Summary
Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, Texas
Denton, Texas
$100,000 Scholarship Winner
Versatile Antimicrobial Coatings from Pulse Plasma Deposited Hydrogels and Hydrogel Composites
Mr. Chyan’s Chemistry research of antimicrobial coatings looked to design a specialized coating aimed to prevent nosocomial infections. These infections, which are caused as a side effect of treatment in a hospital, afflict more than two million patients each year and result in more than 100,000 deaths annually. As part of his 360-degree approach to the subject matter, Mr. Chyan examined complex reactions, engaged in assay development, measured silver release kinetics and, finally, tested his proposed coating, showing true expertise on a wide range of topics that have direct applications in the medical field. His mentor for this project was Dr. Richard B. Timmons, of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Texas at Arlington
Mr. Chyan is a senior who would like to major in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering once in college. Upon completing his studies, he would like to pursue a position in academia, preferably at a research university where he can continue conducting research and teach at the same time. His various honors in Science include recognition from the U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad, U.S. Biology Olympiad and Texas Science and Engineering Fair. He is the recipient of the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science Summer Research Scholarship (2008), and also founded a student chapter of the American Chemical Society at the University of North Texas. Mr. Chyan developed an interest in Science with the encouragement of his parents, who are both scientists. At an early age they would take him to tour their laboratories and perform demos. He also composes music and plays piano and violin in his spare time.
South Eugene High School, Eugene, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon
$50,000 Scholarship Winner
The Classification of Certain Fusion Categories
Mr. Larson is a senior who conducted mathematics research that looked to classify certain types of fusion categories. Fusion categories are a recently discovered type of algebraic structure with applications to various areas of Theoretical Physics, Computer Science and Mathematics, such as String Theory, Quantum Computation and Knot Theory. These extremely complex structures are a far-reaching generalization of groups, which are the algebraic structure traditionally used in mathematics to model symmetries. The main result of this project identifies and completely classifies a new class of fusion categories which, for the first time, contains non group-theoretic examples. His mentors for this project were Mr. Pavel Etingof, Professor of Mathematics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Mr. Victor Ostrik, Professor of Mathematics, University of Oregon.
Mr. Larson has always enjoyed math as his favorite subject, and it is the same field he would like to continue for his undergraduate degree and beyond. He is an avid piano player, a four-time winner of the Oregon Junior Bach Festival and has been invited to perform in master classes sponsored by the Eugene Symphony. His various honors in Math include a silver medal at the 48th International Mathematical Olympiad and being a winner of the USA Mathematical Olympiad. Mr. Larson’s middle school math teacher, Marna Knoer, provided accelerated courses in high school level Mathematics and extracurricular Mathematics. His participation in these classes resulted in his qualification to attend the Math Olympiad Summer Program since eighth grade. Mr. Larson credits University of Oregon Professor Arkady Vaintrob, who instructed Mr. Larson in graduate-level coursework, for originally spurring his interest in algebra. Mr. Larson is involved in his high school’s Math, Chemistry and Programming Clubs.
Hastings High School, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY
$40,000 Scholarship Winner
Diffraction with a twist: Forming fractional optical vortices using spiral zone plates
Mr. Nair's research project combines two important topics in contemporary optics with potentially wide ranging applications from nanomechanics to quantum computing: optical vortices and Fresnel zone plates. Optical vortices are special beams of light which have a twirl in the light field, making them analogous to whirlpools in a river. Mr. Nair modified the Fresnel zone plate to produce fractional vortices in a way that has never been done before. He found a novel way of formulating the mathematics that describes the focusing of light leading to an easier and inexpensive method to create and study optical vortices. His mentor for this project is Dr. John Noe, Executive Director of the Laser Teaching Center of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Stony Brook University.
Mr. Nair is a senior at Hastings High School and is currently the Secretary General of the Westchester Model United Nations Conference and the president of the school's math club. Two of his essays have been selected for publication by the American History Summer Institute. Both of his parents are physicists, contributing to his elevated interest in the field. Mr. Nair plays the xylophone and varsity tennis and he is an active member of "Cyberseniors," a technology group that teaches senior citizens how to use computers. Mr. Nair plans to study Physics or Engineering in college and hopes to become a research scientist.
Lakeside High School, Evans, Georgia
Evans, Georgia
$30,000 Scholarship Winner
Inhibition of Bax/Bak Activation by Mitochondrial Fusion: A Novel Mechanism to Block Programmed Cell Death
Mr. Meixiong's Biochemistry research took several approaches to address how the structure of mitochondria influences the activity of two proteins, Bax and Bak. The long term goals of his research are to fully comprehend the complex integrated pathways that lead to apoptosis, or programmed cell death, with the hope that small molecule therapeutics could be designed to control apoptosis in diseased cells. Mr. Meixiong used three different, technically challenging approaches and observed results consistent with his hypothesis in each case, ultimately creating a shift in the way we think about controlling cell death for diseases such as Parkinson's, Muscular Dystrophy, and cancer. His mentors for this project are Dr. Craig Brooks, Postdoctoral Fellow, and Dr. Zheng Dong, Professor at the Medical College of Georgia.
Mr. Meixiong is the Team Captain of his school's Science Bowl and the Olympiad Teams. His team won the Department of Energy's Regional Science Bowl Competition in April 2008. Mr. Meixiong has won numerous medals at the State Science Olympiad Tournaments, including a first place in Ecology and a fourth place in Fermi questions. He heard about the Siemens Competition after a friend was named a Regional Finalist last year. He is a member of a volunteer organization called United Student Action, the Varsity Debate Team and the Varsity Swim Team. He has been swimming year round since the age of eight and is a member of Aiken Augusta Swim League. Mr. Meixiong has also volunteered his summers at the University Hospital of Augusta, Georgia. He is fluent in Chinese. Both of his parents are research scientists at the Medical College of Georgia.
David Henry Hickman High School, Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
$20,000 Scholarship Winner
Associated Primes of the Square of the Alexander Dual of Hypergraphs
Ashok Cutkosky is a senior at David Henry Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri. His research discovered new information about the intrinsic structure of hypergraphs; these results have potential applications in problems like sharing of resources. Mr. Cutkosky took an algebraic approach to study hypergraphs and worked to restate geometric properties of multivariable polynomials. His mentor for this project is Dr. Christopher Francisco, Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Oklahoma State University.
Mr. Cutkosky is a senior and avid Math lover. He is the Math Team Captain, member of the Mu Alpha Theta Math Honor Society and has received numerous honors and accolades in the field of Mathematics. Of note, he placed first and second at the Great Plains Math League State Competition and received a silver medal at the USA Mathematical Talent Search in 2007. Mr. Cutkosky’s grandfather is a retired physicist and his parents are professors in Mathematics, which has encouraged his interest in this subject and other sciences.
Millburn High School, Millburn, New Jersey
Millburn, New Jersey
$10,000 Scholarship Winner
Improving Statistical Machine Translation Through Template-based Phrase-table Extensions
Mr. Metsky’s research proposed a novel method to improve the quality of machine translation from one language to another. His approach addressed a critical problem in machine translation, that of producing good results for phrases that the system has not seen before, which will yield performance improvements to automatic translators through virtual extension of a given sample. His mentors were Dr. Nizar Habash, Associate Research Scientist Center for Computational Learning Systems at Columbia University, and Dr. Paul Citrin, Science Teacher and Advisor in Millburn High School's Science Research Program.
Mr. Metsky, a senior, has been named the New Jersey Governor's School of Engineering and Technology Scholar and has won the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science Medal. In his free time, Mr. Metsky enjoys independent software development and has developed a “Word of the Day” widget, which drew the attention of a notable online dictionary website. He also serves as the front page news section editor of The Miller, his school newspaper. Mr. Metsky enjoys mentoring other students in math, running cross-country and playing cello in the school orchestra. He hopes to conduct research in a computer science-related field after completing his undergraduate education.
SAJITH M. WICKRAMASEKARA
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, North Carolina
Raleigh, North Carolina
ANDREW Y. GUO
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, North Carolina
Cary, North Carolina
$100,000 Scholarship Winner
A Functional Genomic Framework for Chemotherapeutic Drug Improvement and Identification
Mr. Wickramasekara and Mr. Guo’s research has the potential to easily identify new chemotherapeutic drugs and greatly improve existing ones. The team’s project combined traditional genetics with cutting edge computational modeling to streamline the gene discovery process. Their project addresses the need in the field to identify new genes to target for cancer therapy. Their approach has the potential to identify novel treatments that could lead the way to personalized medicine in the future. The team worked on this project with the help of their mentor, Dr. Craig B. Bennett, Assistant Professor, Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC and their high school advisor, Dr. Myra Halpin, Dean of Science, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, Durham, NC.
Mr. Wickramasekara is the team leader and heard about the Siemens Competition in 2006 when seniors from his high school were selected as Regional Finalists. Mr. Wickramasekara is captain of his school's Science Bowl and has participated in various science competitions including the 2008 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the North Carolina State Science and Engineering Fair as well as the North Carolina Junior Science Humanities Symposium. He is an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America and dreams of one day owning his own biotech startup, specializing in personalized medicine.
Mr. Wickramasekara and Mr. Guo co-founded the Student Journal of Research of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics; they both serve as Editors of the publication. Mr. Guo is a Science Olympiad winner and Co-Captain of the Quiz Bowl. Mr. Guo’s received First Place State Team in the Goldman Sachs National Economics Challenge. Mr. Guo is the Varsity Tennis Captain and plays Ultimate Frisbee as part of his extracurricular activities. His mother works in the field of genetics and has influenced Mr. Guo by discussing her work and activities at home, which has in turn sparked his interest to study the sciences.
EUGENIA VOLKOVA
John Jay High School, Cross River, NY
South Salem, New York
ALEXANDER SAEBOE
Somers Central High School, Lincolndale, NY
Katonah, New York
$50,000 Scholarship Winner
Comparison of Gadolinium Molecular Imaging Probes and Manganese Imaging Probes for the Detection of Atherosclerotic Plaque by Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Ms. Volkova and Mr. Saeboe’s research evaluates an alternative contrast agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) that exhibits low toxicity and would be useful for long term imaging needed for disease diagnosis. This team’s multidisciplinary research project required mastery of several different scientific concepts and techniques. The team conducted their research at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where they both volunteer during the summer. Their mentors for this project include: Dr. Karen Catherin Briley-Saebo, Dr. Zahi A. Fayad, Dr. Venkatesh Mani and Claudia Calcagno, all from the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Ms. Volkova, a senior at John Jay High School in Cross River, New York received the Science Service Award in 2008. She has participated in the New York State Science Olympiad and won first place in her region in the Disease Detectives events in both 2008 and 2007. She is a member of the French, Spanish and National Honor Societies. She was born in Russia and speaks Russian, French and Spanish.
Mr. Saeboe is a senior at Somers Central High School in Lincolndale, New York. He heard about the Siemens Competition when he first moved to the United States from Norway at the age of 12. Since then, he has been actively involved in all aspects of scientific research with the ultimate goal of advancing in the Siemens Competition. He is Treasurer of the Green Power Club at his high school.
ERIKA DEBENEDICTIS
Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
DUANNI (TONY) HUANG
Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
$40,000 Scholarship Winner
Optimizing the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Algorithm for Multi-Core Processors
The goal of the team's project was to create a physically realistic Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) model and optimize its performance on multi-core processors, making intricate simulation available on desktop computers versus a “supercomputer” that may cost tens of millions of dollars. The research could open doors to simpler methods of simulation of physical systems; such systems include the weather, re-entry of space vehicles (which this project studied), auto collisions and even modeling of complex biological processes such as molecular docking.
Erika A. DeBenedictis, a junior at Albuquerque Academy, enjoys Physics the most because it allows her to not only understand what something is, but also how it works. She would like to pursue an undergraduate degree in Aerospace or Physics to satisfy her interests in the field. Ms. DeBenedictis thrives on independent research projects and focuses her work on a school science fair as an individual competitor and on the New Mexico Supercomputing Challenge as part of a team each year. Her hobbies center on music as she sings with the Girls Ensemble and her school's audition choir. She also enjoys piano. Her dream job would be to work on Aerospace research for Mars missions and beyond.
Mr. Huang, a senior at La Cueva High School, would like to continue on to major in Electrical Engineering for his undergraduate degree. He has participated in many science competitions through the years, and among his credits are honors at the Science Olympiads, Science Bowl/Quiz Bowls and MATHCOUNTS, where he also acts as an Assistant Coach. Mr. Huang is a member of the National Honor Society, and is actively involved in a mentorship at the Center for High Tech Materials. He would like to become a professor one day, and is interested in Aerospace and Engineering because of the admiration for his dad, an Air Force Research Lab Senior Physicist. He was born in Shanghai, China where he lived until he was three.
CHRISTINE S. LAI
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, Massachusetts
Acton, Massachusetts
DIYANG TANG
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School, Acton, Massachusetts
Acton, Massachusetts
$30,000 Scholarship Winner
The Localization and Function of Rabex-5
Ms. Lai and Ms. Tang's research analyzes how Rabex-5 helps regulate endocytosis, a fundamental cellular mechanism for regulating cell growth and survival. The team’s research findings have many implications for the medical industry, one of which includes a potential new strategy to regulate cholesterol levels. The team’s mentors were their science teachers Mr. David McClung and Mr. Brian Dempsey; as well as Dr. David Lambright, Professor of Cell Biology, and Meng-tse Lee, graduate student, both from the University of Massachusetts Medical School.
Ms. Lai is a senior who enjoys Biology, History and Art subjects the most, and is part of her school’s Science Team. She plays violin in the Youth Repertory Orchestra of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and is also actively involved in her community’s recycling club. Ms. Lai’s personal hero is Rosalind Franklin, the researcher who helped understand DNA structure and composition. Ms. Franklin’s work is one of the reasons why she would like to be a biological researcher upon completing her education.
Ms. Tang, also a senior, has a deep interest in nearly all of her high school classes; she credits this fact to the support of her parents and passion of great teachers throughout her high school career. She is a member of the Academic Decathlon team, and like her teammate is also engaged in the community recycling program. She has been interested in science since watching the “NOVA” program as child, which has aroused her curiosity and involvement in the field.
RAPHAEL-JOEL (RJ) LIM
Indiana Academy for Science, Math, and Humanities, Muncie, Indiana
Indianapolis, Indiana
MARK ZHANG
William P. Clements High School, Sugar Land, Texas
Sugar Land, Texas
$20,000 Scholarship Winner
Previously Unknown Parts of the Greene-Kleitman Partition for the Tamari Lattice
Mr. Lim and Mr. Zhang’s research answered a question that was raised five years ago concerning the thickness of a fundamental mathematical structure, the Tamari Lattice. The team met at the Texas Mathworks Honors Summer Math Camp, which is focused around mathematical research. At the camp they worked closely with Dr. Max Warshauer, Founder and Director of the Texas Mathworks Honors Summer Math Camp. The team’s mentor was Dr. Edward Early, Assistant Professor at St. Edward's University.
Mr. Lim is a senior at The Indiana Academy for Science, Math and Humanities. He serves as team leader and was directed to this research project by his mentor. He first became interested in Mathematics when he participated in a fifth grade math competition. He likes reading novels, tackling tough math problems and playing competitive video games. He spent last summer as a counselor at the Texas Mathworks Honors Summer Math Camp. Mr. Lim is also a math tutor.
Mr. Zhang is a senior at William P. Clements High School. He was a Siemens Competition Regional Finalist in 2007 competing at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a member of both the Mu Alpha Theta Math Club and the Junior Engineering Technical Society and regularly competes in a variety of Math, Science, and Computer Science competitions. In addition, he also enjoys playing the piano, reading and writing fantasy novels, programming games, sketching, playing DDR and volunteering.
AANAND A. PATEL
Troy High School, Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
WILLIAM HONG
Troy High School, Fullerton, California
Fullerton, California
$10,000 Scholarship Winner
Identification of Promoter Transcription Factor Binding Sites that Regulate Expression of Apolipoprotein-E in H4 Neuroglioma Cells
Mr. Patel and Mr. Hong, both seniors, conducted their research in the Molecular Biology field with a tinge of genetics. Their findings have the potential to provide more insight into possible causes of Alzheimer's disease and various cardiovascular diseases through a specific identification of gene expression regulation. This research showcases novel ways of investigating the disease, and may in turn create better drugs or treatments with much fewer side effects for the patients. The team’s mentors were Dr. Nilay Patel, Assistant Professor, and Mr. Jason Schott, Undergraduate Researcher; both at California State University, Fullerton. Alzheimer’s affects more than 26 million people worldwide and is the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S.
Mr. Patel boasts many regional and national honors in the sciences, including the Xerox Award for Innovation and Information Technology, National Merit Semifinalist and National AP Scholar with Distinction. He is a member of the National Honor Society as well as member of the California Scholarship Federation. He is the Vice President of the Peer Tutoring Club, the Acting Secretary of his school’s Programming Club and is also a member of the Red Cross Club. As part of his hobbies, Mr. Patel enjoys skiing, snowboarding, graphic design, web design and playing the keyboard. His dream job is to be a research physician (MD/PhD), and he currently volunteers at St. Jude Medical Center in his free time.
Mr. Hong has a similar list of honors akin to that of his teammate. He was also named National AP Scholar with Distinction and is an inductee to the National Honor Society. He is a member of The California Scholarship Federation. Mr. Hong’s dream job is to be a cardiothoracic surgeon, which is why he volunteers at St. Jude Medical Center, namely at the Brain Injury/Rehab Department. Like his teammate, he is a member of the Red Cross and Peer Tutoring clubs. He also participated in the Amnesty International and Origami clubs in his school. He is an avid musician and has played the piano for 12 years, the trombone for seven years and the guitar for two years. Mr. Hong has earned an advanced level theory exemption for piano from the Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) and has performed at branch honors recitals and state conventions. He also serves as the first trombone for his school's orchestra.
