Building Better Schools: Ottawa Hills student makes science history

OTTAWA HILLS, Ohio (WTVG) - A local Ottawa Hills High School senior is making his mark in the school’s history.

Max Chandar-Kouba is the second student to qualify for the world’s largest science fair.

The Ottawa Hills senior is headed to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Dallas, Texas, next month to showcase his project: The Search for the First Stars.

“I’m running this large-scale, simulation of matter under early universe conditions, and basically looking near these bodies of quasars, which is basically a black hole, feeding on stuff and shooting out this big ray of radiation, and I’m looking near those quasars in the simulations to see do these large pockets of starts form and can we look at them with these next generation of telescopes, the James Webb,” said Max.

Max says the science behind time travel through light piqued his interest at an early age.

“It certainly helps that my mom is an astrophysics professor and also Professor Jdhmet Smith is my stepfather. So they definitely really help me with my project and like they’ve taught me stuff, especially when I was younger whether I liked it or not that kind of thing,” he said.

Jeremy Nixon, Ottawa Hills High School Science Teacher, explains the goal of his scientific research class is to introduce students to research projects.

“To get kids in research situations and elaborate labs situations where they can shine and do these awesome things anywhere from biology to what Max did with astronomy stuff to space stuff. It’s pretty cool to see the kids do this amazing research and then to make it to this level is really awesome,” Jeremy said.

Max says this opportunity will open doors for him in the future. In the fall, he’s headed to Carnegie Melon to study physics.

See a spelling or grammar error in our story? Please include the title when you click here to report it.

Copyright 2023 WTVG. All rights reserved.