This year, the Google Science Fair invited students from around the world to use science and engineering to make something better. From creating more eco-friendly fuel to making our water safe to drink, we were so impressed with the creative and thoughtful solutions to big world problems that students shared with us.
Out of the thousands of projects from over 107 countries, we're excited to share the Top 100 ideas selected by the judges, including 14 projects from students across India. Check out the full list of the 100 Google Science Fair Regional Finalists here.
These 100 Regional Finalists are all in the running to become one of the 16 Global Finalists, who will join us in Mountain View on September 27 for our sixth annual Awards Celebration.
2016 Community Impact Award Winner — Asia
In addition to our regional finalists, please join us in congratulating the Community Impact Award winner from Asia, Advay Ramesh! Advay, who lives in Chennai, used science and engineering to make his community better by creating a mobile GPS to keep fishermen safe from invisible maritime boundary lines.
Fourteen-year old Advay was dismayed to hear how often local Rameswaram fishermen were captured and arrested for long periods of time due to making a simple mistake: crossing an International Maritime Boundary line it was impossible for them to see. Given the high penalties and impact to fishermen's livelihoods, Advay wanted to create an easy-to-use GPS system to send alerts when sailors approached maritime borders or when better fishing was available in another area. The system can also alert fishermen to dangerous weather conditions, so they can steer clear. Advay's invention is designed to work on any type of handheld mobile device, and he hopes that with it more local fishermen can avoid financial hardship and stay safe at sea.Advay particularly likes math and science. He hopes to study engineering at a top college so he can work on technology products one day. Advay is also very active in sports, and he enjoys playing soccer and cricket.
Thanks to the generous support of our partners — LEGO Education, Scientific American, National Geographic, and Virgin Galactic — Community Impact winners will receive mentoring and educational scholarships to help them make the world a better place through science, math, and engineering. They’ll also be joining our Global Finalists at Google HQ for our Awards Celebration.
To find out who the 16 Global Finalists will be, check out the Google Science Fair site on August 11, and keep up with news about the fair on Google+ and Twitter.
Posted by Andrea Cohan, Program Lead, Google Science Fair