The 55th annual Manitoba Schools Science Symposium brings together innovative and creative youth here in Winnipeg.

“It’s a big anniversary for us – 55 years. We have a big history of supporting students, learning, and engaging in science,” said Alastair Komes, the president of the Manitoba Schools Science Symposium.

This year’s symposium had 270 projects with 350 students participating. Students are free to choose any research alley.

“Well, we are certainly seeing a lot of AI projects. That’s a big emerging trend. We always see a lot of projects in power generation, and food sciences are popular topics as well,” said Komes.

Some projects responded to contemporary issues that impact all Manitobans.

Grade 10 students came up with a low-cost wildfire detection system. Khalyn Peart says he came up with the project when he could not leave his home this summer due to wildfire smoke.

“So I thought of a way how we could detect wildfires early before they start to cause severe damage,” said Peart.

Tzofi Drimer, a Grade 10 student, says her project is addressing her passion for environmental protection. In her research, she studied the effect of oxygen on landfill decomposition.

She says the project gave her a chance to collaborate with industry professionals and learn from acting researchers.

“I did a lot of work in my school lab, and a researcher from the University of Manitoba gave me access to her imaging facility. So I could look at my microscope slides under her microscope,” said Drimer.

Students of all ages, from Grades 4 to 12, showed the results of their extensive research.

For some, it was their first big science event, like Justin Golaub, a Grade 5 student who got a golden medal for his research on truss bridges,

“I felt a little bit nervous, because there were other projects that may have won. But I am very happy with my results,” said Golaub.

Several students were also selected to represent Manitoba on a national level, bringing forward innovations in biology.

“Me and my partner, we already qualified for a Canada-wide fair during our divisional science fair. So we are hoping to contact some research labs and mentors to help us move our project to the next level,” said James Ouing, who participated in the Manitoba Schools’ Science Symposium.

The 55th annual Manitoba Schools Science Symposium brings together innovative and creative youth here in Winnipeg. (Sofia Frolova, CityNews)