YWIB-Capital Region at the 2025 Frederick County Science & Engineering Fair

Young Women In Bio (YWIB) Capital Region proudly partnered with Frederick County Public Schools to support the 2025 Frederick County Science & Engineering Fair as part of our ongoing commitment to fostering STEM education and inspiring the next generation of life sciences professionals. Aiswariya Chidambaram (Chair, YWIB Committee) and Swati Gannavaram (Vice Chair, Programs Committee) represented YWIB-Capital Region at the fair on March 22 at Tuscarora High School. Our team had the privilege of volunteering as judges at this exciting event, showcasing talented middle and high school students' creativity, innovation, and passion through real-time experiments, working models, and poster presentations. This year, we focused on evaluating high school projects, which spanned a wide range of STEM disciplines, including Behavioral & Social Sciences, Biomedical Engineering, Biological Sciences, Environmental Engineering, Sustainable Materials, and Robotics & Intelligent Machines. Witnessing the enthusiasm and ingenuity of these young minds was truly inspiring!

To further encourage and recognize outstanding work, YWIB proudly sponsored specialty awards for the top two science projects, selected based on a set evaluation criterion. Ms. Chidambaram and Ms. Gannavaram engaged with the students, discussing their research, methodologies, and findings before presenting the winners with certificates. In addition, students were introduced to various opportunities to collaborate with WIB/YWIB, including the Student Ambassador Program, volunteering initiatives, and the annual HERstory Gala.

We thank the organizers for this opportunity and look forward to making this an annual tradition. Here’s to continuing our mission of empowering and supporting young women in STEM!

Submitted by Nhung Hoang