PHOTOPHILE- Science stars: Fair draws dazzling array of demos

From Fredericksburg to Spotsylvania, boys and girls from all over Central Virginia descended on the UVA Chemistry Department Thursday, March 6, for the annual Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair. Approximately 300 students participated in the competition, demonstrating everything from medieval weaponry to advanced mathematics. 

The Best in Show awards went to two Charlottesville High School students: Anthony Gulotta for his "Armature-Based Linear Electromagnetic Accelerator Ballistcs and Electromagnetics" or "ABLEABE" for short, and John Imbrie-Moore for "Mathematical Modeling of the Speed of Evolution in Asexual Populations."

For their prizes, Gulotta and Imbrie-Moore win a paid trip to Albuquerque to compete in the International Science and Engineering Fair in May.

Madeliza Carrasquillo and her father, José, stand by her experiment on the carrying capacity of various kinds of wood

Jeff Kieper kills time between demonstrations with a Rubik's Cube

From left: Ginny Grafton, Camille Sims, Frankie Maldonado, Arjay Miller, and Andrew Hoover

Jonathan Perdue shows off his rotary blade car

David Specht goes medieval with his trebuchet, a Middle Ages weapon

John Anderson is armed and ready with his spud cannon

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