At the young age of 14 Justin Quinn already has his sights set at studying mechanical engineering in university.
And already he has a winning project to pad his portfolio to help earn his place at a higher learning institution.
At the 2011 Central Alberta Regional Science Fair, held in Red Deer on March 25 and 26, Quinn wowed the judges and earned a Secondary Gold Standing for his project, “What is a more efficient way to sort bottles and cans?”
From May 14 to 21 he will be in Toronto, along with five other Central Albertans, to represent the region and to display a five-minute video of his project at the Canada Wide Fair.
“I thought I could never make it to the national championships, that I could actually build something and have it work,” said Quinn, a Grade 9 student at Innisfail Junior Senior High School.
Quinn’s winning device at the Central Alberta fair sorts glass bottles and aluminium cans by their physical properties. They move along on a seven-foot conveyor belt that has two sensors to identify bottles and cans.
Quinn said that once a hopper is installed his invention will be able to sort up to 2,000 bottles and cans an hour.
He said the degree of difficulty for the project was not the main challenge. It was the length of time, more than two months, to make sure everything worked correctly as planned.
“There were so many parts, hundreds of things to do – wiring, air hoses and programming,” said Quinn.
Meanwhile, while Quinn was a most deserving winner at the Central Alberta fair last month he had inspiration at home. His father Stephen teaches electrical and instrumentation studies at Red Deer College.
Below are the other Innisfail and area winners at last month’s science fair in Red Deer:
Innisfail Middle School Grade 5 students Chloe Lucas and Brandon Border won an Elementary Silver Standing for their project “It’s a Hairy Situation.”
Innisfail Middle School Grade 5 student Kayla Ainscough earned an Elementary Silver Standing for her project “Wormery.”
Innisfail Junior Senior High School Grade 9 student Devin Cooper won a Secondary Silver Standing for his project “Incandescent vs. Fluorescent”
Spruce View Grade 9 student Chase Murdoch earned a Secondary Silver Standing for his project “Microwaves.”
Spruce View Grade 8 student Morgan Kreil won a Secondary Silver Standing for his project “Plop, Plop, Fizz, Fizz, Oh What a relief It Is.”
Bowden Grandview Grade 9 student Lakeisha Robertson earned a Secondary Silver Standing for her project “Paper Towel Durability.” Robertson also won $100 for the APEGGA – Physical or Chemical Science Project, a special award for the same project.
Spruce View Grade 11 students Miranda Witham and Dustin Christiansen won Secondary Bronze Standing for their project “Silent Stalker.”
Innisfail Junior Senior Grade 9 students Jackson Ross, Tanner Jackson and Jodi Graham earned a Secondary Honorable Mention – Ross and Jackson for their project “What effects do preservatives have on food?” and Graham for the entry “Unconventional Cleaners.”
