Seniors Malika Kumar and Haley Zarrin have competed together in the regional science fair, called Synopsys-Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship, every single year since their freshman year. For all three years, they earned first place at regionals and also qualified for the California State Science Fair.

In the 2009 competition during May, they took home third place at the state fair at USC’s Science Center in LA. Although there are no national competitions, Kumar and Zarrin were also named the alternate team for the Intel Science and Engineering Fair, a well-known international competition.

“I was really shocked when they announced our names at the awards ceremony,” said Kumar.

“We weren’t expecting to place at States, much less qualify for the international fair.”

Both Kumar and Zarrin have participated in science fairs since middle school. Their interest in science and hands-on projects has led them to enter each year.

“It’s fun to build something or design an experiment completely from scratch to solve a problem or answer a question,” said Kumar.

Kumar and Zarrin plan to enter the science fair again this year, as well as help other students brainstorm ideas and write the procedures and applications for the fair. As for being named the alternate team for the Intel Science and Engineering Fair, both Kumar and Zarrin were both extremely pleased.

“It was really satisfying to know that our hard work paid off,” said Kumar.