MRIGlobal Proud to Serve as Platinum Presenting Sponsor of 2025 Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair
Our second President & CEO, Dr. Charles N. Kimball, helped establish the Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair in 1952 with the goal of developing and retaining scientific knowledge and expertise in the Midwest. Today, supporting and inspiring students from elementary, middle, and high schools from across the 15-county region, the awards ceremony for the event bears his name. We were proud to continue supporting his vision and honored to serve as event sponsor for the 69th consecutive year. This year, 37 of our scientists, engineers, and support staff served as event judges. Through this work, we benefit students from the communities in which we work, play, and live.
Now in its third year, the MRIGlobal Excellence in Science Award recognized what was judged to be the very best of the entries in the Senior Division. Its goal was to recognize excellence in pursuit of objective, scientific truth and progress. The award was presented by MRIGlobal’s President & CEO, Ian Colrain, PhD, and former President & CEO, Jim Spigarelli, PhD, whose tenure at the institute overlapped with that of Dr. Kimball.
This year’s winner was Nathan Zhao from The Pembroke Hill School for his work “An Intelligent Bimanual Mobile Manipulator for Assisted Living Applications.” In his abstract, Zhao cited the growing national shortage of caregivers and a need for solutions to help individuals with common household tasks. He aimed to develop a low-cost, mobile robotic manipulator system to enhance the quality of life, independence, and accessibility for those in need of support, effectively aiding users in object retrieval and delivery tasks. We were excited to be recognized as the first recipient of The Community Commitment Award, which was awarded to our team for providing the most judges and volunteers in support of the Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair. It was also great to see Bill Sosna, Assistant Director, Integrated Health Surveillance & Diagnostics, recognized for having volunteered his time to judge Science Fair projects for the past 20 years.
Once again, we were proud to support this event that has given so much to the development of area students who are pursuing an interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math), and the schools that are developing the brightest minds of tomorrow. We are always looking for scientists, engineers, and staff who are committed to purpose-driven work and share our passion for making the world healthier, safer, and more sustainable. We hope these students, with their impressive ideas and research, will help us continue our mission in the future.
Congratulations to all the students and winners of the 74th Annual Greater Kansas City Science and Engineering Fair! They deserve a large round of applause for their hard work and dedication to their projects, and we look forward to seeing them pursue careers in STEM fields.