Milpitas HS qualifies for Science Olympiad State Championships by placing fourth in Regionals
With unrelenting work ethic, problem-solving and teamwork, the Milpitas High School Science Olympiad team qualified for the State Championships for the first time since 2023 by placing fourth among 50 competing school teams at the Santa Clara County Regional Tournament at Milpitas High School.
“Regionals was an accumulation of all the lessons we learned through our competitions throughout the year,” said MHS educator Glen Barrett, a Science Olympiad co-advisor. “To see so much success is such an incredibly rewarding experience. When your team is walking away after an awards ceremony and everyone sounds like a wind chime, that is such a surreal moment.”
Science Olympiad is a national STEAM competition that hosts one-day competitions divided into blocks for sets of events at many different high schools, middle schools, and universities. Unique teams of up to 15 students compete in 23 diverse events covering topics such as biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, and earth science. Events are done with either two or three partners depending on the specific event rules, emphasizing collaborative problem solving.
“Before Regionals, we were tense,” Barrett added. “I realize now that a lot of that tension came from our passion and dedication for the Science Olympiad. Ultimately, when the time came and we were running side by side with our incredible competitors, we bolted for the finish line and did not stumble.”
MHS Trojan accolades at the Regional competition were:
- 2nd in Disease Detectives: Saga Jere & Charles Bi
- Participants use investigative skills in the scientific study of disease, injury, health, and disability in populations or groups of people.
- 2nd in Water Quality: Anvi Gadkari & Niveda Ankireddyapalli
- Participants assess on their understanding and evaluation of freshwater aquatic environments.
- 2nd in Entomology: Raymond Li & Stephen Grier
- Students identify insects and selected immature insects by indicated taxonomy order and family, answer questions about insects, and use or construct a dichotomous key.
- 4th in Bungee Drop: Sophia Su & Sujitha Maharaja
- Each team designs one elastic cord to conduct drops at a given height(s) and attempt to get a weighted bottle as close as possible to, but without touching, a landing surface.
- 4th in Electric Vehicle: Sriram Sivakumar & Sujitha Maharaja
- Teams design, build, and test one vehicle that uses electrical energy as its sole means of propulsion to travel as quickly as possible and stop close to a Target Point.
- 4th in Machines: Stanley Do & Aarjav Jain
- Teams complete a written test on simple and compound machine concepts and construct a lever-based measuring device prior to the tournament to determine the mass ratios between three test masses.
- 5th in Astronomy: Akshaya Kamalakannan & Sriram Sivakumar
- Teams test on stellar evolution, from formation to destruction.
- 5th in Chem Lab: Huong Nguyen & Ethan Hang
- Teams complete one or more tasks and answer a series of questions involving the Science processes of chemistry, focused in the areas of chemical reactions/stoichiometry and kinetics.
- 5th in Designer Genes: Saga Jere & Ethan Hang
- Teams answer questions, solve problems, and analyze data pertaining to classic, evolutionary, and molecular genetics.
- 5th in Experimental Design: Charles Bi & Ethan Hang & Isabella Lee
- Determines the participant’s ability to design, conduct, and report the findings of an experiment entirely on-site.
- 5th in Forensics: Anvi Gadkari & Akshaya Kamalakannan
- Given a scenario and some possible suspects, students perform a series of tests used to solve a crime.
- 5th in Helicopter: Sophia Su & Brianna Yee
- Teams construct, collect data on test flights, analyze and optimize free flight rubber-powered helicopters to achieve maximum time aloft.
- 6th in Rocks & Minerals: Anvi Gadkari & Niveda Ankireddyapalli
- Teams identify and classify rocks and minerals and demonstrate knowledge of how rocks and minerals help to understand geologic processes, interpretation of Earth’s history, the development of natural resources, and use by society.
- 6th in CodeBusters: Isabella Lee, Akshaya Kamalakannan, Aarushi Kulkarni
- Teams cryptanalyze and decode encrypted messages using cryptanalysis techniques for historical and modern advanced ciphers.
- 6th in Dynamic Planet: Ethan Hang & Aarushi Kulkarni
- Teams complete tasks related to physical and geological oceanography.