Hayfield students awarded top honors at Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair

David Toomer, center, holds his trophy and certificate after winning First-Place Grand Prize at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair.

Hayfield Secondary School was one of three Fairfax County Public Schools to have students take home grand prizes at the 2018 Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair earlier this month.

David Toomer, a junior, was awarded the grand prize in the Chemistry category for his project, “Augmenting Gaseous Adsorption Capabilities via Nanoporous CD-MOF.”

A team of students from Hayfield combined to win another grand prize. Miamar Burgos-Rosario, Sarah Syed and Saijai Supanklang were awarded the third place grand prize for their plant science project, “Cyanofertilization: A Comparative Analysis of Biological and Environmental Impacts.”

“Hayfield is extremely proud of David, Miamar, Sarah and Saijai!” Hayfield principal Martin Grimm said in a newsletter to parents Friday. “They have worked hard all year to accomplish this goal and have represented our school so well.”

Hayfield students Sarah Syed, Saijai Supanklang and Miamar Burgos-Rosario hold their Third-Place Grand Prize Winner certificates. 

Students from Madison High School and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology also won grand prizes at the state fair, which was held in Roanoke on April 14.

For Toomer, the science fair triumph was just one of many accolades he’s earned this school year. In the fall, he was among 29 semifinalists from around the globe for a humorous video he made explaining a difficult-to-understand scientific concept, according to an article in the Mount Vernon Gazette. He was also recently selected to the All-Virginia Orchestra.

The Hayfield students now move on to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) next month in Pittsburgh.

Other students from local high schools were also recognized for their efforts at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair:

• Ledios- Applied award (honorable mention): Sophie Meyers of Edison High School for “The Effect of the Shape of Skyscrapers on Wind Turbulence”
• U.S. Air Force award: Connor Marshall of West Potomac High School for “The Effect of Different Composite Materials on Strength”
• U.S. Metric Association award: Jose Alvarado Alvarenga of Mount Vernon High School for “The Difference on the Heat Energy Transferred by Olive, Canola, Soy, Corn, and Coconut Bio-Diesel”