ROME–The Project Fibonacci® Foundation held its annual STEAM Project Fair at Rome Free Academy on Saturday, July 29 to a crowd of over 150 participants, spectators, and judges. The event, open to the public, spotlighted projects led by four student color teams representing Cohort 5, in attendance at the 2023 Project Fibonacci STEAM Leadership Conference. The students’ families and special guests were also invited to witness the project pitches and participate in the award ceremonies. The team projects drew inspiration from this year’s conference theme, “Adapting to Climate Change: Sustaining Our Planet, its Oceans, and the Global Population.”
The STEAM Fair was the culmination of the weeklong conference that involved team project development, multidisciplinary workshops and seminars, keynote presentations by famous guest speakers, field trips, a Fuel Your Future Fair, and an array of other activities. Local STEM and arts experts from industry and academia worked closely with this year’s STEAM Scholars―the students who were enrolled in the conference―to provide valuable insights on climate change and sustainability on behalf of their final projects.
The cohort was divided into four color teams denoted as Red, Green, Blue and Orange. Each color team was assigned a project where they examined various aspects of the overall climate challenge. Each team was further subdivided into three smaller groups addressing Communication, Food/Water Sustainability, and Energy/Geoengineering while drawing on the underlying tenets of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math (STEAM). The color teams and subgroups organically selected their leaders and individuals responsible for specific disciplinary areas based on their skill sets, expressed fields of interest, and the emergence of leadership traits. The goal was for the STEAM Scholars to gain diverse perspectives, share ideas with other members of the cohort, and lead the charge. The teams addressed specific sets of solutions to the climate challenge, synthesized concepts, and pitched them at the STEAM Fair at the end of the conference week.
The teams were tasked with producing video shorts and multimedia messaging on how global populations can adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions using carbon capture methods, geoengineering and leveraging renewable water sources, sustainable agriculture, and other means. The videos and poster presentations were used by judges to select the team that best addressed the overall climate challenge theme.
Evaluation criteria included scientific merit, novelty and practicality of solution, quality of presentation, knowledge of the problem domain, demonstrated leadership skills, communications skills, creativity, and other judging factors. Conference organizers reached out to local business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors inviting them to participate in matchmaking efforts with STEAM Scholars to move their ideas from concept to reality.
Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice awards for the best projects along with other merit awards and prizes were conferred on the winning teams and individual STEAM Scholars. Project Foundation leaders were pleased to announce the Blue Team as being selected the first-place winner of the 2023 Judge’s Choice Award and where each team member received a $50 gift card. The judge’s panel included foundation members Bob Bojanek, Tamalin Martin, and Dr. Andrew Drozd.
The Blue Team included students from Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School, Rome Free Academy, Beaver River Central School, Strough Middle School, Vernon-Verona-Sherrill School District, Camden High School, Cicero North Syracuse High School, Sauquoit Valley High School, Proctor High School and Adirondack High School. They presented novel concepts on water conservation, generation, and reuse as part of the larger climate change challenge, including innovative methods of carbon capture and agricultural sustainability.
The Green Team was voted the People’s Choice Award winner, as determined by the voting public in attendance at the STEAM Fair. The Green Team pitched innovations in agronomy and repurposing building and real estate infrastructure to create sustainable high-yield agricultural centers. The team was represented by students from Camden High School, Mount Markham High School, Rome Free Academy, Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School, Oriskany Jr./Sr. High School, Ware Jr./Sr. High School, Herkimer High School, and Proctor High School.
Judge’s Choice Award winners pictured left to right: Tamalin Martin (2023 Co-Chair) and Blue Team members Mya Barnaba (Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School), Neveah Barney (Rome Free Academy), Tyler Boliver (Beaver River Central School), James Cooper (Strough Middle School), Kenneth David (Rome Free Academy), Nicolas DeNoto (Vernon Verona Sherrill Central School), Triston Foster (Camden High School), Keeley O’Mara (Cicero North Syracuse High School), Damon Price (Sauquoit Valley High School), Theresa Quigley (Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School), Enrique Rivera (Rome Free Academy), Sienna Snyder (Adirondack High School), and Robert Bojanek (2023 Co-Chair) (Photo courtesy of the Project Fibonacci® Foundation)
People’s Choice Award winners pictured left to right: Tamalin Martin (2023 Co-Chair) and Green Team members Billy Bernabe (Camden High School), Hannah Cere (Camden High School), Virginia Culver (Mount Markham High School), Noah Dailey (Rome Free Academy), Alex Day (Rome Free Academy), Aidan Grealish-Liquori (Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School), Elijah Hanna (Oriskany Jr./Sr. High School), Julie Kaputa (Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School), Thomas Maher (Oriskany Jr./Sr. High School), Lucas Schilling (Ware Jr./Sr. High School), Colyn Seeley (Rome Free Academy), Victoria Stapf (Herkimer High School), Sara Swistak (Rome Free Academy), Geri Teal (Proctor), Tiara Teal (Proctor) and Robert Bojanek (2023 Co-Chair)
The following individual peer awards were presented to scholars from local and regional high schools including students from Massachusetts and Maine:
Leadership Skills Award:
Kenneth Davis (Blue), Virginia Culver (Green), Ellis Pamales III (Orange), and Emma Watson (Red)
Most Creative/Imaginative Award:
Naveah Barney (Blue), Victoria Stapf (Green), Jessalyn Birt (Orange), and Cecelia Furbeck (Red)
Teamwork Skills Award:
Triston Foster (Blue), Virginia Culver (Green), Colin Wood (Orange), and Aiyana Day (Red)
Most likely to Change/Save the World Award:
James Cooper (Blue), Aidan Grealish-Liquori (Green), Jeremy Liriano (Orange), and Jayden Crandall (Red)
Other individual recognition awards were given to Mya Barnaba (Blue), Alexander Day (Green), Joe Stehilk (Orange), and Trevor Young (Red).
Dr. Andrew Drozd, Project Fibonacci Chairman stated, “Each team and their complement of STEAM Scholars did an outstanding job on their final projects, and the difference between any one team and another was very small. All of them are winners for conceiving great ideas and methods for adapting to climate change. Their collaborative efforts showed how to put the power of ‘team’ in STEAM problem solving. We are very proud of their accomplishments, and now they have become young climate ambassadors and catalysts for a better world.”
A parent of one of the Blue Team STEAM Scholars exclaimed, “What an incredible week! My daughter had the time of her life at the 2023 STEAM Leadership Conference. What an amazing opportunity for her and the rest of the scholars. For my daughter, the experience was life changing. I will be forever grateful for the impact you’ve had on my daughter…being able to spend time with other like-minded individuals who share her passion for learning and science was extraordinary!”
All students received a STEAM Certificate of Completion which aids in college and job placements. The event concluded with the STEAM Fair awards and graduation ceremonies featuring a song generated by ChatGPT and performed by Blue Team member Julie Kaputa from Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School of Syracuse in tribute to the 2024 STEAM conference theme on “Artificial Intelligence, Smart Machines, and the Human Factor.”
During the STEAM Fair, an anonymous donor handed Drozd a $10,000 check as seed funding for the 2024 conference in what Drozd called an “unexpected and welcome surprise.” Drozd and conference executive co-chairs Bob Bojanek and Tamalin Martin publicly expressed their deep gratitude on behalf of the foundation for the generous donor gift.
The STEAM conference promotes the idea of using the arts to grow the STEM workforce. It is aimed at guiding high school students towards rewarding STEM careers, cultivating leadership skills, and stresses multidisciplinary teamwork to solve complex socio-technological STEM problems. According to Drozd, the foundation raises public attention to controversial and timely topics in its annual conferences.
The public can visit www.projectfibonacci.org for more information about The Project Fibonacci® Foundation and how to become a supporter of the 2024 STEAM Leadership Conference.
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