EC Sixth Grader Wins at Pittsburgh Science & Engineering Fair

Sydney Lukus, an Evans City Middle School sixth grader, was the overall Junior Division Student Winner at the Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair held April 4-5, at Heinz Field.

Sydney's project, "Is Greener Cleaner? The Dirty Truth About Hand Soaps," also won first place in the Junior Consumer Science Division, and she received a sponsor award from the Allegheny County Medical Society Alliance and a Collegiate Award from Chatham College.

She also won first place in the Junior Consumer Science Division, and she received a sponsor award from the Allegheny County Medical Society Alliance and a Collegiate Award from Chatham College.

As the Junior Division Student Winner, Sydney will be recognized along with the winners of both the Intermediate and Senior Divisions at the Carnegie Science Awards on May 9, at Carnegie Musical Hall in Oakland.  During the awards, she will have the opportunity to meet some of the regions leading scientists. As one of the category winners, Sydney has also been nominated for the 2008 Society for Science & the Public Middle School Program, which is the only national competition designed exclusively for fifth through eighth grade science fair participants.

Sydney's project explored which hand soap, Tom's of Maine Natural Moisturizing Lavender hand soap, Pomegranate Mango SoftSoap or antibacterial SoftSoap, was most effective at removing bacteria from hands after touching two common household contaminants; ground beef and paper currency. She also researched the antibacterial ingredient, Triclosan, and discussed its potential to cause antibiotic resistance and environmental harm through entry into the water supply.

More than 1,000 students from more than 100 schools across Western Pennsylvania competed for $750,000 in cash prizes and scholarships at this year's Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair.  Selected high school winners from the regional competition will now travel to Atlanta in May to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.  In addition to the high school competitors, selected middle school students have been nominated to compete in the Society for Science & the Public Middle School program in Washington, D.C. in October.

The Pittsburgh Regional Science and Engineering Fair, a program of the Carnegie Science Center's SciTech Initiative, has been a Pittsburgh tradition since 1940.  It is the third oldest science fair in the United States under the affiliation of the Society for Science & the Public (formerly Science Service, Inc.)