For the second year in a row, Jarek Osika has earned a spot in the Canada-Wide Science Fair.
Osika will head to Ottawa for the fair, which will be held in Ottawa this year from May 12-18. Almost 400 projects were entered in last year’s fair.
A total of 31 projects from Manitoba were entered in last year’s fair, but only three entrants were from northern Manitoba. For the second year straight, Osika will be Flin Flon’s only representative.
The Grade 8 scientist got the invitation after winning the top Grade 7-8 project and best overall awards at the Northern Manitoba Regional Science Fair earlier this month.
Osika’s project builds on the project he unveiled last year, a fully functional radio telescope created using components he bought online.
This year, Osika has altered his project to operate on a different frequency – 1420 megahertz, the name of his new and improved work.
On the new frequency, Osika’s telescope is now able to monitor hydrogen throughout the solar system, in addition to finding planets and other celestial bodies. The telescope’s radio dish provides readings to a laptop with specialized software, plotting the observations in graph form.
“Last year, I was just discovering planets, listening for planets,” he said.
Osika said that he learned from his experience at the national fair last year, adding he knew he needed to expand on his prior work.
“I learned what I had to do to get to nationals this year. I was more ready,” he said.
“I learned that I would have to do my project a different way to get to Ottawa and I knew how to do it.”
Osika is hoping to earn a medal at this year’s national fair, after returning home empty handed from the event last year.
In addition to the project and his schoolwork, Osika maintains a YouTube channel where he conducts experiments, reviews products and shows his past experiences. The channel, called “Itz Jarek!” has 100 subscribers.
Now that the Grade 8 student has finished his last Flin Flon citywide science fair, he hopes to expand further on the project in high school, but adds he’s not sure what he’ll do next.
“I think it’ll come down the road. I don’t really have any ideas right now, but it’s a while away,” he said.
