THE STUDENT-RESEARCHER FINALISTS FROM THE 11TH ANNUAL PROGENICS – REGENERON – ACORDA: WESTCHESTER/PUTNAM SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR COMPETE AND WIN TOP AWARDS AT THE INTEL INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR
THE TOP 1,500 STUDENTS FROM OVER 50 COUNTRIES
On Saturday, March 13, 2010 in the Sleepy Hollow High School Gymnasium over 250 students from 30 area high schools in Westchester and Putnam Counties gathered to present their extensive research projects at the 10th annual Progenics – Regeneron – Acorda Westchester Science and Engineering Fair. Students showcased their accomplishments in a competitive venue featuring individual and team poster/interview style presentations and were judged by local experts in the fields of science, math, environmental studies, psychology and engineering.
Thanks to generous donations by Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Acorda Therapeutics, the top 8 individual projects and 4 team projects from WESEF, won an all expense paid trip to compete in Los Angeles, California at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the “superbowl” of science fairs, (http://www.societyforscience.org/isef). This is the larger and more global of the two Intel sponsored events (the other being the Intel Science Talent Search). At the Intel ISEF, more than 1,500 high school student, science fair winners, from over 50 countries competed for $4 million in prizes and scholarships.
The WESEF finalists (listed below) won more than $50,000 in cash and scholarships at ISEF….
Liza Strauss of Mamaroneck High School won 1st place American Psychological Association Award ($1250.00) and the 1st place US Air Force Award of $3000.00 for her study of cognitive neuroscience on arithmetic combinatorial processing using MEG.
Jayanth Krishnan of Mahopac High School placed 3rd in Engineering ($1000.00) and won the National Antivivisection Society Award and the European Organization for Nuclear Research-CERN Award including a trip to CERN Switzerland for his research on regulatory signatures of cancer cell lines inferred from gene expression data.
Joy Li of Briarcliff High School took 3rd place in Medicine and Health ($1000.00) for her study on predicting outcomes of heart failure patients after mechanical circulatory support device implantation.
Tyler St. Dennis of John Jay High School took 3rd place in Microbiology ($1000.00), won the 1st place U.S. Air Force Award ($2000.00), National Collegiate Inventers and Innovators Alliance Award ($1000.00) and the Patent and Trademark Office Society Award ($150.00) for his research on bacterial heat shock response to photodynamic therapy.
Kyle Bardwell of Ossining High School took 1st place in Animal Science ($3000.00) for studying the human impact on screech owl populations.
Evan Olin and Catherine Conte of Ossining High School won 2nd place in Behavioral Science ($1500.00) for their work on tibial shock as one transitions from shod to barefoot running.
Katherine Mangialardi of Ossining High School won 3rd place in Behavioral Science ($1000.00) and a $60,000.00 Scholarship to the Florida Institute of Technology for her work studying altruism in adolescents.
Matthew McIntyre of Yorktown High School won 2nd place in Microbiology ($1500.00) and the U.S. Army Award including a $4000.00 scholarship and a trip to London, England for his work on a possible solution to the worldwide malaria epidemic by identifying the genetics of the parasite that causes malaria like diseases that could be targeted by future pharmaceuticals
Michael Cerabona of Yorktown High School won 4th place in Engineering ($500.00) and the GE Energy Award ($1000.00) for his work in creating a solar cell tracking device that uses a shape memory alloy known as “Muscle Wire” to guide a solar panel to follow the path of the sun.
Gabriel Weissman of Horace Greeley High School and Priya Mohindra of Yorktown High School won 4th place in Biochemistry ($500.00) for their project on early detection of breast cancer by finding a better way to bind a cancer detection chemical to early stage breast cancer cells.
Sara Albala of John Jay High School won the American Statistical Association Award and the IIT College of Psychology Award ($40,000.00) for her study on the effect of living arrangements and social support on hypertension.
Official Intel ISEF Press Releases
http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/press
For more information contact:
Michael Blueglass WESEF President / Yorktown High School Science Research Director (W) 914-243-0561
(C)914-447-3568 (Fax) 914-248-9658