3 Montana middle schoolers selected for national STEM award

Three Montana middle-schoolers made it in the top 300 a science, engineering, technology and mathematics (STEM) national award in 2020.

According to a release from the Society for Science & the Public and Broadcom Foundation (SSPBF), they chose three Montana middle schoolers to be in the top 300 2020 Broadcom MASTERS out of nearly 3,500 submissions.

This year, SSPBF says there are more girls competing than boys, with 52-percent girls and 47-percent boys.

The following students are in the top 300, according to SSPBF’s release:

• James A. Holmes (Grade 7)
  Designing a Heated, Dye-Sensitized Photovoltaic Cell
  Butte Central Elementary and Middle School
  Butte, Montana
• Nicole Nau (Grade 8)
  Re-Engineering a Wind Turbine for Increased Energy Output
  Sunburst Elementary/Middle School
  Sunburst, Montana
• Keanu Quon-Chian Ng (Grade 8)
  Microplastics: A Macro Problem
  Kalispell Middle School
  Kalispell, Montana

SSPBF will select 30 contenders out of the 300 for a chance to win prizes worth more than $100,000. The top 30 will be announced Sept. 18.