Students Take Top Awards at SB County Science Fair
March 25, 2026
Five Cate students brought home top awards at the Santa Barbara County Science Fair held earlier this month at UC Santa Barbara.
Kaitlyn Dai ‘27, Charlie Guo ‘29, Lixin Peng ‘27, Rose Reece ‘29, and Ryder Wei ‘27 represented Cate across a range of projects that reflected both the depth of their inquiry and the thoughtful ambition of their scientific work.
“My advanced chemistry class at Cate deepened my understanding of my topic by introducing me to various molecular properties,” said Kaitlyn, whose project was awarded gold in the senior division and named Best Senior Project. “I feel that the effort I put into my research project, from computational modeling to designing the poster and preparing my oral speech, has paid off, and I feel very proud of my work.”
Kaitlyn’s project focused on designing a compound used to degrade proteins and help combat hormone-driven cancers. She qualified for the California Science and Engineering Fair held Saturday, April 11 and Sunday, April 12, at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.
Lixin earned gold in the senior division for developing a portable nucleic acid detection device designed for primary care settings to identify respiratory pathogens, including influenza A, influenza B, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
“My advanced genetics classes in the last two trimesters with Mr. Denison played a major role,” said Lixin, who also earned the Sweepstakes Award (Best in Fair), as well as qualified for the California Science and Engineering Fair.
Rose’s project struck a positive chord at the fair. She examined whether music tempo affects human skin temperature.
“Heavy metal music decreased skin temperature,” said Rose, who earned bronze in the senior division. “I mainly worked on my project independently … however, my physics teacher, Mrs. Cvetich, served as a mentor I knew I could go to if I needed anything.
“To be recognized with top awards feels amazing after spending so long working on my project, though I would still be equally proud of my work if I hadn’t received an award,” Rose said. “Especially after participating in the science fair this year, I feel more determined than ever to create an amazing project for next year because I had such a great time.”
Charlie earned bronze in the senior division and the Engineering Design Process Award for his project, “Adapting Automatic Hull Bottom Cleaning Robot Using Vibrating Scraper and UV Light.”
Ryder’s project also had a mechanical theme, but on a molecular scale. The project’s title: “Lipid Bilayer Composition and Membrane Mechanics as Determinants of Nanoparticle Drug Delivery.”
The day included more than just competition. Students took a brief tour of two UCSB labs, including one that explored what lake sediment can reveal about climate change, and another that examined the psychology and mathematics of romantic partner choice.
Also present was Lucas Zhang ‘27, last year’s Sweepstakes winner, who returned to the science fair as a volunteer, photographer, and opening speaker at the awards ceremony.
Lucas’ presence felt like a fitting passing of the torch. As Lixin put it, “I am glad to see that our school continues to earn top awards.”