When he learned he was one of three students who had qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair this year, Aarav Sharma said he was dog-piled by his family members, but that the celebration was only half-hearted.
“It was really late at night so everyone was really tired,” said the Great Mills High School sophomore, whose project titled “Sticky Styrofoam” placed in the top three at the Regional Prince George’s Area Science and Engineering Fair on March 16 after being named one of two senior grand prize winners in first in the 63rd annual St. Mary’s County Science and Engineering Fair held Jan. 27.
The nationals, which will be attended by students from about 80 countries, will be held May 11-17 in Los Angeles, Calif.
“I’m really, really excited,” said the 15-year-old St. Mary’s resident who holds a 4.3 GPA. “I can’t wait. It’s going to be a great experience.”
In an email, he added that “with its reputation as the Olympics of science fairs, gaining admission to ISEF is a highly competitive process, and thus, I was taken aback when my name was called, having not anticipated making it this far.”
Sharma said he came up with his idea because “a major environmental concern that has been plaguing our earth for many years is the non-degradability and low recyclability of styrofoam.”
In an email, he noted approximately 14 million tons of Styrofoam are produced but that most curbside recycling programs are unable to recycle Styrofoam, which leaves less than 1% recycled, so it occupies 25% of landfill space. It can take up to 500 years for Styrofoam to decompose, which causes chemical leaks in the surrounding environment.
A brief about his project said he explored the potential of using D-limonene — which is a non-toxic terpene found in citrus oils — to dissolve the Styrofoam and create a strong glue. He added that “when Styrofoam is dissolved in limonene, it degrades and collapses to a lower volume, leaving behind a sticky, glue-like substance.”
“As styrofoam is not recyclable and poses a threat to the environment,” he said, “I resolved to explore ways to recycle it and convert it from waste into a valuable product.”
At the St. Mary’s science fair earlier this year, Sharma was named one of just two senior grand prize winners, along with Alexandra Clark’s “Forecasting Dengue Fever in the U.S.” Junior grand prize winners were Vivian Carey for “Vitamin D for Dancers: Testing Outdoor Dance Floors” and Catherine Fucito for “Ferromagnetic Effects on Electromagnets.”
“[I was] just a little bit [nervous] because I’ve been doing this since sixth grade,” Sharma said, “so I’m kind of used to it now.”
He also took home first in the senior division’s Earth and Environmental Sciences category, was named one of three winners of the The Patuxent Partnership Senior Division awards and won the The Mike Moses Award for Best Teaching Aid.
“We are incredibly proud of him because this is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity for a kid being in such a small county and making the county proud at an international level,” Sharma’s mother, Ashmi, said. “I think we are curious to know where life takes him next.”
Looking ahead to nationals, Sharma said he was planning to “definitely do more trials and collect more data. I need to know my project completely.”
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