A Grade 9 student from Hapnot Collegiate is heading east to represent northern Manitoba once again.
For the third consecutive year, Jarek Osika has been selected to represent northern Manitoba at the Canada-Wide Science Fair, which will take place at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, NB from May 13-17.
Osika’s most recent project “Radio Eyes - Black Hole Hunter” won him a gold medal at the Regional Science Fair in The Pas last month, as well as the right to head to nationals. Osika was one of three students from the region and the only student from Flin Flon selected for the national fair.
For his project, Osika constructed an interferometer radio telescope tuned to 2.4 gigahertz (GHz) and using SDR (software defined radio) detected Cygnus A, a black hole galaxy 600 million light years away in the Swan Constellation.
His project builds on his past radio telescope projects from previous years, showing it is possible to build low-cost radio telescopes using SDR.
The Canada-Wide Science Fair is far from unfamiliar territory for Osika. He took home the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada award at last year’s competition in Ottawa, ON.
Jarek’s father, Brent Osika, said Jarek’s love for science started at early age.
“He started in the science fairs in elementary school and wants to continue through high school, even though it is not required,” said the elder Osika.
“As a parent it is great to see him participate and exceed and build a passion for something he finds so interesting. This field of science and astronomy is really opening up now. So, it’s exciting to see him participate and explore new fields of study. I feel we are very fortunate to have the support of our school divisions in northern Manitoba to provide these opportunities to our youth.”
Flin Flon was well-represented at the Regional Science Fair in The Pas last month, sending 26 students from Grades 4-9 with a total of 20 projects overall. Flin Flon students were up against strong competition from Thompson, The Pas and Opaskwayak Cree Nation and came away with 10 total medals with half of the students sent finishing in the top three of their respective categories.
Over that weekend, Osika won gold in the Grade 9 computer, math, engineering sciences category and won best overall for competitors in Grades 9-12.
