Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Name: Matthew Reid

Age Category: 13-15

Home: Sussex, UK

Project: The ArduOrbiter: a lightweight, open source satellite





When Matthew learned in science class that 2,000 satellites currently orbit the Earth, he was eager to understand the effect of such a large quantity of satellites. He set out to develop a new lightweight, open source satellite that is under 5 centimeters in size, so that he could observe the earth without overcrowding orbital space. With the money he received from his 14th birthday, he built the ArduOrbiter using existing Arduino technology and aluminum. The ArduOrbiter-1 can communicate effectively and has a long battery life. Matthew looks forward to launching his satellite and using a cluster of them to build an alternative global communications system in the future.

What was the inspiration behind your project? 

I have always been interested in space, and after playing the computer game "Kerbal Space Program," I became particularly interested in the mechanics of space flight. This led me to study orbital mechanics and develop an orbital mechanics computer program. I wondered how cool it would be to have my own satellite and remembered Elon Musk’s quote, “If something is important enough, even if the odds are against you, you should still do it.” I started seriously researching the subject. Through this, I discovered CubeSats, which are four-inch cubes filled with electronics and sent into orbit. However, whilst these were cheaper than regular satellites, they still cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to develop and deploy. Then I came across the relatively undeveloped satellite concept of PocketQubes. Although being much smaller than CubeSats (being only 2 inch cubes), they still appeared to cost tens of thousands of dollars to produce. I started to wonder why these satellites were so expensive, since all they had to do was provide power for their payloads and communicate with a ground station. The costs seemed unreasonable, so I decided to build my own PocketQube satellite for a fraction of the cost of traditional PocketQube satellites.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

As long as I can remember, I have been interested in science.

 On New Year’s Eve 2008, when I was eight, I remember my oldest cousin teaching me the basics of atomic theory with chopped tomatoes and cucumber. My cousin went on to get a Master’s Degree in Physics and played a significant role in developing my interest in science, physics in particular.

 Although my project may be viewed primarily as an engineering project, engineering is the practical implementation of science. My initial interest in engineering came from when, at age nine, I got a “LEGO Mindstorms” set for Christmas. This not only taught me the fundamentals of programming, but also created an interest in developing practical applications for programming which, in turn, has led to my current Space Satellite project. 

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists? 

Google and YouTube allowed me to access all I needed to know and learn about building my own space satellite – these are essential tools for all scientists and engineers in the twenty-first century and should be utilised as much as possible. Throughout the development of my project, I was amazed by the amount of free help people from around the world were willing to give me. Be polite, take the advice, check it, use it, work hard. And if you want to do it, do it.

Posted by Adam Feldman, Product Manager and Pavel Simakov, Technical Lead, Course Builder Team

(Cross-posted on the Google Research blog.)

When we last updated Course Builder in April, we said that its skill mapping capabilities were just the beginning. Today’s 1.9 release greatly expands the applicability of these skill maps for you and your students. We’ve also significantly revamped the instructor’s user interface, making it easier for you to get the job done while staying out of your way while you create your online courses.

First, a quick update on project hosting. Course Builder has joined many other Google open source projects on GitHub (download it here). Later this year, we’ll consolidate all of the Course Builder documentation, but for now, get started at Google Open Online Education.

Now, about those features:

• Measuring competence with skill maps In addition to defining skills and prerequisites for each lesson, you can now apply skills to each question in your courses’ assessments. By completing the assessments and activities, learners will be able to measure their level of competence for each skill. For instance, here’s what a student taking Power Searching with Google might see:

This information can help guide them on which sections of the course to revisit. Or, if a pre-test is given, students can focus on the lessons addressing their skill gaps.

To determine how successful the content is at teaching the desired skills across all students, an instructor can review students’ competencies on a new page in the analytics section of the dashboard.

• Improving usability when creating a course Course Builder has a rich set of capabilities, giving you control over every aspect of your course -- but that doesn’t mean it has to be hard to use. Our goal is to help you spend less time setting up your course and more time educating your students. We’ve completely reorganized the dashboard, reducing the number of tabs and making the settings you need clearer and easier to find.

We also added in-place previewing, so you can quickly edit your content and immediately see how it will look without needing to reload any pages.

For a full list of the other features added in this release (including the ability for students to delete their data upon unenrollment and removal of the old Files API), see the release notes. As always, please let us know how you use these new features and what you’d like to see in Course Builder next to help make your online course even better.

In the meantime, take a look at a couple recent online courses that we’re pretty excited about: Sesame Street’s Make Believe with Math and our very own Computational Thinking for Educators.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Name: Krtin Nithiyanandam Surrey

Age Category: 13-15

Home: United Kingdon

Project: Improving diagnosis and treatment for Alzheimer’s with new molecular “Trojan Horse”






Krtin benefitted from the power of medical science as a young child who underwent a successful procedure to restore his hearing. He was curious to see if that same power could cure another ailment he learned of on television – Alzheimer's disease. He found that the Aβ oligomers biomarker is present in high concentrations in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients and also appeared during the earliest stage of the disease. Current diagnostic tools identify certain brain activity only present during the later stages of the disease, making it extremely difficult to diagnose the disease early. Krtin’s new molecular 'Trojan Horse' can potentially be used to diagnose Alzheimer's at a much earlier stage, leading to better treatments for patients.


What was the inspiration behind your project? 

I was always fascinated by neuroscience, but the inspiration for this project came from when I was reading various journal articles on cancer immunotherapy. Cancer immunotherapy works by using antibodies to alert the immune system to cancer. I wanted to extend the use of antibodies to other diseases, so my project has a slightly similar concept to immunotherapy, but a completely different principle. I also chose Alzheimer's because in Britain, we have a growing aging population and dementia is becoming extremely relevant. Also, Alzheimer's disease is considered to be one of the greatest medical challenges of the 21st century, with the fight against dementia becoming an international effort, so I felt that Alzheimer's disease would be a very relevant topic to focus my project on.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

I would say there were multiple moments that triggered my interest in science. I first started to take an interest in medicine after I had a series of operations and a transplant to restore my hearing. I truly admired how doctors and medicine could make a difference in people's lives and I wanted to be able to do the same for others. I also learned in school detail to the applications of science. My teachers were able to extend science out of the classroom and made it more interesting for me.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists? 

Don't be afraid of making mistakes; every great scientist has made mistakes. What made them great was that they persevered regardless of what happened, and they never stopped asking “Why?” That's how they were able to change the world.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words. 

Name: Laura Steponavičiūtė

Age category: 16-18

Home: Vilnius, Lithuania

Project: Detecting the environmental dangers of nanomaterials





Encouraged to read books about the world from a young age by her mother, who’s a science teacher, Laura learned that nanoparticles are in everything from sunscreen to socks. She wondered about their effect on living organisms and used bean sprouts and freshwater to do some testing. She discovered that nanoparticles can lead to higher chemical levels in environments, could potentially force species from their natural habitats and may even lead to extinction. She hopes this research leads to new precautions for nanoparticles and increased awareness about biological effects of chemicals. 

What was the inspiration behind your project? 

The greatest inspiration for my project is ecology. I’m concerned about keeping our planet and its organisms safe. Nanotechnologies is part of a widely expanded research field and various life changing inventions were created by using them. Though in my opinion, science has to be developed comprehensively, it has to be beneficial for humanity and not harmful for nature. While reading about nanotechnologies I had to face the fact that there’s little information about toxicity of nanomaterials. I’ve started thinking about how I could examine the harmful impact of nanoparticles on organisms, for example plants. My teacher encouraged me to try to study the effects to growth processes.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

Nature and science fascinated me since I can remember. I loved taking huge science atlases from the bookshelves and flipping through pages looking for illustrations. When I learned to read, I used to search the pages from atlases I liked the most and read them. If I didn’t know what something meant, I would take the book and go to my mother. She explained what I couldn’t understand. She also took me to her classroom, where there were various models and devices for demonstrative experiments. I remember my sister and I playing with these devices and our mother explaining to us why the devices were created. Then in school, I started learning things by myself, and could explore deeper the laws of nature. I want to know answers to the questions that pop in my head while reading articles or discussing various topics. I want to help to improve our environment and help people. I see science as a way to do that.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists?

Every time you are able to learn from a difficult situation, you win. You create your own opportunities. Do not be afraid to dream because what is life without crazy ideas?

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Name: Anurudh Ganesan

Home: Clarksburg, Maryland, US

Age Category: 13-15

Project: VAXXWAGON: a reliable way to store and transport vaccines




As an infant in India, Anurudh’s grandparents carried him 10 miles for a vaccine, only to find that the vaccinations were no longer viable due to a lack of refrigeration. He knew that story well, and decided that one day he’d find a better and more reliable way to transport vaccines to remote locations. He brainstormed with a few local professors to come up with the idea for a "no ice, no electric" vaccine transportation system. Based on intensive test results in the lab, he created a simple vapor compression refrigeration system easily powered by humans or even animals. This model can successfully deliver vaccines without compromising the integrity of the antibodies, serving more people who urgently need intact and effective vaccinations. 

What was the inspiration behind your project? 

When I was an infant, my grandparents walked me 10 miles to a remote clinic in India in order to receive a vaccination. When we arrived, the vaccines were ineffective due to the high temperatures and lack of refrigeration. Eventually, I got the vaccination. I was fortunate but others are not. I later found out that according to UNICEF, 1.5 million children die as a result of not getting the safe and effective vaccines that they so desperately need. Also, I discovered that vaccines can become frozen because of ice-packs, also rendering them ineffective. This inspired me to explore a better method of refrigerating vaccines in the last-leg, particularly in developing countries. So, my ultimate goal is to develop a refrigeration system for last-leg vaccine transportation taking a “no ice, no electric” approach. By considering the current demand and utilization of water and electricity, VAXXWAGON can effectively transport vaccines in the last-leg, without the use of ice and electricity, which would save thousands of lives throughout the world.

When and why did you become interested in science? 

When I was five, my dad and I were refueling our car at a nearby gas station. I asked my dad then, “can we invent a self powered vehicle that doesn't need gas?” My dad never forgot that conversation and inspired me to learn everything I could about self-generating power. I’ve participated in several science fairs, starting from second grade until now, researching diversified topics from self-generating power to biometrics and public health. Science allows me to dream, imagine, explore and question unknown things. This creative freedom allows me to be limitless in my thinking!

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists? 

Young scientists shouldn't worry about failing and shouldn't be discouraged about their passions, even when they face big challenges. We can choose to focus on ideas for solving urgent and life threatening global issues in this ever-changing world. I also believe most importantly, that the results of these young scientist’s discoveries should be a solution that helps and creates opportunities for a better quality of life worldwide.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.






Name: Girish Kumar
Home: Singapore
Age category: 16-18
Project: RevUp: improving learning through auto-generated study questions




Between receiving his first computer as a gift from his father and eight years of Robotic Club membership, Girish can’t remember a time when he wasn’t driven by science or building. As a student, he frequently relies on online texts to supplement classroom materials, but he doesn’t feel like they prepare him enough to learn relevant concepts. So Girish recruited help from local professors to code a tool that automatically generates questions spurred by manually inserted and relevant text. RevUp helps students study and provides an extremely efficient way for teachers to stop crafting their own review materials and start relying on automation.

What was the inspiration behind your project?
Last year, my entire class was obsessed with QuizUP, a mobile game where users could challenge friends to trivia questions. However, the more we played, the more repetitive questions started to become, taking the challenge and adrenaline rush away. This was because actual people were drafting questions, which limited the number of questions. That got me thinking: if there was way that questions could be automatically generated, players could get a much greater variety of questions. And of course, a more exciting game experience! I got hooked.

Soon after, my friend joked that if QuizUp was used in lessons, he would ace biology with great ease. Biology is an extremely knowledge-driven and content-driven subject in my school and quizzing often helps reinforce key concepts. That comment struck me, and I decided to “pivot” my idea to one that suited education.

When and why did you become interested in science?
Unlike most teenage programmers, I wasn’t fascinated with my first computer. I was disappointed.

As a kid, I used to watch countless TV shows that often depicted computers as intelligent, intelligent enough to engage in conversations. And obviously, the first computer my family bought was not able to do that. I was pretty disappointed. And that’s where and when my interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) really took flight.

Things naturally progressed after that. I joined my elementary school’s robotics team, got into programming and took online courses on Machine Learning and AI in high school. I worked on exciting machine learning projects, dealing with topics such as gesture recognition and indoor localisation, as an intern at local laboratories. I felt a need to leverage A.I. to empower people. That’s why I’m continuing to work on RevUP: to put it in the hands of students and teachers worldwide.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists?

1. Do not waste time overthinking or over planning. Get your hands dirty and just start building/experimenting.
2. For engineers especially: Iterate fast. Build. Fail. Improve. Repeat.
3. Failure often paves way for insightful and surprising discoveries.

Editor's note: We're celebrating this year's impressive 20 Google Science Fair finalist projects over 20 days in our Spotlight on a Young Scientist series. Learn more about each of these inspiring young people and hear what inspires them in their own words.

Names: Anela Arifi, Ilda Ismaili
Home: Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Age category: 16-18
Project: A system for alternative fuel production and storage using chicken feathers and fat

Anela and Ilda have been interested in science their entire lives. A science lesson about Rosalind Franklin inspired them to apply their passion to address a big challenge facing their country. They questioned how they could use waste material for alternative fuel production and storage to address the rapid rate of urbanization and increased demand for fuel in their country. Using local laboratory furnaces, the two tested the large amount of poultry waste in in their town and found that the chicken feathers could store hydrogen, while the fat produced fuel. Anela and Ilda’s ingenious system could restore the environment, while providing jobs to rural community members.

What was the inspiration behind your project?
Anela: Today, people have huge problems maintaining enough energy for their normal needs. I saw a need to invent new fuels and find acceptable storage for those fuels. What most inspires me is solving problems that we face. Just knowing that a formula, design or experiment that we come up with can solve big problems amazes. But everything has to be well organized. So, the first thing I did was set four aims: 1. achieve energy-efficiency 2. aim for the cost-effectiveness 3. make a good quality product 4. don’t pollute the environment with it. We wanted to find one material from which both a fuel and a material for storing fuel could be made. Using Google search, we discovered that both of the products can be produced by using chicken feathers. After looking into the statistics of chicken-feather waste in our country and in the world, we came to the conclusion that using chicken feathers would be a great environmentally-friendly solution. We tested the feathers in the laboratory and read many science articles and discovered that biodiesel (fuel) and material for storing hydrogen (storing fuel) could be produced by using chicken feathers. And since I’m a great fan of designing devices and inventing, Ilda and I designed a two-reactor system that would produce both by using the same process energy. We solved a problem by thinking of changing the world, maintaining a commodity in our everyday lives, reusing materials, inventing and experimenting.

Ilda: As Niel Armstrong said: "This is a small step for man, but a giant leap for mankind." That was my inspiration to do this. To be a part of that small step for man, and hope that someday it'll become a part of amazing discoveries and projects that helped to change the world. That way of thinking made me do this. Why this topic? We rely on fossil fuels, but we’re not aware that they’re slowly disappearing. I know that many researchers claim that we’ll run out of fossil fuels in 40 years or so, but I don't think that's true. They will be around longer than that, but what we’re not aware of is that we’re killing our own planet by using them. So Anela and I decided to focus on alternative fuels that could help solve problems of today like, pollution and economy struggles. And of course, one day, let's say 200 years from now when we run out of fossil fuels, we hope that our project and our idea could be one of many good things that will help save our planet earth. And THAT is a giant leap for mankind.

When and why did you become interested in science?
Anela: I remember being a small girl (my mother says I was four) and asking my mom; "Why is the sky blue?" My mom answered my question the best she could, but I kept asking “why?” I wondered whether there’s more to it than I could see and understand. My wondering and thinking about the complexity of everything came in handy when I started competing in national math, physics and chemistry competitions. I just loved the feeling of getting the right solution after thinking and rethinking. So, I could say that I was interested in science throughout my entire life actually. In high school I started applying my knowledge towards solving the problems on paper and in practice too, so I managed to make some successful science projects also. So when it comes down to it, I can say that my interest in science began when I was four years old holding my mother’s hand, wondering.

Ilda: I've been interested in science as long as I can remember. Even as a little girl, I was fascinated by plant growing, wondering how cars work, finding out why and how we laugh and sleep. I didn't realize back then that all of that was tied to science. While attending elementary school, I competed in many science competitions, such as science fairs and physics, chemistry and biology competitions. My favourite subject is biology, and you’ll see that biology plays a big part in our project. When I got to high school, I was introduced to more serious science competitions, that made me incorporate my own ideas. I could come up with an idea and present it to the rest of the world. It was then that I realized how beautiful science is. It has no rules or restrictions or boundaries. It's the same in every country. That's why I started to be interested in science. And I love it.

What words of advice would you share with other young scientists?
Anela: Never stop wondering. Think and rethink until you understand. And even if you have troubles with your research, wondering, thinking and rethinking will make it work.

Ilda: The best advice I ever got is that knowledge is power and to keep reading and learning. That's what I'll tell my fellow scientists. An idea you have may not work the first time, or the third or even the hundredth time, but it will eventually. Mine did. So keep on trying.