BECKLEY, W.Va. (WVNS) – Students are showcasing their A+ efforts at the Raleigh County Schools Science and Engineering Fair.
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One of the goals of this fair was to get students to do in-depth research on topics that intrigue them. After completing their research, the students decorated the exhibits and presented their findings to fair judges.
Tyler Stover is one of the participants in this show. He shared with 59News what his project was about.
“I’m a competitive golfer and I wanted to know what damage a golf ball does, how much it hurts or if it helps because back then it helped. So it was just a study to help me with my future personal and professional inspirations because I love physics, analysis and mathematics,” Stover said.
Miya Banta is another participant.
For her project, she combined her interests in thermal fluids and artificial intelligence. Banta conducted his study by increasing the flow rate of a heat exchanger in a laboratory.
“I found that when you increase the flow of hot fluid through the pipes in the system, it also increases efficiency. So it basically means you’re transferring heat into the system better,” Banta said.
The real test for the students went beyond simply researching and presenting their results. Stover and Banta did this by telling us how they can apply their research to their daily lives.
“I found that this increased drag significantly. I found out that I think you need new golf balls. It really helped me and I’m pretty happy with the results,” Stover said.
“Heat exchangers will become very useful devices with the advent of AI. So AI and other technologies consume a lot of energy and will also release a lot of waste heat. That’s why your server rooms are so hot and computers give off heat,” Banta added. “What heat exchangers can do is they can capture that heat and you can use it for other purposes, like they can heat water and heat water and use it in houses. So it’s really promising for the future of energy.
This was the first qualifying round for the West Virginia Science and Engineering Fair which will take place in March 2025.
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