Need for speed fuels top student scientist

Friday, Mar. 11, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — Jack Shuckra is one of the top racing cyclists in his age group in Utah, so when he sought a topic for his eighth-grade science project at J.E. Cosgriff Memorial School, “Aerodynamics of Cycling Wheels for the Junior Rider” was a natural fit.

Racing wheels cost thousands of dollars, “and I wanted to investigate to see if those wheels actually would save time in a race, because they’re very expensive,” Shuckra explained. 

His experiment not only gave him insight on how to improve his racing results, it also garnered him the “Young Scientist of the Year” award and three other trophies at the Feb. 27 diocesan science fair.

To test his hypothesis, he required the use of a wind tunnel. He found that Darko Technologies had one available for rent, but the cost was prohibitive. To overcome this, he applied for, and received, a STEM Utah grant that allowed him to rent the wind tunnel and purchase a set of regular wheels so that he could test new tires; those already on his bicycle had been used, and a worn tread would affect the measurement of drag, he said.

Mounted on the bicycle in the wind tunnel, the regular wheels and the racing wheels each underwent three 90-minute trials, Shuckra said, and “we found that over a 10-kilometer course – because that’s what the juniors do in a time trial – the aero wheels could save 13 seconds.”  

At the 2015 nationals for male 13-14 Junior Rider boys, 13 seconds would have been the difference between 12th and 8th place, or 3rd and 2nd, he said. 

“Aerodynamics has been a major issue with every professional cyclist because it can mean the difference in winning or losing a race,” Shuckra noted in his 15-page written report.

While he was at the wind tunnel, he also tested himself in two different positions on the bicycle, and found that there was a pound of difference in drag if he rode in the up position compared to the drop position, he said. “That means that the body position matters a lot more than the equipment.”

To determine results for his science experiment, he had to calculate the equation for drag, which “was a very complex thing,” he said, so he enlisted the help of two of his uncles who hold doctoral degrees; one is an ornithologist who uses wind tunnels to study the flight of birds, the other is a fluid aerodynamics engineer, he said.

It’s common practice for scientists to seek outside experts to help them understand the data they collect in their experiments, said Jim Larson, Cosgriff math and science teacher, adding that Shuckra understands the mathematical equations involved in his experiment “as much as an 8th-grade algebra student can. … What I stress to all of my students is that you can’t take ownership of anything you don’t fully understand. That doesn’t prevent you from obtaining an explanation from experts in the field to try to bridge that gap, and that’s the type of collaboration that goes on in the real world all the time.”

Shuckra was passionate about his experiment and persevered when faced with the obstacle of paying for use of the wind tunnel – two qualities that are necessary for successful science fair projects, Larson said. 

Shuckra will be among the 80 Catholic school students to compete against their peers from public and charter schools at this year’s Salt Lake Valley Science & Engineering Fair. Last year, two Catholic middle school students were Broadcom national semifinalists, and a Juan Diego CHS student advanced to the national science fair.

At last year’s SLVSEF, Shuckra placed second in his group. In keeping with his science fair success, “when I grow up I want to be an orthopedic surgeon,” he said.