Several Alachua County Public Schools (ACPS) students earned top honors and recognition at the State Science and Engineering Fair, held March 31-April 2 in Lakeland.  

Aradhya Kasala, an eighth grader in Howard Bishop Middle School’s Academy of Technology and Advanced Studies, won first place in the Junior Earth and Environmental Sciences Division for her project titled “Development of a Low-Cost Coagulant-Based Water Purification System; and Validation of Water Quality via a Novel Real-Time IoT Monitoring.” 

According to an ACPS press release, Kasala’s “project addresses creating an affordable way to clean and constantly check water quality.” Her project also placed first at the Alachua Regional Science and Engineering Fair in February.  

Kasala won three additional special prizes at the state fair, including the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovator’s Challenge, the Florida Association for Water Quality Control and the Cantwell Award from the Sierra Club Florida. 

A handful of other ACPS students also earned recognition at the state competition. Fort Clarke Middle School eighth-grader Aung Pyae took third place in the Junior Physics Division after qualifying for state with a first-place award at the regional fair.  

Meanwhile, Eastside High School senior Shiven Sharma won fourth place in the Senior Biomedical Division for his project, which also placed first in the regional competition. 

Another EHS student, sophomore Pranav Manam, who won Best in Show in the Senior Division at the regional science fair, took home an Honorable Mention award at the state competition for his study on increasing a race car’s grip on the track without sacrificing speed.  

Manam, an International Baccalaureate student at EHS, will be competing in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix, Arizona, in May. 

Other special award winners at the state fair include Trishaa Urs from Gainesville High School, Saharsh Pothu from EHS, and Meha Srivastava and Jane Han from Lincoln Middle School.