First Place, Design Challenge
Camas High School, Camas, Wash., Nature's Filter
"Identifying a community problem and trying to solve it—excellent!"
"Huge problem, simple solution. Brilliant."
"Crystal clear, relevant, and market-ready."
"Comprehensive presentation with working model."
"Excellent scientific process and interpretation of results."

First Place, Technology Challenge
Todd Beamer High School, Federal Way, Wash., Enhancing a Nuclear Fusion Reactor
"This team blew me out of the water. It felt like much more than a project—more like the beginning of a lifelong passion."
"[Students] appear to be experts and matched my knowledge of fusion from my research."
"These students worked together very well and had an unusual grasp of a difficult subject. Most important was their appreciation of scientific method and mature acceptance that failure occurs more often than success."
"They are very excited and motivated....Spooky smart."

First Place, Multidisciplinary Collaboration Challenge
Heritage High School, Vancouver, Biochar Energy and Enrichment
"All team members totally knew their product inside and out."
"This team not only used waste from school, but also from the community. They'll take this global."
"They have taken their research to the next level by fabricating several models of biochar burners to come up with better designs."
"The display was very full and organized. The presenters themselves were very inviting and teamwork was quite apparent."

First Place, Technology Challenge
Bellingham High School, Bellingham, Mycoremediation and Biofuel Production: An Investigative and Comparative Analysis
"The team had a clear understanding of how this year's work built on the past, and how it could provide a basis for the next phase."
"Wow. Very deep familiarity with advanced concepts among many of the participants."
"Great idea! I could see commercial application. I felt like I was talking to college students!"
"The team's understanding went beyond high school levels. They were familiar with different theories, addressed all major questions, and cited references."

First Place, Design Challenge
Tacoma School of the Arts, The ABCs of Composting
"Website integration into elementary classroom—impressive!"
"They knew the topic."

First Place, Multidisciplinary Collaboration Challenge
Heritage High School, Vancouver, Energy Smart
"They wove [ideas] into a tapestry of what could be future policy."
"Well presented, enthusiastic, good visuals."

First Place, Technology Challenge
Bellingham High School, Lauric Acid Heat Sync
"Good idea, easily tested/measured, solid methods, easily understood, simple presentation of results."
"Very few presentations cited research; this is one of the few."

First Place, Design Challenge
Auburn Riverside High School, Enviro Energy House
"Each [team] member had a part to present, rather than one doing it all."
"Great innovation and diligence."

First Place, Multidisciplinary Collaboration Challenge
Lake Roosevelt High School, Coulee Dam, Fishy Diesel
"Brings together multiple companies to solve a problem, create economic benefit, and have positive environmental benefit."
"Comprehensive project from science to marketing."

First Place, Technology Challenge
Stanwood High School, Saratoga Project
"Clearly understand the process of developing technology: hypothesis, test, gather data, build design based on data, gather more data."
"They saw energy in their local environment and devised a way to extract it. This is the definition of engineering creativity. Explored other concepts and ideas. This is key to R&D efforts."
"Answered all questions with more than I was expecting."
"Scientific thought process was very good. Encountered problems and worked around them."