A home state celebration for Broadcom MASTERS winner
Last October, fifteen-year-old Faris Wald of Santa Fe, New Mexico won the top award in the 7th annual Broadcom MASTERS, the nation’s premier science and engineering competition for middle school students.
This month, Faris was honored for his accomplishments in his home state at the New Mexico Science and Engineering Fair during a special check presentation ceremony. Broadcom Foundation President, Paula Golden, and Broadcom MASTERS Specialist, Erin Cummins, presented Faris with a check for his $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize.
The prize is a gift of Henry Samueli, co-founder of Broadcom Corporation and Chair of the Broadcom Foundation and his wife, Susan Samueli, President of the Samueli Foundation.
Faris shared some remarks at the event, encouraging his fellow young scientists and engineers to “never say never.”
“If you follow that advice, nothing is impossible, then everything becomes magically possible. Say yes to science, say yes to engineering, and above all believe in yourself. You can be right here too,” Faris said.
Faris won the Samueli Foundation Prize for his overall mastery of science and engineering and for his project, which found a correlation between coronal holes in the sun’s outer atmosphere and the occurrence of cyclones.
Faris has always been curious about the strength of the sun’s power and its effect on our planet, which prompted him to analyze data related to sunspot and coronal hole events.
The Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Engineering for Rising Stars), a program founded and produced by the Society for Science & the Public, encourages middle school students to translate their personal interests into a passion for STEM by participation in science competitions, which may inspire them to continue their studies through their academic and professional careers. The 2018 application is now open and is due June 13, 2018 at 8 p.m. ET.
