Celebrating the Next Generation of Local Innovators

On Saturday, February 8, at Baldwin High School in Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) held its annual award event. The event brought together talented middle and high school scientists from across Allegheny County to share their presentations and engage with judges, their peers, and the public.

For around ten years, the University of Pittsburgh’s Center for Energy has sponsored two special awards, recognizing a middle and a high school student. Additionally, Pitt’s Brandon Grainger, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and Eaton Faculty Fellow at the Swanson School of Engineering, sponsors a third award in honor of his high school physics teacher, who encouraged him to pursue a career in engineering. 

For Grainger, supporting youth STEM is important and inspiring. He remembers his own experiences at science fairs in middle school, setting up a trifold and possibly answering a few questions if a judge or a teacher walked past. At the PJAS award event, students had created elaborate PowerPoint presentations and discussed their projects and findings to an audience.

Grainger said, “I couldn’t even come up with some of the stuff these students are exploring at their age. One time I remember, around the holidays, asking family members to taste different sodas and identify them. That was my middle school project. Now, these students are implementing machine learning techniques and building drones.”

This year, Grainger recognized an eleventh-grade student who designed five iterations of a drone that could deliver life-saving Naloxone in case an ambulance couldn’t reach an opiate user who had overdosed.

Grainger also awarded a middle school student who had developed a coil and used transformers to see how much voltage would create a spark between the gaps. The project, as Grainger said, “had real, deep industrial applications.”  What especially impressed him was the student’s written reflection. She noted how much she enjoyed the project because it had taught her many things she didn’t know.

In addition to Pitt, other organizations and universities such as Society of Women Engineers, Society of Nuclear Engineers, and Carnegie Mellon University attended and recognized students.

As a graduate from Pittsburgh Public Schools, Grainger understands the importance of events like these. In the last year, the program has been cut back, and Grainger hopes more organizations will get involved and spend a few hours one Saturday of the year to celebrate the next generation of scientists.