Every year, there is a national science competition for middle school students called Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars). 

Freshman Camellia Sharma competed in the Broadcom MASTERS competition this year. She started her project at the end of middle school last year (2020).

Sharma is in the Medical Science center and has always enjoyed STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities. 

“The first memory of STEM activities that I have are of the science fairs at my elementary school,” said Sharma. 

To compete in Broadcom MASTERS, you have to compete at a Broadcom MASTERS-affiliated science fair and be named by the fair as a nominee for the Broadcom MASTERS competition. 

Sharma had prior experience in competing in science competitions, but nothing as large as the national Broadcom MASTERS competition.

Sharma would participate in her school’s science fairs in elementary and middle school. 

Sharma was inspired to compete in this competition because her brother Cameron Sharma, a senior at Godwin, was a finalist for Broadcom MASTERS in 2018. 

“I saw how much fun he had and I wanted to experience that for myself,” said Sharma. 

For her project, Sharma designed an aerial drone and boat combination that flies to remote locations and lands on the water to collect data. 

“My project uses computer vision and machine learning to count and identify the fish in underwater images,” said Sharma. 

She decided to make this project because her grandfather, who lives near the Chesapeake Bay, always talks about the problem of not being able to count fish in remote estuaries. 

Sharma designed a software that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to count and identify fish in images to solve her grandfather’s problem and help others. 

This year, the Broadcom MASTERS competition was held virtually. Even though the competition was not in person, the participants still found many ways to connect with each other. 

“In between activities we would have zoom hangouts where there were different events like virtual games and show and tell,” said Sharma.

On October 28, Sharma was announced the winner of the Broadcom MASTERS competition. 

“I was ecstatic and surprised when I won. There were 29 other like-minded and smart people there at the competition and I was surprised that they had chosen me,” said Sharma. 

Sharma plans to continue competing in STEM competitions and sharing her research with others. She hopes to obtain a degree in mechanical engineering sometime in the future. 

Sharma learned important skills from competing in the competition. 

“I learned valuable teamwork skills as well as how to effectively share my knowledge with others,” said Sharma.