Skyridge Students Win 2 Awards at WA State Science & Engineering Fair 

Bremerton, WA — Aaria Lankireddy and Joyce Zhang from Skyridge Middle School won two awards at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF), which was held on March 28.

Aaria and Joyce were awarded first place in 7th grade for their invention of a specialized tea-based dental gauze prototype model. Their 6 months of innovative scientific research project was titled: “Pioneering the First Scientific Tannin Acid-based Emergency Solution for Dental Bleeding Control.” 

The team experimented in creating a specialized gauze which helps control emergency dental bleeding especially in the case of post extraction bleeding and for patients on anti-coagulation medication who may have bleeding problems. The team created an over-the-counter remedy that is accessible and affordable. They also won a special award in Oral Health Care by the Washington State Dental Association with an invitation to present their science project at the PNW Dental Conference in Seattle.

The team gives special thanks to all their volunteer participants in their experiment, MST senior mentors Yuna Lee, Meghana Parasa, and teacher Mrs. Abraham from Camas High School for facilitating Youth Research Scholar Club, NHS Oral Consultant, Dr Sekhar Reddy, MDS, FRCSed, UK for his professional guidance and Sarala Padala, MedTech Surgery – Sterilization expert, Johnson & Johnson, Switzerland for her professional guidance, and Dr Kala Sagar of Aspen Dental Clinic for the donation of dental sterilization pouches. 

Aaria Lankireddy was also recently awarded with patriot pen essay award from Veteran Foreign of Wars (VFW) as an outstanding spokesperson of youth presented at Skyridge Middle School by VFW Camas Post 4278. She is also library ambassador for Little Wings Library founded by Laura Sheppard, where she volunteers her free time with helping events, processing books that is displayed around the little libraries in the city of Camas. She achieved over 100 hours of Presidential Volunteer Service Gold Award. She is also a participant member of Math is Cool Team at Skyridge, which recently placed first in the regional. 

Joyce is a member of a stem non-profit, where she has helped run workshops, events, and teach classes to students worldwide. She has earned herself the Presidential Volunteer Service Award with gold medal multiple years in a row demonstrating commitment.  Joyce is also a member of multiple school clubs including ASB and Science Olympiad with several medals, representing her school. She has also started to venture into small business to teach herself about entrepreneurship.