August 2010
Socorro's Young Scientist
by Chris Eboch
Socorro is known for its scientists—but few are national champions before they turn 15, like Nico Seamons. “New Mexico Tech is the best part of town for me,” he says. “If there’s a project, go over there and find someone to help.”
Seamon’s experiences in Science Olympiad and Science Fair helped give him the confidence to tackle the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. He submitted a two-minute video exploring evaporative cooling. “The idea was to keep the outer wall of the house damp with a trickle of water,” he explains. “The evaporation of the water reduces the wall temperature so less heat radiates into the interior, similar to a swamp cooler.”
From about 2,000 submissions, 10 students advanced to the finals, including Seamons. For their first challenge, they received a box of 3M materials, such as sponges, sanding paper and glue sticks. Each contestant designed and built a project, and made a presentation in New York City last October. With plastic film and adhesives, he made a bug shield for a car bumper. “The shield pulls off and is disposable [to clean the bumper]. The film also has dimples like a golf ball, and the dimples improve the airflow around the car,” Seamons explains.
New York held more challenges, including separating liquid and solid mixtures, and cleaning a piece of an old subway car and a piece of copper from the Statue of Liberty, “covered with graffiti, magic marker, ketchup, spray-on foam, you name it,” he says.
Each contestant had a lab area under the eyes of judges and cameras. “This is a lot different from some science competitions,” Seamons notes, “because you don’t know the contest ahead of time.” They had scientists as assistants, but only 50 to 60 minutes to complete each challenge.
The top three contestants took on the final Tremor Tower Challenge. “Using common materials like PVC pipe and duct tape, you made a tower that could withstand an earthquake, in this case to keep an egg from falling when the tower was on a shake table,” he says. His effort earned him second place, and the “Build it Bigger” prize from the Science Channel.
One of the best parts of the competition was getting to know the other finalists, and seeing their work. “I thought it would be competitive, but everyone was friendly,” Seamons says. “The ten of us have grown to be pretty good friends. And the judges are really interesting scientists.”
Though he hasn’t decided on a college yet, Seamons has already received a scholarship from New Mexico Tech. He plans to study mechanical engineering, possibly focusing on robotics. He’s also interested in water management. “Last summer I hiked the six-week Prairie Trek with the Cottonwood Gulch Foundation, based near Thoreau. We camped around the Southwest. That was an eye-opener, because every bottle of water is so rare. We really need to use water wisely and protect it.”
Science isn’t Seamon’s only interest, either. He plays on the Warriors varsity soccer team, and enjoys graphic design on the computer. Most of all, he likes building things, from carpentry to science experiments. “Anything that takes some planning, putting together and building, that’s what I like to do.”
If you know anyone who'd make a good profile for this column—including yourself—let us know at sespinoza@enchantment.coop.
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