PORT TOWNSEND — Fourth-grader Nathaniel Ashford partnered with East Jefferson Fire-Rescue, the Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management and AIRPIX Northwest to join more than 500 others at the 57th Washington State Science and Engineering Fair.
The fair is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization promoting science, technology, engineering and math across the state.
Last month, students from grades one through 12 converged on Bremerton High School with their project boards and demonstration materials, according to a news release.
At the fair, Nathaniel earned a first-place award in energy and transportation in his third year of participation.
Nathaniel, a home-schooled student in Port Townsend, presented “Quadcopters Helping Firemen” to judges while representing the 4-H Port Townsend STEM Club, an organization that promotes competitive venues in science, technology, engineering and math.
When natural disasters occur, firefighters initially conduct “assessment loops” to evaluate the extent and scope of the disaster.
In Nathaniel’s project, he set up a mock natural disaster to test his hypothesis that a small, remotely operated quadrotor helicopter, or quadcopter, could assess the natural disaster better than firefighters.
Ashford envisioned a fleet of amateur quadcopter operators, similar to HAM radio operators, training to support emergency services in Jefferson County.
East Jefferson Fire-Rescue firefighters taught him more about how the fire district responds to disasters, and he researched how to incorporate his idea in a practical manner.
Nathaniel also met with representatives of Jefferson County Department of Emergency Management to learn more about overall disaster response in the region.
To develop the actual quadcopter, Nathaniel turned to Kelvin Hughes of AIRPIX Northwest, a Poulsbo-based aerial photography company.
Hughes developed an eight-bladed “multicopter.”
According to Nathaniel, the evaluation went well, but the results did not support his hypothesis.
“My hypothesis proved incorrect,” he said. “It was too difficult to see the amount of detail we needed from overhead. The firefighters could do it faster.”
