Barnas Monteith

Barnas Monteith is the top record holding science fair winner in Massachusetts, and considered one of the top first prize winning science fair participants in US history, with over 10 1st prize titles, and a number of top special awards, including multiple International Science Fair 1st Prize Grand Awards (International Science and Engineering Fair). As a young student his multi-phase project on the use of electron microscopy and biochemistry to study dinosaur and bird eggshells was considered a novel field of study in the early 1990's. Barnas is a serial entrepreneur, author and long time international advocate and speaker for increases in science fairs around the world. He is the youngest and longest serving Chairman of the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair, one of the oldest fairs in the country/world, at 72 years old, founded by American Association for the Advancement of Science and held annually at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, continuously for its entire duration. 
Barnas, along with a colleague he met at ISEF, while conducting research at MIT Media Lab, co-invented an improved process for semiconductor polishing, and worked together to build a company that made artificial diamond products, as well as semiconductor processing products, with multiple locations in the US and Asia. Their work also touched on the field of artificial intelligence, and they were among the first inventors of technologies involving predictive healthcare and telemedicine, using wearable sensor platforms. While developing this company, Barnas and his business partners won and placed in top positions at a number of business competitions including the MIT $50K (now MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition|$100K), Harvard Battle of the Business Plans, MIT Ignite and more. 
As head of the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair, in 2010, Barnas was one of the first science fair leaders in the nation to create a formal teacher professional development initiative, called the Curious Minds Initiative dedicated to teaching science fair / inquiry based STEM methodologies. This program was later taught at state and private colleges and universities throughout the Commonwealth and has served as the basis for similar PD programs around the nation. 
As a key activist for STEM in Massachusetts, Barnas was appointed to the inaugural Massachusetts Governor's STEM Council, serving as initial Chair of the Public Awareness committee, under Governor Deval Patrick, during the first term of the council's creation. He has spoken about the need for greater investment in science fairs and international student collaboration at ISEF, National Science Teaching Association|NSTA, and a number of other national and international conferences. Notably, he was invited to China annually in recent years to speak and judge annually at the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition, one of the top science fairs in all of China. He has been an organizer of the Beijing International Science Festival's international section for a number of years, and was recognized in 2018 by the Chinese Academy of Sciences|Chinese National Academy of Science University, for his contributions to student international science collaborations. 
Since the early 2010's the "Barnas Monteith" award was given out in Randolph, Massachusetts, to science fair students who won the top prize in the district, to recognize Barnas' accomplishments as the only student from the town ever to have won top International science fair recognition. 
Barnas has published a number of scientific papers across multiple fields, including paleontology, semiconductors/diamond materials and is author of a number of books on various science and engineering topics, including artificial intelligence dinosaurs, computers, and his own science fair experiences.