YOUTH EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Karen Yamashita, Youth Education Committee Chair
2026 Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair
The AWWA-Hawaiʻi Section would like to congratulate the following students for their project entries in the 69th Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair. This year, the AWWA Hawaii Section sponsored two Senior division awards (one individual and one group project) and two Junior division awards (one individual and one group project). Although all the projects were fascinating, these four stood out for their originality, benefit to the drinking water industry, and scientific procedure and understanding.
Senior Division Awards:
Sky Bardwell-Jones, Hilo High School, “The Duality of Deployment: Testing and Applying a Sun-Tracking Parabolic Dish System to Solar-Purify Contaminated Water in Different Community Structures”
Merry Acosta, Chyler Panis, and Danielle Agpaoa, Aiea High School, “The Unseen Threat: Identifying Parasites in our Waterways”
Junior Division Award:
Nathaniel Knickel, Island School, “How Effective Is A Homemade Hydrometer?”
Lada Tomic and Joshua Camara, Stevenson Middle School, “Biodegradable Polymers: A Solution For Water Scarcity in Agriculture” which won the Junior Individual category
A big mahalo to all of our judges and students for participating and continuing innovative STEM research in Hawaiʻi’s Schools.
Updated: 10/12/2026_AML