El Dorado High School sophomores Mia Barron and Jordan Lozano wanted to test whether the material of an acoustic guitar affected its sound.
To satisfy their curiosity, Barron, a student in El Dorado’s welding program, decided to weld a guitar using steel and model it after Lozano’s acoustic guitar. Their goal was to find out whether an acoustic guitar made of wood would sound different from one made of metal.
“(Lozano) gave me ideas because I didn't know what to do, and I was a little bit lost,” Barron said. “He plays guitar, so he told me where things go, and I welded the guitar.”
Barron spent three months welding and sanding the guitar to make its surface smooth. She also adjusted the tuning pegs to ensure the guitar could be tuned properly. In addition, she determined the right size for the frets so that the strings would be even and welded the nut to ensure that the strings would go straight down the guitar neck.
They were thrilled when Lozano played the metal guitar for the first time. Aside from a buzzing sound, it played almost as well as a real guitar.
Judges at the Socorro Independent School District's high school science fair on Jan. 27 were also impressed with Barron and Lozano’s guitar. Their project earned second place in the materials science category.
Lozano and Barron were grateful to their science teacher for supporting their project.
“Mr. Medina gave us the motivation,” Lozano said. This was the first time he and Barron competed in a science fair. “He saw the idea that we had, and he knew that we were going to go far with it, and we did it.”
About 158 high school students showcased their science projects at the annual districtwide fair. Projects were divided into 21 categories under life science, physical science and engineering. First, second, and third-place winners were announced in each category along with three individual sweepstakes winners and a campus sweepstakes winner.
Cindy Apodaca, SISD secondary science instructional officer, said the science fair was an opportunity for students to explore their interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and showcase their ideas.
“They're doing research on topics that even us as adults wouldn't think of,” Apodaca said. “They're creating prototypes; they're creating models that could someday be something big. I think it's really important, and I think it's really neat for these students to have so many interests in science, in the STEM field, because that is where our future is headed.”
While many of the projects were new, others have been improved over time, Apodaca said.
One such project was a user-friendly medication dispenser created by Americas High School junior Maya Cosette Ruiz to improve medication adherence among older adults. Ruiz started working on the project during her freshman year of high school, where she made a prototype out of a cardboard box and soda lids. After competing at the high school science fair, her project went on to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair in 2022.
The following year, Ruiz improved her design. She 3D printed the device and programmed its servo motors to deliver the medications. As a result, Ruiz captured the sweepstakes award in the engineering division at the 2023 science fair.
At this year’s science fair, Ruiz took her design one step further. She began developing an app that would connect to the dispenser using Bluetooth technology. Once again, her hard work paid off as she won the sweepstakes award in the engineering category.
Ruiz said the science fair was a good opportunity for her to use her coding skills to help solve a real-world issue, which is something she aspires to do after she graduates high school.
“I definitely want to go into computer science (after high school),” Ruiz said. “I really like coding, and I want to do something in that realm, but I want to make sure that what I do with coding is meaningful and has some sort of impact.”
2023-24 SISD High School Science Fair Winners
Campus Sweepstakes Winner
Mission Early College High School
Sweepstakes Winners
Life Science (Translational Medical Science)
Maya Martinez and Careena Pena, Americas High School
Physical Science (Biochemistry)
Tiffany Gavaldon, Mandana Kargar and Belen Martinez, Montwood High School
Engineering (Embedded Systems)
Maya Cosette Ruiz, Americas High School
Animal Sciences
1st place – Sophia Arellano, Americas High School
2nd place – Rosemary Zuniga, Mission Early College
3rd place – Leila Gutierrez, Pebble Hills High
Behavioral and Social Sciences
1st place – Oscar Piñal-Rivera, Eastlake High School
2nd place – Christina Thai, Americas High School
3rd place – Victoria Lopez and Zada-Caresse Pomele, Mission Early College
Biochemistry
1st place – Tiffany Gavaldon, Mandana Kargar and Belen Martinez, Montwood High School
2nd place – Noelly Briseño, Amanda Medina and Angela Rodriguez, Americas High School
3rd place – Abdiel Rincon and Christopher Sandate, Americas High School
Biomedical and Health Sciences
1st place – Danna Hernandez and Alessandra Ochoa, Mission Early College
2nd place – Toreto Maldonado and Andrea Yu, Eastlake High School
3rd place – Desiree Beard and Jocelyn Saucedo, Pebble Hills High School
Biomedical Engineering
1st place – Amy Chacon and Carla Radell, Americas High School
2nd place – Keira Jensen, Montwood High School
3rd place – Victor Garcia III, El Dorado High School
Cellular and Molecular Biology
1st place – Seraphine Martin and Itzel Sarmiento, Pebble Hills High School
2nd place – Alejandra Rodriguez, Americas High School
3rd place – Luisa Valadez, Ana Valadez and Vanessa Villagomez, Pebble Hills High School
Chemistry
1st place – Sarah Juarez and Aislinn Reyes Conder, Americas High School
2nd place – Alexandra Longoria, El Dorado High School
3rd place – Jacob Lopez and Angela Rodriguez, Mission Early College
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
1st place – Evelyn Fang and Nicole Fonseca, Mission Early College
2nd place – Carolina Garcia, Americas High School
3rd place – Andres Valle, Montwood High School
Earth and Environment Sciences
1st place – Saul Castañeda and Elva Torres, Mission Early College
2nd place – Emily Dubrule, Eastlake High School
3rd place – Dayseth Retana, Montwood High School
Embedded Systems
1st place – Maya Cosette Ruiz, Americas High School
2nd place – Kyle Gordon and Jordaine Stevens, El Dorado High School
3rd place – Elio Gonzalez, El Dorado High School
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
1st place – Andrea Moreno-Granados, Mission Early College
2nd place – Nathan Briggs and Gael Mena, Americas High School
3rd place – Sarina Morales and Anelle Perales-Hudson, Mission Early College
Engineering Technology: Statistics and Dynamics
1st place – Jaden Ruiz and Jerri-Leah Talamantes, Mission Early College
2nd place – Carlos Mora, Mission Early College
3rd place – Leon Raymundo, El Dorado High School
Environmental Engineering
1st place – Zoey Lasch, Eastlake High School
2nd place – Johanna Serrano, Americas High School
3rd place – Jazlyn Ricarte, Mission Early College
Materials Science
1st place – Sebastian Garica-Bracho, Americas High School
2nd place – Mia Barron and Jordan Lozano, El Dorado High School
3rd place – Antonio Rivera Luevanos, Eastlake High School
Mathematics
1st place – Amber Soto, El Dorado High School
2nd place – Diego Sifuentes, Mission Early College
3rd place – Brylee Burnette and Adria Dominguez, Eastlake High School
Microbiology
1st place – Sofia Pinon, Socorro High School
2nd place – Alexa Martinez and Pamela Pinal-Rivera, Mission Early College
3rd place – Julia Macias, Jessica Rodriguez and Emily Sanchez, Pebble Hills High School
Physics and Astronomy
1st place – Jeffrey Mendez, Eastlake High School
2nd place – Isabella Padilla, Issabella Soper and Angel Stephani, Pebble Hills High School
3rd place – Brandon Ortiz and Karyme Vasquez, Eastlake High School
Plant Sciences
1st place – Cassandra Stevens-Manjarrez and Fernanda Vargas, Mission Early College
2nd place – Sergio Cordova, Americas High School
3rd place – Danika Navarrete, El Dorado High School
Robotics and Intelligent Machines
1st place – Simarghit Garcia and Diego Saucedo, Pebble Hills High School
Systems Software
1st place – Mercedes Lopez, Socorro High School
2nd place – Sapien Saldivar, Mission Early College
3rd place – Abigail Reyes, Mission Early College
Translational Medical Science
1st place – Maya Martinez and Careena Peña, Americas High School
2nd place – Kamea Guadian, Mission Early College
3rd place – Zoe Zuniga, Americas High School