Meet Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna, The Future Scientist Invited To White House

Meet Augusta Uwamanzu-Nna, 17, of Elmont, New York, was named a finalist in the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search She is one of one of the students, who have been invited to the 2016 White House Science Fair, scheduled for this Wednesday, April 13th.

The fair, which is President Obama’s sixth and last, is a hands-on showcase of student innovation – robots, prototypes, tools to help us fight cancer and climate change – all researched, designed and built by the next generation of America’s scientists

Her work evolves around adding a nanoclay ingredient called attapulgite to cement slurries to improve the undersea cement seals that keep offshore oil wells from leaking. She found that adding nanoclay at just 0.3 percent of the total volume of the mixture markedly improved the mixture’s properties. Augusta’s initial interest in cement stemmed from her learning that production of cement accounts for 7% of human-made carbon emissions.

Source: WH