A dream comes true — Adrian wins 2nd Place Silver Medal at the Nationals!

Adrian Niles at the ACT-S0 National Competition in Orlando, FL (Photo, Charlene Greene)

Congratulations to Mister Science Fair mentee & Boston NAACP youth science & engineering competitor Adrian Niles, who won the Silver Medal at the national competition of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) on July 14, 2013 in Orlando, FL.  Adrian is a resident of Brockton, MA and will be going into his senior year at Southeastern Regional Vocational High School in Easton.

Adrian’s creation of a self-balancing, two-wheel, personal transportation device took second place in the category of engineering.  His vehicle, similar to the more commonly known Segway, is called the “People Mover” which he modified to include new safety features designed for ease of use by the elderly and disabled.  He’s been working on this project for the last two years, and winning a medal at the ACT-SO nationals was a dream-come-true for him.

ACT-SO is a yearlong achievement program designed to recruit, stimulate, and encourage high academic and cultural achievement among African-American high school students. “The ACT-SO competition is a work of love for the countless volunteers who work with these young people throughout the year to get them prepared to compete,” said Michael Curry, Boston NAACP President.

Mister Science Fair hosted ACT-SO information on its web site for the Boston Branch NAACP, and our staff mentored Adrian with his project.

(Here’s the article about Adrian’s win at the Boston ACT-SO competition earlier this year, along with pictures of his homebuilt segway.)

MisterScienceFair & NAACP ACT-SO Competition Results Announced

Pat & Adrian, with the "People Mover" machine, built for an award-winning science fair project over the course of several months
Barnas Monteith - aka MisterScienceFair - with student Adrian Niles, winner of the NAACP ACT-SO Science & Engineering Fair in Boston, MA

Barnas Monteith – aka MisterScienceFair – with student Adrian Niles at the Bridgewater South Shore Regional Science Fair;  Adrian recently became the top Gold science winner of the NAACP ACT-SO competition in Boston, MA

MisterScienceFair & NAACP-Boston announce the 2013 winners of the Boston NAACP ACT-SO competition on April, 2013.  The NAACP ACT-SO is comprised of local/regional NAACP chapter competitions, followed by a national competition in July, to be held this year in Orlando, Florida.

There are a number of different subjects covered by the ACT-SO competition, including Jazz, Dance, Poetry, Business, Architecture and others.   However, through collaboration with MisterScienceFair.com, local students were able to receive mentorship for the ACT-SO projects in science & engineering categories.

MisterScienceFair, along with NAACP, firmly supports the creation and expansion of new programs to help level the playing field of inquiry based science, in particular in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods.  With the Next Generation Science Standards coming out this year, it is likely that inquiry will become a more important part of science teaching across America.  More inquiry/hands-on science means greater need for lab resources, mentors and new science fair programs that offer a fair and equal opportunity for everyone to participate.

As a result, Adrian Niles, of Brockton, MA, a junior at Southeast Vo-Tech in Easton was able to enter and improve his project, throughout multiple competitions, and now has several chances to win at the National NAACP ACT-SO competition.

Congratulations to Adrian – not only for winning a top Gold Award, but also for such an awesome science & engineering project!

Adrian Niles, builder of the “People Mover” – a device similar to Dean Kamen’s Segway, won the top NAACP ACT-SO award in the Engineering category at the Roxbury YMCA. As a result of his gold award, he will compete in the NAACP ACT-SO Nationals with a all-expense paid trip to Orlando, FL. He is seen here with ACT-SO Committee Members Charlene Greene (left) and Supreme Richardson (right)

Here you see Pat Monteith, of MisterScienceFair.com, providing opening remarks to the NAACP ACT-SO competition award ceremony, held at the Roxbury MA YMCA.

Pat Monteith, providing opening remarks at the ACT-SO competition

Pat Monteith, of MisterScienceFair, providing opening remarks at the Boston NAACP ACT-SO competition