By Lori BODNAR, intern

Mahesh Arunachalam and Mihir Manchikatla, two seventh grade students attending Rosemont Middle School, recently placed in the Top 300 National Winners for the Broadcom MASTERS national STEM competition. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math.

The Broadcom MASTERS is a program supported by the Society for Science & the Public, which seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve the challenges of the 21st century. The Broadcom MASTERS is a science and engineering competition for middle school students. The Top 300 represent the best of all science fair participants across the country. The students were chosen from over 2,500 middle school applicants (grades six to eight) from 35 states, including students from public, private, charter and home schools. The top 30 students will travel to Washington, D.C. for a four-day STEM competition with more than $100,000 in awards and prizes.

Mihir and Mahesh first submitted their team project, “Seal that Mask! An Effective Solution to Improve Dust Masks,” to the Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair (LACSEF) in March while they were sixth grade students at Mountain Avenue Elementary. The pair won second place in the Environmental Management Junior Division at LACSEF, and also won a special award from the Office of Naval Research and Ricoh America’s Corp. Their win at LACSEF qualified them to compete at both the California State Science Fair (CSSF) and the Broadcom MASTERS, where they have now placed in the Top 300 winners nationwide.

In some cities across the world, people in cars can barely see in front of them and there are many car crashes due to the smog. The smog has a significant impact on health and respiratory disorders, particularly in the young and the elderly.

“We wanted to do something to help deal with the air pollution. We wanted to have a solution to the air pollution,” said Mahesh. “We tested the masks already being used and they only came in one size, so the masks didn’t work so well [for everybody]. We made a seal to make the masks more effective.”

The seal involved using a sponge on existing masks to create a better suction that would work across a variety of face types to reduce the inhalation of harmful air pollutants and particulates.

Mihir and Mahesh wanted to attend the LACSEF, CSSF and then the Broadcom MASTERS nationals because they wanted to get more experience.

“We wanted to get a lot of experience and we are very passionate about science,” said Mihir. “We wanted to go to the next level. We went to the Los Angeles County Fair and got an invitation to go to the Broadcom nationals. If we make it to the Top 30, we can go to Washington, D.C. and compete for prizes.”

“Broadcom was different than other fairs,” Mihir added. “The Broadcom application asked a lot about personality and the project. The application asked to know about many aspects of the applicants to choose the finalists.”

Mihir and Mahesh enjoyed working on the project as well as going to the Los Angeles County Science and Engineering Fair, California State Science Fair and the Broadcom Nationals.

“My favorite part of the experience was working together and working hard. We learned how to help people and this experience will help us later in life,” said Mahesh. “We got to represent our school and the Glendale Unified School District.”
Mihir and Mahesh also gave advice to people who want to participate in fairs such as the Los Angeles County Science & Engineering Fair and Broadcom MASTERS.

“In order to participate in these big fairs, you have to be passionate and try to solve a major problem,” said Mihir. “Don’t ever give up.”

“We have to be very patient and try many times,” added Mahesh.

They plan to go into the science and engineering fields for their career. Mahesh said he would like to go into the medical field.

“I learned a lot from this experience, which would help me to become a doctor,” said Mahesh.

“I would like to follow in my dad’s footsteps and be an engineer,” said Mihir of future plans.

The two are enjoying their prize package earned from placing in the Top 300 in the Broadcom MASTERS, which includes award ribbons, certificates, an invention journal, a subscription to Science News magazine, a subscription to Wolfram Mathematica software, and a Broadcom MASTERS backpack and decal.

They thanked their families for supporting them and extended special thanks to Mountain Avenue School principal Jaclyn Scott and Mountain Avenue teacher Christina Haydt, who was their site-coordinator. Additional thanks for project mentoring were given to Christina Harada, the former chief sustainability officer of the United States, and Alamelu Arunachalam, a member of the CVHS Academy of Science and Medicine.

  Lori BODNAR