2 Andover Students Win Prizes In International Science Fair

ANDOVER, MA — Two Andover students were named winners in the recent Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair.

The event is the world’s largest international high school science competition. The competition featured nearly 1,700 students from the U.S. and 65+ countries, regions and territories, according to a statement from the fair.

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Kevin Sun, an Andover High School student, won the $10,000 Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation.

Kevin developed a new way to sort plastic recyclables using a dissolvable tag, according to the a statement.

One of the major challenges with plastic recycling is inaccurate sorting of the different plastic types. Colored plastic can also be hard to sort for proper recycling.

To improve sorting accuracy, Kevin printed a radio frequency tag on plastic materials, similar to those used in plastic manufacturing. The tag acts like a wireless barcode, identifying the plastic type for sorting purposes.

Kevin's "practical approach offers a potential way to improve plastic recycling," according to the statement.

Tina Jin, a Phillips Academy student, won first place in
the Earth and Environmental Sciences Category, a $6,000 prize.

Tina invented gravity-operated water purification devices using purely natural left-over animal bone waste by designing and fabricating three user-centric prototypes–portable, desktop, and community-scale–for real-world application, according to the statement.