West Ferris Secondary School science phenom Jiya Savsani brought home a bronze medal from her third consecutive entry in the Canada-Wide Science Fair.
For more than 60 years, the Canada-Wide Science Fair has shone a national spotlight on youth innovation in the study of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Savsani’s award-winning projects have focused primarily on renewable energy. Her 2025 project Watt’s the Wind? Optimizing Lakeside Hybrid VAWTs, explored the potential of hybridized Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) units to optimize power production on the shorelines of Canadian lakes. Savsani created 13 different variations of hybrid VAWTs with 3D design software SolidWorks and analyzed their effectiveness through Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations.
This year’s Bronze medal-winning project, called Highway Harvest 2.0: Optimizing Ways to Harness Renewable Energy on Highways is a continuation of her research from a previous science fair project, which focuses on various ways of harvesting energy from solar panels and vertical wind turbines on Canada’s highways.
Savsani showed how vertical-axis wind turbines (VAWTs) placed along highways can be used to harvest wind energy from passing vehicles. Through virtual 3D modelling and physical wind tunnel testing, Savsani explored the optimal placement of wind turbines along roadways to maximize power generation.
In her submission, Savsani stated that in the event of large-scale blackouts like the one experienced in Canada and the U.S. in 2003, “the units can be used as a backup. Additionally, Canada has around 280 remote communities, most of which are not connected to the electrical grid, that could use this additional source. Overall, the concept has a lot of potential and could lead us to a future where we have reliable energy sources and ensure sustainability.”
Near North District School Board is proud to support the growth of young innovators like Jiya Savsani, who will help lead the world into a sustainable future. Congratulations Jiya!
