Each year, the grand prize winners from the Ozarks Science and Engineering Fair (OSEF) go to the next step: The International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). OSEF is hosted by CNAS each year at Missouri State University.
Almost 2,000 students from 80 different countries competed at ISEF this year. ISEF was held May 12-17 in Phoenix, Arizona.
Katie Lu and Daniel Kim, son of Dr. Kyoungtae Kim, associate dean for CNAS, represented OSEF this year and won awards.
“The competition is fierce,” Dr. Tom Tomasi said. “Both students winning something is a major achievement for our much smaller OSEF.”
About their awards
Lu has qualified for ISEF the past two years. This year, she won the top award in her category, which comes with at least $5,000. She graduated from the Central High School IB program and will start Stanford in the fall. Her research mentor was Rhyan Friesen.
Kim won an award of recognition from the U.S. Air Force for his work. His research mentor was his father, Dr. Kim.
Drs. Kim and Tomasi, professors of biology, both served as judges at ISEF.