CLAY COUNTY — Two Clay County students won big recently at the 2019 International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix.

Two Clay County students, Ridgeview junior Michael Chen, 16, and Fleming Island High sophomore Gavin Baker, 16, won a trip to the international science fair last April.

They came home with $14,000 in scholarships.

Chen was awarded $10,000 from Ricoh USA for sustainable solutions to global problems, while Baker was awarded $4,000 from the Arizona Public Service for solutions on energy consumption. According to both Chen and Baker, the entire experience, including the cash awards, was “mind-blowing.”

Chen created a solar still that allows plants stored within to transpire and release drinkable water. Baker created an air flow system that eliminates hot spots and cold spots within buildings. While neither of them placed in their respective categories, they both came home with prestigious awards and significant scholarship money.

“It was very exciting to see these experts in the field and people who rank highly in their respective fields of work judge these projects and think so highly of them that not only were these two projects recognized, but awarded with cash,” Clay County School District Regional Science Fair Director Christopher Okamoto said.

“It was seriously mind-blowing to be there,” Baker said. “It was so great and inspiring and to win? That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I’m glad I was able to go.”

Chen agreed with Baker’s sentiments and explained how educational the experience was, citing how exciting it was to learn about other students’ research from all around the world.

According to Chen, Ricoh USA asked him to keep them updated with future work on his project. With his $10,000, Chen will be using it to attend a summer session of college work at Stanford University where he’ll be taking college classes alongside college students. Chen said the $10,000 covers most of the cost of the program.

Similar to Chen, Baker’s $4,000 will go towards future education, although he’s not quite sure exactly where yet with two more years of high school to go.

“I haven’t decided on a college yet or anything, but I’m definitely putting this money toward my college education,” Baker said.

Alongside his prize money, Baker also was given a business card by one of the judges, according to Okamoto, which, on stage as large as this international science fair, means a lot.

Okamoto, who attended the fair with these two students and has seen their work succeed since the county’s regional science fair earlier this year, couldn’t have been more thrilled to see Chen and Baker’s work recognized on such a global scale.

While Chen and Baker’s science fair run is over for now, both are already thinking about next year.