Silicon Valley: Budding African-American scientists learn from both success and failure

SAN JOSE -- Attention, Tesla Motors: Your next budding engineering genius lives right in your backyard and has a question and a hunch about aerodynamics for you.

Ayinde Olukotun, 11, was intrigued by the electric car company's decision last year to raise its new Model S higher off the ground after a series of well-publicized battery fires.

"As a car guy, I wondered if this small change would alter the aerodynamics of the car," said Ayinde, a sixth-grader at Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School in Palo Alto.

He was among about 100 young scientists explaining their displays Saturday at the 12th annual Greene Scholars Program Science Fair.

The fair is part of the Dr. Frank S. Greene Scholars Program, aimed at nurturing African-American students' interest in science, technology, engineering and math -- often called the STEM fields. The program offers workshops, enrichment, a summer institute, a career fair and other activities to the 110 students in third through 12th grade enrolled in the program in four Bay Area counties, Program Director Gloria Whitaker-Daniels said.

The science fair, she said, provides a safe place for students to showcase their achievements and practice presentation skills and speaking to strangers.

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