Southeastern Regional Voc Tech Students Receive Awards at Regional Science Fair

Ebad Khan of Easton and Kyle DeRuisseau of Stoughton, both juniors majoring in Metal Fabrication, have qualified to present their project, “Flame Box,” at the Massachusetts State Science and Engineering fair at MIT in Cambridge on May 6, 2016. Having worked over the summer, outside and after their school days, they have continued to improve their home entertainment pyrotechnics project from last year’s model.

“It didn't work at first, so we entered last year’s science fair without the box working. We had 2 smaller speakers attached to the back, and bigger holes at the top, but when we tested it, the smaller speakers caught on fire, and the holes were making the flame too high to use,” Ebad explained. “This year we added different speakers and holes. We changed things up and made it work this year,” Ebad added. “Kyle helped by making the speakers work.”

The Metal Fabrication majors used aluminum from their classroom, saving the cost of materials. “We did 75% of the project at school. Our Metal Fabrication instructor, Mr. Messier, helped with the propane hoses that use a higher heat, and (Science teacher) Miss Place suggested the addition of water to the bottom of the box to be able to use it at cooler temperatures,” said Ebad.

The aluminum box has a speaker in front, along with propane lines on both sides leading up to the tank. The speaker connects to an amplifier. Upon playing music through the amplifier, the sound waves travel and cause fluctuating between higher yellow flames and a lower blue flames to emit from each of the 500 holes, as if dancing to the music.

A third student, Andrew Brown, a sophomore and resident of East Bridgewater, received Honorable Mention for his project, “Creating a Cost Effective Tractor Pull, Phase 2: An Affordable Design for Small Communities.

Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School is a public 9-12 vocational high school located in South Easton, Massachusetts, serving approximately 1372 students from Brockton, East Bridgewater, Easton, Foxboro, Mansfield, Norton, Sharon, Stoughton and West Bridgewater.