Cosgriff students capture top science fair awards

IC file photo

+ Enlarge

SALT LAKE CITY — Two eighth-grade students at J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School took the top two awards at the 2018 Salt Lake Diocesan Science Fair sponsored by the Utah Knights of Columbus.

The fair was held Feb. 10 at the Skaggs Catholic Center.

Jack Saber won the Top Scientist award. In doing so, he also collected the overall eighth-grade award, the engineering award and the first place eighth-grade engineering award. His project sought to address a critical environmental issue: the cleanup of oil spills.

Jack’s father, Lee Saber, works as an attorney for an India-based company, so Jack is unusually aware of environmental conditions in that country, he said. After several conversations with his father’s friend Subhidip Sarker, who works for the same company, Jack said he became aware that, with a challenged economy and few resources, India experiences many oil spills that they struggle to remediate.

Jack began to research the subject and enlisted help from Sarker, Jonathan Tuttle of the Granite Technical Institute and University of Utah Professor Jennifer Weidhaas to come up with a solution. After consulting with the experts, Jack decided to test several strategies and eventually settled on a process that uses magnetic nanoparticles to remove oil from water.

Using particles harvested from rocks like lodestone, along with oleic acid, Jack was able to separate oil from water with a centrifuge he purchased on eBay.

The experiment was very effective.

“It removed 99 percent of the oil,” Jack said, adding that he would like to see his solution implemented in the real world.

“It would be cool to share it with a big company, to see if they could adopt it in some way,” he said.

Last year Jack took third place at the diocesan fair in his category and advanced to the University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair, where he took fourth place in his category.

“I like science,” Jack said. “It’s interesting to see how things work, to get to know how the earth really works.”

Next year, Jack will move on to Judge Memorial Catholic High School. For college, he is considering several universities, including University of Texas, Austin, Stanford or the University of Southern California, where he would like to study environmental science or law.

At the diocesan fair Jack received trophies, certificates and cash awards. He will advance to the University of Utah Science and Engineering Fair (previously called the Salt Lake Valley Science and Engineering Fair), which will be March 20-22.

Another Cosgriff eighth-grader, Georgia Stockham, received the Astronomy Recognition Award at the Diocesan Science Fair for her project, which used spectroscopy and algebraic equations to measure the size, distance and chemical composition of the stars Rigel and Betelgeuse.

She chose her project as a tribute to her paternal grandfather, Thomas Greenway Stockham, a former University of Utah professor who, she said, had a fascination with astronomy.

“I didn’t think I would be able to accomplish it,” Georgia said of the task she had set herself. “But working with a University of Utah professor, I was able to. It showed me what I could really do.”

Although Georgia qualified for the University of Utah fair, she will be unable to attend.

Georgia’s prize from the Diocesan Science Fair was a telescope, which was donated by Tom Sevick, a Knight and St. Vincent de Paul parishioner.

Cosgriff science teacher Jim Larson said both Jack and Georgia began their projects early and both listened to his “earnest request” to consult experts in the field. Along with helping them with their projects, this allowed the students to do some career exploration, he said.

“Both are extraordinarily dedicated students,” he said. “They are also very active in extracurricular activities and have strong time management skills.”

Larson, who won the national Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching in 2012, said his teaching philosophy is to encourage a hands-on approach in which students gather empirical data while making real-world connections. He is quick to downplay his role in Jack and Georgia’s success and said that it is shared by the all the elementary and middle school teachers they have had.

Seven other J.E. Cosgriff students received special recognition or first-place awards at the Diocesan Science Fair: Leya Joseph, Ian Conner, Nico Morton, Violetta Wharton, AJ Warden, Lanee Farr and Charlie Leo.