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MSU Billings science fair winner takes first at nationals

Tiffini Gallant, Alumni/Foundation Marketing Coordinator at MSU Billings Foundation, (406) 657-2252, tiffini.gallant@msubillings.edu

At last week鈥檚 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, Hailey Smith experienced the thrill of having her scientific endeavors recognized on the international stage. Smith, a junior at Billings Senior High School, brought home a National Air Force first place win in engineering mechanics. The award included a plaque, medal and $750 cash prize.

Preparing for the national fair in Pittsburgh, Penn., which took place May 13-19, was no easy task. Smith was allowed only minimal changes to the project that garnered her a spot in the fair when she competed in the MSU Billings and Billings Clinic Science Expo last March. Smith manipulated the shape of an airplane鈥檚 wing to decrease drag. She says with less drag, an airplane uses less fuel. To test her theory, she built her own scaled-down wind tunnel.

鈥淚 had to reengineer the entire wind tunnel on paper to make it exactly the same as the wind tunnel I鈥檇 build,鈥� Smith said, explaining the only real challenge she encountered in preparing her final project. Laughing, she said, 鈥淭hat was the hardest part aside from learning how to pack 鈥� I don鈥檛 know how to pack for a week-long trip.鈥�

During the judging process, four organizations were recognizing Smith as a finalist for their awards, including one from NASA. But she received complements throughout the fair.

鈥淚 had an astrophysicist 鈥� when I was doing my project setup 鈥� who told me my project was brilliant,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was pretty intense.鈥�

Smith said she wasn鈥檛 fully expecting her name to be called during the award ceremony. But she believes the memory of that moment will stay with her forever.

鈥淚t鈥檚 very satisfying when you realize 鈥榦h, I actually did it,鈥欌�� she said.

Now that she鈥檚 reached this milestone, Smith is looking to the future. She鈥檒l take her ACT this summer and begin applying to the Naval and Air Force Academies. Before she enters senior year, she plans to take NASA up on the offer of a summer internship.

Smith was sponsored to attend the international fair by the MSU Billings Foundation. She thanks Science Expo organizer Vonda Lancaster for preparing her for the trip, and her Senior High science instructor Craig Beals for his encouragement. But she was most impressed with the other students she encountered at the fair.