NAHS Standouts New Albany High School senior seminar finalists go above and beyond expectations
By Bre Offenberger
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Fancher, Project of the Year
Fancher doubled the 80-hour minimum for the senior seminar through his work as an engineering intern with Form5 Prosthetics, a nonprofit started by NAHS alumnus Aaron Westbrook. Form5’s goal is to help those with limb differences by supplying bespoke prosthetics that are 3-D-printed, Fancher says. In the first 70 to 80 hours of his internship, Fancher worked alongside Westbrook to learn the ins and outs of 3-D printers and then to help create protective face shields during the pandemic. He spent the latter half of his hours contributing to Form5’s CO-FAB (collaboration and fabrication) event. During CO-FAB, the Form5 team works directly with people with limb differences to design and supply them 26
Gavin Fancher
with prostheses. Fancher worked with a young boy named Jack. “He did not have his right hand or wrist,” Fancher says. “He wanted to ride his bike, which he was already quite good at, but he was getting a little pain on his nub when he was trying to ride it. We were able to deliver a prosthetic to him that he, I believe, still uses today.” Fancher was shocked to learn he won project of the year for NAHS. “It was kind of surreal,” Fancher says. “Winning project of the year, it was really nice because I did feel that I was a little bit rewarded for the hard work I put in, but at the same time, I was not expecting it, really. It was a pleasant surprise.” Fancher loved Form5 so much that he worked for the company again this summer. Now, he has made his way to University of Wisconsin-Madison to study mechanical engineering.
Karthic, Project of Excellence
Karthic virtually interned with the Air Force Research Laboratory at WrightPatterson Air Force Base where she worked under an aerospace engineer
Meghana Karthic
for six weeks. She dedicated most of her time to the NASA X-43, an unmanned, hypersonic aircraft. “A hypersonic is an aircraft that can fly five times faster than the speed of sound,” Karthic says. “But the X-43 can actually travel 10 times faster than the speed of sound. So, it’s just really fast.” She learned how to geometrically model the NASA X-43 as well as analyze it. Karthic was especially grateful to receive the project of excellence award as she considered her peers’ projects to be as impressive as her own. “I was very surprised, but I think I was glad that I was able to get that honor because I worked for several hours on that project,” Karthic says. This fall, Karthic began her freshman year at Johns Hopkins University in its computer science program. www.healthynewalbanymagazine.com
Photo courtesy of New Albany-Plain Local School District
ew Albany High School is known for its rigorous curriculum and challenging course load. However, it’s equally known for its talented and hardworking student body. Each year, seniors at New Albany High School are required to take a senior capstone course, with one of the options being the senior seminar. This year was more difficult than ever with the added stresses of the pandemic and adapting to a constantly changing world, but the five finalists got through it with flying colors. Gavin Fancher, Meghana Karthic, Katherine Meslow, Riley McNabb and Olivia Gittins each took vastly different routes to complete their senior seminar projects, but they all finished in the same way: with honorable distinctions and lifechanging experiences.
