Some of central Virginia's sharpest minds are moving on to higher competition after this year's Piedmont Regional Science Fair.
More than 350 students from nine counties flooded the floor of John Paul Jones Arena Wednesday afternoon - the largest number of entrants in the fair's 32-year history.
Projects span 17 categories, from earth science to cell and microbiology.
"If they can do a project using the scientific method, we can find a category for them. So there's really everything as simple as using baking soda, to laboratories at UVA," said Adrian Felts, Piedmont Regional Science Fair director.
The top two teams got an all-expenses-paid trip to Phoenix, Arizona for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May.
All other first-place winners advance to the state competition in April.
