Emily Sun and Abigail Xu, students at Langley High School, have been selected as the 2020 recipients of the McLean Area Branch of AAUW’s STEM Excellence Award. The STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Excellence Award is given to a female student or team from a high school in the McLean area with an outstanding science fair project in the field of Engineering.

This year, students participated in a Virtual Science Fair by submitting three-minute videos for review. The judges reviewed videos for 12 projects, and were especially impressed by the work done by Emily and Abigail on the project, “Flashlight Powered by Heat of Human Hand,” including the video to describe the project. Abigail and Emily developed and tested a flashlight that uses Peltier tiles to transfer body heat from a hand into electrical energy. The students had expanded on earlier work to develop a flashlight that works in a large range of temperatures.

For the award, Emily and Award each received a Certificate of Merit and a check for $100. The students will also be invited to a branch program in the Fall.

In addition to receiving the AAUW STEM Excellence Award, Abigail and Emily were recognized at the Virtual Science Fair with a Certificate of Merit from the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association, Northern VA Chapter (AFCEA), and an award from Hunton Andrews Kurth, LLP for preparation, filing, and prosecution of a US Patent Application.

Founded in 1969, the McLean Area Branch of American Association of University Women has strongly supported AAUW’s mission to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, philanthropy, and research. The McLean Area Branch has a special interest in encouraging young women and girls to pursue educational opportunities related to STEM. To learn more about the McLean Area Branch, visit the organization’s website at https://mclean-va.aauw.net.