For his interesting findings, gleaned from experiments on different types ...

Daniel C. Britt | published: March 29, 2008

For his interesting findings, gleaned from experiments on different types of insulation, Geneva High School student Braxton Wessell, 17, won the "Best of Fair" award and a four-year scholarship to Youngstown State University. The problem of insulating his families hog shed motivated Wessell to begin testing different heat-trapping materials. After weeks of trial and error, Wessell determined spray-foam insulation to be best at containing heat. A common household fabric material comes in second at a much lower cost. Surprisingly, the pink fiberglass insulation was one of the least effective.