Young Minds Put To The Test At State Science, Engineering Fair

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The minds of young Minnesotans were put to the test Sunday in downtown Minneapolis.

The 80th annual State Science and Engineering Fair is being held at the Marriot City Center this weekend. Students from all over Minnesota compete in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

WCCO had the opportunity to catch up with just a handful of the many brilliant-minded youngsters. Eighth grader Shikha Kumar from Rochester is using worms to see how sugar affects the human life span.

"It has a negative impact when you're having high-enriched sugar diets," she said.

Kumar says the worms she used were in comparison to humans because the two have very similar biological characteristics.

Every project from the 500 middle and high school students was distinctive in its own way, but the similarity between each one was the hope to change the world.

"1.3 billion people in the world are living without electricity. That's about four of over 35 people. I want to give those people electricity at a really low cost," said Rikhil Seshadri of Woodbury.

Seshadri used his project to test the efficiency of electricity.

Students compete for awards totaling in $25,000, sponsored by 40 corporations, government agencies and professional scientific societies.

The competition runs through Monday, when five students will be named to compete at the international fair.