Artistic Swimming | 12/1/2023 12:44:00 PM
DENTON, Texas (Dec. 1, 2023) - Maya Schwickert, the freshman from Scottsdale, AZ. attended the 2023 Governor's Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) to receive the Future Innovator of the Year Honorable Mention award.
This artistic swimmer shines in and out of the water. Schwickert, who is majoring in Chemistry and minoring in Mathematics, participated in multiple science fairs and competitions since the seventh grade and received multiple awards. Last year, Schwickert received the 2022 Yale Science and Engineering Association Award and was also named Organic Chemistry Student of the Year at her high school, BASIS Scottsdale.
Her project "Difficulty in Artistic Swimming: Difficulty as an Objective Judging Category" in the System Software category placed second in the Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (AZsef).
Some of her other first place projects include: "A Better Way to Approach School Pick Up: A School Traffic Simulation" in 2022, "Glass and Metal: Can they Fuse?" in 2020 and "Dissolving Gelatin after High-Performance Synchro" in 2018.
The project that led Schwickert to receive the Future Innovator of the Year award was "Seaweed Blue Light Filter: Light Spectrum, Analysis of Seaweed Thin Films for LEDs." This project placed second at the 2023 AZsef, which allowed the freshman to opt for the awarded recognition.
"This research project evaluates the reduction of blue light from LEDs using thin film coating of agar and beta-carotene, both extracted from seaweed," Schwickert said. "My Agar- beta carotene film does not require any manufacturing, is cost effective, environmentally friendly, and reduces the blue light intensity by over 97%. Additionally, my sheets are made from Agar which is derived from red seaweeds, making the film biodegradable and compostable. Seaweed is abundant in oceans, and does not thrive in freshwater, therefore benefiting people and wildlife by preventing contamination in drinking water."
If you would like more information about the event, the honorees and their projects, check out the links below:
- PIONEERS -
