LOS ANGELES--Ten student finalists from Washington science & engineering fairs competed at the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles on May 8-13, 2011.  

 

Kira Powell, an 11^th grade chemistry student at Odessa High School in Odessa won the First Grand Award and Best in Category in Plant Sciences.  She will receive a check for $8000, and her school will receive $1000 from the Intel Foundation.  Kira found a way to cost effectively use the absorbent material in baby diapers as a soil additive to increase wheat crop production by 25%.  A month earlier she was the first Washington student ever to win first place and $12,000 at the National Junior Science & Humanities Symposium, sponsored by the research offices of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.  The JSHS prize also includes an expense paid trip to the London International Youth Science Forum this summer.

 

Andrey Sushko, a senior at Hanford High School in Richland was one of twelve ISEF finalists to receive an expense paid trip to Switzerland to tour the world’s largest particle accelerator, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). The LHC is used to study the basic constituents of matter, the fundamental particles, and the forces that hold them together. These studies, carried out by 10,000 scientists from all over the world, are expected to shed light on some of the mysteries of the Universe. For his project, Andrey built a tiny motor that uses a fluid film for bearings.

 

Other ISEF awards to Washington students include:   Fourth Grand Award of $500  to Aerin Erika Towle, 17, Sumner High School, Sumner.  Fourth Grand Award of $500 to Akshai Baskaran, 18, Kennewick High School, Kennewick.  Sushko also won the Third Grand Award, $1000, in the category of Engineering: Electrical & Mechanical.  Vamsi Chunduru, 17, Capital High School, Olympia, won Honorable Mention from the International Council of Systems Engineering.

 

The 2011 Team Washington ISEF finalists included:

 

           Representing the Washington State Science & Engineering Fair:

 

Andrey Sushko, Hanford High School, Richland.  Project Title: “Electrowetting for Novel Electromechanical Applications”

WSSEF Awards:  First Place Senior Division, National Society of Professional Engineers Innovative Engineering Award, Ohio Wesleyan University Science Scholarship, U.S. Army Award,  Whitman College Scholarship, Wolfram Mathematica Award

 

Nicholas Vergara, Cedarcrest High School, Duvall.  Project Title: “Sexual Cannibalism as a Novel Major Selection Pressure in Tyrannosaurus Rex Reproduction”

WSSEF Awards:  First Place Senior Division, Naval Science Award, Ohio Wesleyan University Science Scholarship, Whitman College Scholarship, Wolfram Mathematica Award

 

Xisen Tian, Columbia River High School, Vancouver.  Project Title: “Organic Photovoltaics II”

WSSEF Awards:  First Place Senior Division, SPIE Optics & Photonics Award, Ohio Wesleyan University Science Scholarship, U.S. Army Award, Evergreen State College Scholarship-Best of Show, U.S. Metric Association Award, Wolfram Mathematica Award

 

 

       Representing the Mid Columbia Regional Science & Engineering Fair:

 

Akshai Baskaran – Kennewick High School, Kennewick, Project Title: “Analysis of Conducting Polymer PEDOT (Poly (3,4-Ethylenedioxythiophene)) and Nanostructured Titania for Solid-State Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells”

 

Kira Powell, Odessa High School, Project Title: “The Use of Sodium Polyacrylate to Increase Crop Production in Dry-Land Farming”

 

  Representing the Central Sound Regional Science & Engineering Fair:

 

Katy McClintic, Cedarcrest High School, Duvall, Project Title: “Can You Drink a River? An Evaluation of Solar Disinfection Efficiency in the Inactivation of E. coli and Coliform Bacteria at a Northern Latitude.” 

CSRSEF Awards: First Place Environmental Sciences, Stockholm Junior Water Prize (state finalist to national competition in Chicago), Ricoh Sustainable Development Award, US Metric Association Award, US Navy Award

 

 

        Representing the South Sound Regional Science Fair:

 

Aerin Towle, Sumner High School, Sumner.  Project Title:  “Entropion Eye Causitive Factors”

SSRSF Awards:  First Place Microbiology Category, AAUW Top Female Project

 

Vamsi Chunduru, Capital High School, Olympia, Project Title:  “eHeart: ECG Signal Processing System for Automatic Detection of Cardiac Abnormalities”

SSRSF Awards: First Place Materials & Bioengineering Category, 101 Apps – Best Innovation Award

 

Liz Meucci, Alyssa  Ylescupidez, Bellarmine Prep, Tacoma, Project Title:  “Seasonal Succession of Phytoplankton Species in Quartermaster Harbor and as Precursors to Alexandrium Catenella Blooms”

SSRSF Awards:  First Place Team Award

 

The Intel International Science & Engineering Fair is the world’s largest pre-college science competition.  This year, more than 1,500 young entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists were selected from 443 affiliate science fairs in 65 countries, regions and territories, including for the first time France, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Macao SAR of the People's Republic of China.  About 900 judges from academia and industry made the final selections, including two dozen volunteer judges from the Boeing Company.

 

 

 

The Intel ISEF press releases are here:  http://www.societyforscience.org/press

 

For more information, contact Gary Foss, gary.c.foss@boeing.com

 

ISEF 2011 Exhibition Hall