Cremona School student Claire Friesen recently picked up her third bronze award from the Canada-Wide Science Fair.
Held May 31 to June 7 in Fredericton, N.B., the Grade 9 student at Chinook's Edge School Division received a Bronze Excellence Award, in addition to a $3,000 entrance scholarship sponsored by Mount Allison University, and a $1,000 entrance scholarship sponsored by Western University.
Friesen received one of 30 bronze medals awarded to intermediate students (Grades 9 and 10).
It's the third year in a row Friesen has received bronze at the national fair. This year it was her aviation research What Goes Up Must Come Down: Delaying the Effects of Stall that earned her the medal.
Her project looked at changing the surface of an aerofoil (airplane wing) and if by dimpling it, it might increase the lift.
“I found that one of the three designs I tested had a minor increase in lift. I found with the other two designs there was a substantial improvement in the level of stall," said Friesen, in a statement.
She said her research showed that changing the wing surface could also make it safer to fly with wings at steeper angles.
“Also dimpling helps with drag amount, increasing fuel efficiency.”
Friesen, who hopes to be a pilot one day, said she loves science and everything related to aviation, and plans to continue exploring aviation-related topics for her science fair project next year.
Friesen was one of six students from the Central Alberta Rotary Science Fair held in March who went on to attend the national science fair. They included Grade 12 Olds High School Oceana Jones, and four Grade 7 Glendale Sciences and Technology School students Danica Battenfelder, Kassidy Roberge, Grace Kafara and Coen Frayn.
