Rick Unger, assisted by Pat and Ray Daws, represented the Fraser Valley Branch of BC Hydro Power Pioneers at this year’s science fair, hosted by the Faculty of Science at the University of Fraser Valley (UFV), Abbotsford campus. The judging and presentation component of the fair was held April 11, and awards were presented on April 19.

The Science Fair Foundation and all those involved are very fortunate to have UFV take their hosting responsibility seriously. Numerous staff members organize the event and provide all of the administration resources, including Chief Judge and Award Presentation Master Of Ceremonies Mr. Michael Hitch, Dean of Science, who also handed out some of the awards.

This year saw a record hundred and fifteen projects entered and fifty judges participating. There were fifty-five ”Special Awards” (which included the BC Hydro Power Pioneers Awards) with a total cash value of five thousand dollars. In addition, a thousand-dollar UFV tuition waiver was awarded. Among the Ribbon award winners presented by the Science Foundation were two Gold winners who will be off to a Canada-wide fair in Ottawa with all expenses paid.

The winner of our award was Jasmyn Litt, a Grade seven student from Dasmesh Punjabi School in Abbotsford. Her project, ”Levitating Trains”, studied the magnetic levitating technology and engineering behind the efficient use of electricity to propel transportation systems in Japan and Germany. In Jasmyn’s interview, it was incredible to observe how knowledgeable and detail oriented she was on her chosen subject. She received a $100 cash prize, our perpetual FV Power Pioneers trophy for her school, and the BC Hydro Power Pioneers book, Voices from Bridge River.

It was also great to see our community newspaper ”Black Press” publish a story on the FV Science Fair in various Fraser Valley community newspapers (which included a photo of Ray Daws interviewing our winner Jasmyn Litt).

FV Power Pioneers Science Fair Chairman Rick Unger and this year’s winner Jasmyn Litt