Two Austin students, Lila Johnson, a senior at Austin High School, and Baylee Garroway, an eighth-grader at Ellis Middle School, competed at the State Science and Engineering Fair held in Bloomington March 18-20, 2012. In addition to competing in the Science Fair, Lila Johnson participated in the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, which was held prior to the Science Fair.

Johnson and Garroway both received purple ribbon awards at the South Central/Southwest Minnesota Regional Science and Engineering Fair, held at Minnesota State University Mankato on Feb. 18 which qualified them for advancement to the State Science and Engineering Fair.

At the Regional Competition Lila’s project entitled The Stability of Metformin Hydrochloride in Aqueous Solution, qualified for advancement to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, which will be held in Pittsburgh May 13-18.

In her project, Lila investigated the stability of metformin, a drug used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes, in water to determine if it could be used in studies on cancer prevention. Her project also received the Mankato Area Pharmaceutical Society Award. At the state competitions, Lila was selected as an alternate to attended the American Junior Academy of Science competition and as an alternate to attend the National Youth Science Camp.

For her project, Baylee investigated a variety of treatment strategies to alleviate the effects of lymphedema, a condition characterized by swelling in the limbs caused by a blockage in the lymphatic system. At the Regional Science Fair, Baylee was awarded a Thin Film Technology Corporation/Mankato Area Foundation Middle School Independent Research Award.

Other Ellis Middle School students who won awards at the Regional Science and Engineering competition were Lydia Morey (sixth-grade), outstanding Biology-related, investigative project; Emily Sayles (sixth-grade), most outstanding Physics project and purple ribbon award; Lilly Nystel (sixth-grade), purple ribbon award; Maddie Brown (sixth-grade) U.S. Army ROTC Certificate of Recognition and purple ribbon award.

Other Ellis students who participated in or qualified for the Regional Science Fair in Mankato were Mary Willrodt, Terri Wolfe, Morgan Schubert, Paige Wangen, Katherine McNally, and Grace Shupe.