! What state are you in?
-
Mike Kovalchick
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Wed Dec 14, 2011 5:37 pm
- Real name:
Re: Science Fair Results
Thanks Steve.
I live in York County, Pennsylvania
I live in York County, Pennsylvania
Re: Science Fair Results
Congratulations Mike,
Very nice project from the looks of it, and I'd say there's a good likelihood you will make it ISEF.
I went to ISEF with my fusor project last year, and here are some recommendations:
1. Obviously, know every single nook and cranny on your data, apparatus, project, etc. Yet, try not to be overly mechanical when presenting to the judges.
2. Have a good lab notebook, they help a ton.
3. If you make it to ISEF, I highly recommend trading in your normal tri-fold for a "Monster Board". Monster boards are 72" x 42", and fold up for easy carrying. This will allow you to post more data, plots, etc.
4. Lastly, and arguably most importantly, have fun and be enthusiastic about your project! ISEF was one of the best experiences of my life, I got to meet many like minded people, and met many people I've known over the internet for years. Don't get to stressed out by the judging, and be sure to show your enthusiasm about your project to the judges, it really goes a long way.
Hopefully I'll see you there!
-Will Jack
Very nice project from the looks of it, and I'd say there's a good likelihood you will make it ISEF.
I went to ISEF with my fusor project last year, and here are some recommendations:
1. Obviously, know every single nook and cranny on your data, apparatus, project, etc. Yet, try not to be overly mechanical when presenting to the judges.
2. Have a good lab notebook, they help a ton.
3. If you make it to ISEF, I highly recommend trading in your normal tri-fold for a "Monster Board". Monster boards are 72" x 42", and fold up for easy carrying. This will allow you to post more data, plots, etc.
4. Lastly, and arguably most importantly, have fun and be enthusiastic about your project! ISEF was one of the best experiences of my life, I got to meet many like minded people, and met many people I've known over the internet for years. Don't get to stressed out by the judging, and be sure to show your enthusiasm about your project to the judges, it really goes a long way.
Hopefully I'll see you there!
-Will Jack
-
Carl Willis
- Posts: 2841
- Joined: Thu Jul 26, 2001 7:33 pm
- Real name: Carl Willis
- Location: Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
- Contact:
Re: Science Fair Results
Hi Mike,
Good-looking project. As I know from watching your progress, it represents many months of hard work and quite a few obstacles overcome.
In my occasional experiences as a science fair judge, I have given particular scrutiny to the strength of projects' data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Fusors are always engineering-intensive and rightfully impress many people on that account, but to carry the day at upper-level science fairs, you also have to distinguish your project by answering meaningful questions via thoughtful analysis of a carefully-collected body of data. Sounds simple, and I can probably assume you're on top of the game there too, but those ARE the weak points on many projects that showcase outstanding technique. In accordance with the guidelines I am issued, I judge the strength of a project by looking at things like: whether the author considered multiple or alternative explanations for certain results; whether the data set is usefully complete and statistically meaningful; whether the author made attempts to insure repeatability of results; how well the author identified and controlled variables; and in my interviews I look for evidence of "cherry picking" (omission of conflicting results, which is actually pretty common in middle school where a lot of kids simply don't know not to do it). The more you can anticipate this kind of scrutiny, by asking other people to critique your project along the way, the more confidence you can have on "game day".
Best wishes moving forward!
-Carl
Good-looking project. As I know from watching your progress, it represents many months of hard work and quite a few obstacles overcome.
In my occasional experiences as a science fair judge, I have given particular scrutiny to the strength of projects' data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Fusors are always engineering-intensive and rightfully impress many people on that account, but to carry the day at upper-level science fairs, you also have to distinguish your project by answering meaningful questions via thoughtful analysis of a carefully-collected body of data. Sounds simple, and I can probably assume you're on top of the game there too, but those ARE the weak points on many projects that showcase outstanding technique. In accordance with the guidelines I am issued, I judge the strength of a project by looking at things like: whether the author considered multiple or alternative explanations for certain results; whether the data set is usefully complete and statistically meaningful; whether the author made attempts to insure repeatability of results; how well the author identified and controlled variables; and in my interviews I look for evidence of "cherry picking" (omission of conflicting results, which is actually pretty common in middle school where a lot of kids simply don't know not to do it). The more you can anticipate this kind of scrutiny, by asking other people to critique your project along the way, the more confidence you can have on "game day".
Best wishes moving forward!
-Carl
-
John Taylor
- Posts: 97
- Joined: Wed Jun 22, 2011 1:43 pm
- Real name:
- Location: Dardanelle, Arkansas
Re: Science Fair Results
From what I can see in the photo it looks like a really good presentation with lots of data and well organized! Congrats on the local competition and good luck at the county science fair! Good work!!!
-
Richard Hull
- Moderator
- Posts: 15024
- Joined: Fri Jun 15, 2001 9:44 am
- Real name: Richard Hull
Re: Science Fair Results
Another local winner with a fusor. Many congratulates on the effort! Take all Carl said to heart if you make it to the upper levels. The air there is very rarified as only the best of the best make it to the "finals". All the very best of luck.
Richard Hull
Richard Hull
Progress may have been a good thing once, but it just went on too long. - Yogi Berra
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
Fusion is the energy of the future....and it always will be
The more complex the idea put forward by the poor amateur, the more likely it will never see embodiment
-
Jim Kovalchick
- Posts: 717
- Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 8:00 pm
- Real name:
Re: Science Fair Results
Even if Mike goes no further than this win with his project I am very proud of his efforts. As you fusioneers know, many, many hours of study, design, scrounging, construction, testing, broken tungsten wires, smoked film resistors, arcing, x-rays, oil spills, ozone, strange smells, and vacuum leaks go into results for these things. Starting last spring, Mike was determined to make this happen, and to see his fist pump over his first star mode with deuterium made my oversight contributions worthwhile. Both of my kids work very hard at their studies. I am very fortunate.
Mike hasn't had time to read the responses to his post yet because he pulled a near all-nighter lst night getting AP history, honors physics, and AP chemistry homework done. I don't know when he got to bed, but I'm pretty sure it was after 2 am. I mentioned to him that there are both congrats and advice waiting for him on the forum. I know he appreciates it. He told me that in the next month before the county fair he intends to:
1. Eliminate arcing on his inner grid base that he thinks is coming from uneven current loading of the individual grid loops. He is basing his suspicion on observation that one loop glows white earlier than the others and at 20 kV you see small arcs going from one wire to the another at the base. He is going to install a small barrel coupling with set screws to connect the tungsten wires to the feedthrough stem instead of just a tight slip fit into his alumina tube. He thinks this improvement will let him raise his operating voltage.
2. He wants to change the point where his deuterium enters his chamber. Right now his injection is just before his main vacuum valve. He is worried that his deuterium gets pulled out proportionally more than any outgas source. He is basing that on his last run when the chamber flashed at a pressure much lower than he normally sees. The voltage - pressure combination looked more like air than deuterium. His chamber is pretty tight so the outgas and inleakage can't be that bad. I think he said his chamber was less than 900 millitorr after sitting two weeks since he isolated it last. He says he wants to move his gas inlet to the other side of the chamber from the vacuum valve so the gas mixes better before its pulled out. I told him if he doesn't have time to change his port before the county fair, then he should just make sure he operates the chamber with lots of gas flow even if that means wasting a little deuterium.
I appreciate what everyone has done for Mike so far. The support has been very helpful and amazing.
Jim K
Mike hasn't had time to read the responses to his post yet because he pulled a near all-nighter lst night getting AP history, honors physics, and AP chemistry homework done. I don't know when he got to bed, but I'm pretty sure it was after 2 am. I mentioned to him that there are both congrats and advice waiting for him on the forum. I know he appreciates it. He told me that in the next month before the county fair he intends to:
1. Eliminate arcing on his inner grid base that he thinks is coming from uneven current loading of the individual grid loops. He is basing his suspicion on observation that one loop glows white earlier than the others and at 20 kV you see small arcs going from one wire to the another at the base. He is going to install a small barrel coupling with set screws to connect the tungsten wires to the feedthrough stem instead of just a tight slip fit into his alumina tube. He thinks this improvement will let him raise his operating voltage.
2. He wants to change the point where his deuterium enters his chamber. Right now his injection is just before his main vacuum valve. He is worried that his deuterium gets pulled out proportionally more than any outgas source. He is basing that on his last run when the chamber flashed at a pressure much lower than he normally sees. The voltage - pressure combination looked more like air than deuterium. His chamber is pretty tight so the outgas and inleakage can't be that bad. I think he said his chamber was less than 900 millitorr after sitting two weeks since he isolated it last. He says he wants to move his gas inlet to the other side of the chamber from the vacuum valve so the gas mixes better before its pulled out. I told him if he doesn't have time to change his port before the county fair, then he should just make sure he operates the chamber with lots of gas flow even if that means wasting a little deuterium.
I appreciate what everyone has done for Mike so far. The support has been very helpful and amazing.
Jim K