The Chandler Unified School District science fair was held on Feb. 29. Most students from Perry that entered the fair were freshman finishing a STEM requirement. But three juniors, Lotta Mozes, Jacob Andrews, and Richard DeKelata decided to participate in the fair. They won first place in the mechanical engineering category at the fair with their project on Thermoacoustic (sound) cooling. 

Three juniors started their project back in October during their honor science research class. They started by doing research on refrigeration and then came up with their idea. “We were originally going to come up with something that had to do with refrigeration and thermodynamics, and it was really what was going to get us there, and then at some point we decided we could use sound to generate pressure and change the pressure of a system” said Mozes. 

Their project was conducted by using a speaker and a tube to then create concentrated sound to then keep a box built like a refrigerator cool. While working on the project they had some difficulties. “The material we were originally using was acrylic plastic which was sound absorbent, which is why it was not working. So we switched to a glass tube. We also had to switch speakers because the original speaker was too wide” said Richard. But despite this they were able to get their project to work. 

Since their project won, it now continues on to the AZ state science fair (AzSEF). “It’s pretty exciting, and totally unexpected to be honest. It was a good experience,” said Mozes on her winning-project. 

AzSEF judging will take place from Mar.28- Apr.1, and the fair will be open to the public on Apr.1.