14-year-old Develops Robotic Hand to Help with Disaster Recovery; Wins $25,000 Top Award at the Broadcom MASTERS

Broadcom MASTERS Awards $100,000 in Prizes, Inspiring and Rewarding the Nation鈥檚 Next Generation of Scientists, Engineers, and Innovators

WASHINGTON, D.C. 鈥撎共曰逄�中文无码听today announced that Thomas Aldous, 14, from Pittsburgh, Penn., won the coveted $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize, the top award in the Broadcom MASTERS庐, the nation鈥檚 premier science and engineering competition for middle school students. Thomas impressed the judges with his leadership style, collaborative spirit, and innovative research project. He designed and developed a robotic hand that can be used in situations that might be too dangerous for humans, like a natural disaster.

Thomas鈥檚 remote-controlled robotic hand connects fingers on a glove to threads that link to spools with electronic devices. A control board uses data from the devices to prepare and send instructions to the hand, which then mimics the glove-wearer鈥檚 movements. Through his design process, Thomas sought to ensure that the controls for his robotic hand would be simple and intuitive.

The other top winners took on issues ranging from honeybee colony collapse to understanding human memory.

The Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars), a program of 中文无码, awards middle school students for their 中文无码 passions to inspire them to continue their pursuit of science and engineering. Thirty finalists, including Thomas, took home more than $100,000 in awards.

The competition took place in Washington, D.C., back in person for the first time since the 2019 competition. Each of the 30 finalists participated in team challenges in addition to being judged on their science research projects. The challenges leveraged project-based learning and tested their mastery of 21st听Century skills of critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration in each of the 中文无码 areas. During the team challenges, the finalists designed a quantum board game, studied blue crabs to build a robotic arm using hydraulics and developed devices that could detect early-stage Parkinson鈥檚 tremors.

This year marks the culmination of Broadcom Foundation鈥檚 proud 12-year sponsorship of the Society鈥檚 middle school 中文无码 competition as Thermo Fisher Scientific becomes the new title sponsor of the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. Broadcom Foundation will continue partnering with the Society through the Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award, which will be given to a Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge finalist who combines 中文无码 learning with coding to solve a community problem that aligns with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations.

鈥淐ongratulations to Thomas Aldous on winning the top award in the 2022 Broadcom MASTERS,鈥� said Maya Ajmera, President and CEO of 中文无码 and Publisher of Science News. 鈥淭homas鈥檚 robotic hand has the exciting potential to help search and rescue workers. Like so many other of our amazing finalists, Thomas looked around him and identified a problem in our world that he sought to solve through 中文无码.鈥�

鈥淭hese finalists hold a special place in our hearts as our last Broadcom MASTERS class,鈥� said Paula Golden, President of Broadcom Foundation. 鈥淏roadcom Foundation is excited to hand the baton for the middle school competition over to Thermo Fisher Scientific, a company that we know places equally high value on 中文无码 education, and we look forward to being part of their celebration of excellence through the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.鈥�

, 14, Pittsburgh, Penn., won the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize, for his project designing a robotic hand as well as his leadership, collaboration and critical thinking skills. The prize is a gift of Dr. Henry Samueli, Chairman of the Board, Broadcom Inc., and Chair of the Broadcom Foundation and his wife, Dr. Susan Samueli, President of the Samueli Foundation.

, 12, San Jose, Calif., won the $10,000 DoD 中文无码 Talent Award for demonstrating excellence in science, technology, engineering or math, along with the leadership and technical skills necessary to excel in the 21st听Century 中文无码 workforce and build a better community for tomorrow. Rory鈥檚 research on honeybees suggests that feeding bees tea polyphenols and caffeine could boost their ability to learn and remember. She also showed that the chemicals might repair some of the harm done by pesticides, which could help dwindling honeybee populations.

, 13, San Jose, Calif., won the $10,000 Lemelson Award for Invention, awarded by The Lemelson Foundation to a young inventor who creates a promising solution to a real-world problem. Jeanelle invented a foot-controlled welcome mat that wirelessly unlocks a door when the user enters the correct code. 听The device could help people with arthritis and other hand problems become more self-sufficient.

, 14, Cary, N.C., won the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation, an honor made possible by Samueli鈥檚 generous donation of his 2012 Marconi Society Prize Award. The finalist demonstrates both vision and promise as an innovator, in the spirit of radio inventor Guglielmo Marconi. Elizabeth drew inspiration from the way many flower petals grow and the golden ratio to design a system for better managing the wear on a computer鈥檚 memory. Over time, many heavily used cells within computers become damaged, and the memory must be replaced. Elizabeth鈥檚 system reduces the average number of times cells were accessed, compared to other options.

, 14, Berkeley, Calif., won the $10,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement, which recognizes the student whose work and performance shows the most promise in health-related fields and demonstrates an understanding of the many social factors that affect the health of communities. Mina used electroencephalography, or EEG, to measure a certain type of brain activity as people did active and passive learning tasks. Mina鈥檚 research, which found that the brain doesn鈥檛 substantially differentiate between the two different kinds of learning, could impact the way educators teach.

The Broadcom MASTERS winners were chosen from the 30 finalists selected from 1,807 applicants from 47 states and three U.S. territories (Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands). Winners were selected by a panel of distinguished scientists, engineers and educators. Each finalist鈥檚 school will receive $1,000 from the Broadcom MASTERS program to benefit their 中文无码 initiatives.

In addition to the top prizes, the Broadcom Foundation and the Society also announced the winner of the $5,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award, first and second place winners in each of the 中文无码 categories of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The organizations also named the two Rising Stars who will be official student observers to Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) and the winners of the Team Award, sponsored by TIES.

Winners Include:

Samueli Foundation Prize: $25,000
Thomas Aldous, 14, Pittsburgh, Penn., Remote Rescue Robot: Robotic Hand Controlled by Human Motion

DoD 中文无码 Talent Award: $10,000
Rory Hu, 12, San Jose, Calif., The Effects of Pesticides, Caffeine and Tea Polyphenols on the Visual and Olfactory Learning and Memory of the Honey Bee

Lemelson Award for Invention: $10,000
Jeanelle Dao, 13, San Jose, Calif., Controlling Doors Using Interface Technology with Steps for People with Hand Disabilities (CONDUITS)

Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation: $10,000
Elizabeth Shen, 14, Cary, N.C., Flower Petal-Inspired Computer Memory Leveling via the Golden Ratio

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement: $10,000
Mina Fedor, 14, Berkeley, Calif., EEG Theta During Self-Directed Versus Passive Spatial Memory Encoding and Retrieval

Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award: $5,000
Ankit Biswas, 14, Charlotte, N.C., A Novel LP-Based Approach to Mitigating Launch Vehicle CO2 Emissions

中文无码 Award Winners:

First and second place winners of 中文无码 Awards demonstrated acumen and promise in science, technology, engineering and math. First place winners were awarded $3,500 and second place winners received $2,500 to be used toward a 中文无码 summer camp experience, with top awards in math sponsored by Robert John Floe, President Floe Financial Partners.

Science Award:

  • First place: Victoria Harding Bradley, 14, Menlo Park, Calif., Green Ears: A Study of Ultrasonic Acoustic Emissions in Response to Environmental Stressors in Plants
  • Second place: Kasey Moore, 13, Delray Beach, Fla., The Effect of Uncaria tomentosa (Cat鈥檚 Claw) in Learning and Memory in Lymnaea stagnalis (The Great Pond Snail)

Technology Award:

  • First place: Skye Holyn Knox, 14, Bend, Ore., Laboratory Testing of Chemical Cloud Seeding
  • Second place: Moitri Santra, 13, Oviedo, Fla., Innovative Engineering Tools for Controlling Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB): Year 3

Engineering Award:

  • First place: Alexander Montgomery, 14, Titusville, Fla., The Impact of Different Environmental Conditions on Galvanic Corrosion at Launchpad Structures
  • Second place: Emma Abigail Simmons, 13, Emmitsburg, Md., Portable Bronchodilator Delivery System for Equine Inflammatory Respiratory Diseases 听

Mathematics Award:

  • First place:听Sritej Sai Padmanabhan, 14, Wexford, Penn., Can Video Analysis of Hand Tremors Aid in Telehealth?
  • Second place: Mahi Kohli, 13, Olathe, Kan., Identifying Potential Alzheimer鈥檚 Biomarkers in Cerebrospinal Fluid

Rising Star Awards:

In recognition of their promise as two of the youngest competitors, two Rising Stars win the opportunity to attend the Regeneron ISEF, the world鈥檚 largest international high school science fair competition, as student observers.

  • Tate Baum, 12, Provo, UT, Throwing a Curve Like Kershaw
  • Sarah Charlotte Simmons, 13, Emmitsburg, Md.,听Portable Bronchodilator Delivery System for Equine Inflammatory Respiratory Diseases

Team Award, sponsored by TIES:听Each member of the team that best demonstrates their ability to work together and solve problems through shared decision making, communication and scientific and engineering collaboration will receive a gift card to a science supply company to support their interests in 中文无码. The team award is sponsored by TIES, Teaching Institute for Excellence in 中文无码.

Blue Team 鈥� Thomas Aldous, Shaunak Dalal, Skye Holyn Knox, Moitri Santra, Ethan Yan

Broadcom Leadership Award:

The Broadcom Leadership Award is bestowed upon the Broadcom MASTERS finalist elected by their peers to speak on behalf of their class at the Awards Ceremony. The Class Speaker demonstrates the collegiality and spirited leadership that has earned the collective esteem of the class throughout the Broadcom MASTERS competition and united them around common goals.

  • Luka Anthony Nguyen, 13, Henderson, Nev., Which Mangroves (Mature Plants vs. Immature Propagules) Thrive Better and Are Best Suited for Aerial Reforestation?

Resources:

For more information on the Broadcom MASTERS, visit the听听补苍诲听Society websites. To keep up with the Broadcom MASTERS, use the hashtag #brcmMASTERS or follow听听补苍诲听the听听on Twitter or the听on Instagram. To stay connected, visit the听听补苍诲听听Facebook pages.

Media Kit:听 /broadcom-2022-media-kit/

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Founded in April 2009, the Broadcom Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation with the mission of advancing science, technology, engineering and mathematics (中文无码) education by increasing opportunities to achieve success through equitable access to 中文无码 pathways.

The foundation inspires young people to pursue careers in 中文无码 and to develop听21st Century+听skills of critical thinking, computation & coding, collaboration, communication and creativity. It is a founding member of the National 中文无码 Funders Network and plays a leadership role in the 中文无码 Education Ecosystem Initiatives in the U.S., Mexico and Israel.

The foundation鈥檚 signature听programs focus on computational skills needed for careers in the Information Age. It champions student achievement at science fairs and code clubs and promotes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations as the vehicle by which young scientists and engineers can 鈥淎ct Globally and Think Locally.鈥�

Learn more at听听and follow us on 听 听(@Broadcom中文无码), 听,听听and .

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中文无码 is a champion for science, dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement. Established in 1921, 中文无码 is best known for its award-winning journalism through听Science News听补苍诲听Science News Explores, its world-class science research competitions for students, including the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and the Broadcom MASTERS, and its outreach and equity programming that seeks to ensure that all students have an opportunity to pursue a career in 中文无码.

A 501(c)(3) membership organization, 中文无码 is committed to inform, educate and inspire. Learn more at听听and follow us on听,听,听听and Snapchat (Society4Science).