Winning Projects recognized at Merced County STEAM Fair Award Ceremony

The winners of the 2026 STEAM Fair were announced on Thursday, March 5, during the awards ceremony held at the MCOE Downtown Center. The event featured more than 50 science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics projects from students across the county.

Student projects from Our Lady of Mercy, Los Banos Unified and Merced City School District earned gold awards, with the top six projects in the competition advancing to the California State Science and Engineering Fair in April.

The top six projects of the competition are: 

• Pihul Kanungoann, “Testing UV Shields: A Quantitative Study of Skin Protection,” Burbank Elementary School, 6th Grade
• Michael Hicks, “What’s Really in Your Water?”, Our Lady of Mercy School, 7th Grade
• Logann Albrecht, “How CO2 Builds Up Inside a Car,” Hoover Middle School, 7th Grade
• Dyana Martin, “Greener Growth: Fertilizers and Runoff in Microgreens,” Los Banos Junior High School, 8th Grade
• Uma Sharma, “Tensegrity: Strings to Stand On,” Cruickshank Middle School, 8th Grade
• Paloma Day and Serafina Day, “Dollars and Scents,” Our Lady of Mercy School, 8th Grade

Student projects were judged by a panel of local scientists and educators from UC Merced and other local science and engineering firms. Only students in grades 6 through 12 are eligible to advance to the state competition.