Tag Archives: Eric Chen

Canuck amongst Google Science Fair 2013 winners (which include a Yank, an Aussie, and a Turk)

I imagine 15-year old, Ann Makosinski, of Victoria, BC (Canada) has been excited for the last few months as her science idea has progressed from a submission to a semi-finalist to a finalist and, now, winner in her age category in the 2013 Google Science Fair online. A Sept. 24, 2013 news item on the CBC News online website gives details,

Ann Makosinski, 15, a student at St. Michaels University School in Victoria, claimed a trophy made of Lego for the 15-16 age category, at an awards gala Monday night for the international science fair, Google announced. Her prizes are a $25,000 scholarship and a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” from either CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), LEGO or Google.

The flashlight contains devices called Peltier tiles that produce electricity when heated on one side and cooled on the other. Makosinski’s flashlight is hollow, allowing one side of the tiles to be cooled by the surrounding air. The tiles are heated on the other side by the heat from the hand of the person holding the flashlight. That generates enough power to maintain a steady beam of light for 20 minutes.

Here’s a picture of the winners with their ‘Lego’ trophies,

Australian Viney Kumar, Canadian Ann Makosinski of Victoria, B.C., Elif Bilgin of Turkey and American Eric Chen, left to right, took home trophies at the Google Science Fair's gala award ceremony Monday night in California.  Courtesy Google

Australian Viney Kumar, Canadian Ann Makosinski of Victoria, B.C., Elif Bilgin of Turkey and American Eric Chen, left to right, took home trophies at the Google Science Fair’s gala award ceremony Monday night in California. Courtesy Google

The Sept. 23, 2013 posting by Clare Conway on Google’s official blog provides more details about this year’s contest and the other winners,

The top 15 projects were selected from thousands of entries submitted by talented young scientists from more than 120 countries around the world. These projects were impressive and represented a vast range of scientific ingenuity—from a multi-step system created for early diagnosis of melanoma cancers to the invention of a metallic exoskeleton glove that assists, supports and enhances the movement of the human palm to help people who suffer from upper hand disabilities.

It was a tough decision, but we’re proud to name the three winners of this year’s Google Science Fair:

The fourth winner, Elif Bilgin of  Turkey, won the Scientific American (SA magazine) award, from the SA June 27, 2013 press release,

On Thursday, June 27, Elif Bilgin, 16, from Turkey, was declared the winner of the second annual Scientific American Science in Action Award, powered by the Google Science Fair. Bilgin won for her project, Going Bananas! Using Banana Peels in the Production of Bio-Plastic as a Replacement for Traditional Petroleum-Based Plastic. In addition to the $50,000 prize, Bilgin will have access to a year’s mentorship and is invited to Google’s California headquarters in September to compete in the 15-to-16-year-old age category in the overall Google Science Fair.

According to Conway’s posting on the official blog, Bilgin also won the Voter’s Choice award.

Congratulations to all of the entrants!