Brandon Twp.-Jessica Laviolette is on the go.
She’s going to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona in May.
She’s going to Harvard University this summer.
She’s going to get a patent.
The Brandon High School junior is fueled in part by ambition, intelligence and… ethanol.
Laviolette came to Brandon from Delaware, where she won science fairs for three consecutive years. When she arrived at BHS, she was surprised to learn the school wasn’t participating in science fairs. But that changed last fall.
Laviolette wanted to enter the Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit, the nation’s largest science fair, with more than 1,000 entries every year and 300 accepted. She obtained affiliation forms for the school, got BHS physics teacher Kelly Sweet to be the school sponsor and applied.
On March 9, Laviolette, with her entry Rapid Production of Ethanol by Vacuum Process, was awarded the Grand Prize? Senior Division at the fair, as well as seven other top awards? First Place, Biochemistry; First Place, Society of Automotive Engineers; First Place, Ricoh Sustainable Development Award; First Place, Naval Science Award; First Place, National Society of Professional Engineers; First Place, American Chemical Society Detroit Section; and First Place, Best Use of Photographic Images Kodak.
Happy with her win, Laviolette didn’t initially understand the magnitude of it.
‘When I found out how important it was, I was like, ‘Wow,?? said Laviolette, whose grand prize win earned her an all-expense paid trip to the international fair in Arizona. ‘Only the best and the brightest get to go to the International is what they told me.?
Sweet will accompany Laviolette to Arizona.
‘She’s our first science fair entrant, but she won’t be our last,? said Sweet. ‘I’m incredibly happy to have her here at Brandon and I hope her win inspires other students to enter next year.?
Laviolette says she would not have been able to do the project without the excellent education she has received from her Brandon teachers. The inspiration for her project came from both a section on ethanol she read in her advanced placement biology textbook, as well as her family.
Laviolette’s father previously worked as a director of North American Manufacturing and has a background in vacuum processing.
‘I used to play with vacuums he brought home, that’s where I got the idea,? said Laviolette, noting that scientific vacuums have been used to freeze-dry food, as well as make pharmaceuticals and biological warfare weapons.
Her grandfather also often speaks to her about the need for more ethanol, a renewable fuel source to get the United States out of Iraq.
In November, Laviolette began experimenting. She explains that ethanol is made from a type of yeast. In traditional forms such as wine-making, oxygen is present. Sometimes the yeast goes through cellular respiration instead of alcoholic fermentation, making ethanol production only partially efficient. Laviolette says she ‘strung together a whole bunch of scientific principles? using special membranes and removing all oxygen through vacuum processing to increase ethanol production efficiency and concentration before distillation. She achieved 100-percent ethanol production through trial and error over the course of two months and was able to make the same amount of ethanol in two days that would be achieved after a week in the traditional form.
‘If we reduce production costs, which my project does, then we can eliminate the need for regular fossil fuels which are bad for the environment,? said Laviolette. ‘Fuel for your car can be 95 percent ethanol and five percent fossil fuels. There will be less pollution and no foreign oil dependency.?
Laviolette notes that ethanol is one of the cleanest fuels available, but is expensive to make because it is not produced efficiently. She is planning to enter next year’s science fair with a cost comparison analysis of using ethanol with her process, versus using gasoline.
In the meantime, her winning method is in the process of being patented and she will attend Harvard University this summer, paying for part of the $8,000 cost with winnings from her project.
Laviolette was accepted to take a biology class at the university, after fulfilling the esteemed school’s application process and achieving ‘really high? PSAT scores. The summer course increases her chances of being accepted to Harvard after she graduates high school and also satisfies a biology pre-med requirement. Laviolette wants to be a dermatologist one day.
‘I want to own my own ethanol company to make it widely available,? said Laviolette, who is the junior secretary of the National Honor Society and a member of the science club as well as the varsity golf team. ‘But I really love medicine.?

Brandon Twp.-Jessica Laviolette is on the go.
She’s going to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Arizona in May.
She’s going to Harvard University this summer.
She’s going to get a patent.
The Brandon High School junior is fueled in part by ambition, intelligence and… ethanol.
Laviolette came to Brandon from Delaware, where she won science fairs for three consecutive years. When she arrived at BHS, she was surprised to learn the school wasn’t participating in science fairs. But that changed last fall.
Laviolette wanted to enter the Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit, the nation’s largest science fair, with more than 1,000 entries every year and 300 accepted. She obtained affiliation forms for the school, got BHS physics teacher Kelly Sweet to be the school sponsor and applied.
On March 9, Laviolette, with her entry Rapid Production of Ethanol by Vacuum Process, was awarded the Grand Prize? Senior Division at the fair, as well as seven other top awards? First Place, Biochemistry; First Place, Society of Automotive Engineers; First Place, Ricoh Sustainable Development Award; First Place, Naval Science Award; First Place, National Society of Professional Engineers; First Place, American Chemical Society Detroit Section; and First Place, Best Use of Photographic Images Kodak.
Happy with her win, Laviolette didn’t initially understand the magnitude of it.
‘When I found out how important it was, I was like, ‘Wow,?? said Laviolette, whose grand prize win earned her an all-expense paid trip to the international fair in Arizona. ‘Only the best and the brightest get to go to the International is what they told me.?
Sweet will accompany Laviolette to Arizona.
‘She’s our first science fair entrant, but she won’t be our last,? said Sweet. ‘I’m incredibly happy to have her here at Brandon and I hope her win inspires other students to enter next year.?
Laviolette says she would not have been able to do the project without the excellent education she has received from her Brandon teachers. The inspiration for her project came from both a section on ethanol she read in her advanced placement biology textbook, as well as her family.
Laviolette’s father previously worked as a director of North American Manufacturing and has a background in vacuum processing.
‘I used to play with vacuums he brought home, that’s where I got the idea,? said Laviolette, noting that scientific vacuums have been used to freeze-dry food, as well as make pharmaceuticals and biological warfare weapons.
Her grandfather also often speaks to her about the need for more ethanol, a renewable fuel source to get the United States out of Iraq.
In November, Laviolette began experimenting. She explains that ethanol is made from a type of yeast. In traditional forms such as wine-making, oxygen is present. Sometimes the yeast goes through cellular respiration instead of alcoholic fermentation, making ethanol production only partially efficient. Laviolette says she ‘strung together a whole bunch of scientific principles? using special membranes and removing all oxygen through vacuum processing to increase ethanol production efficiency and concentration before distillation. She achieved 100-percent ethanol production through trial and error over the course of two months and was able to make the same amount of ethanol in two days that would be achieved after a week in the traditional form.
‘If we reduce production costs, which my project does, then we can eliminate the need for regular fossil fuels which are bad for the environment,? said Laviolette. ‘Fuel for your car can be 95 percent ethanol and five percent fossil fuels. There will be less pollution and no foreign oil dependency.?
Laviolette notes that ethanol is one of the cleanest fuels available, but is expensive to make because it is not produced efficiently. She is planning to enter next year’s science fair with a cost comparison analysis of using ethanol with her process, versus using gasoline.
In the meantime, her winning method is in the process of being patented and she will attend Harvard University this summer, paying for part of the $8,000 cost with winnings from her project.
Laviolette was accepted to take a biology class at the university, after fulfilling the esteemed school’s application process and achieving ‘really high? PSAT scores. The summer course increases her chances of being accepted to Harvard after she graduates high school and also satisfies a biology pre-med requirement. Laviolette wants to be a dermatologist one day.
‘I want to own my own ethanol company to make it widely available,? said Laviolette, who is the junior secretary of the National Honor Society and a member of the science club as well as the varsity golf team. ‘But I really love medicine.?