Science fair names winners, taps one to vie in LA

Yeongwoo Hwang of Jonesboro, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts in Hot Springs, is the top individual winner in the Southwestern Energy Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair and will advance next month to an international competition in Los Angeles.

Hwang’s project - an entry in the computer-science category of the competition - is titled “Improving the Efficiency of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks through Optimization of Inter-frame Space Values.”

Kwuang Tang, a student at Little Rock Central High School, won the fair’s Best in State honor for his project titled “Minimizing Drag with a Novel Computational Algorithm and Dynamic CFD Modeling in 3D Compressible Flow.”

First place and Best in State honors for a team project went to Dana Abulez, Rachana Kombathula and Devyani Shekhawat, who are students at Little Rock Central, for their project titled “Establishing the Parkinson’s-Pesticide Connection through Computational Molecular Modeling.”

The top-place winners were among 250 contestants at the 60th annual state science fair held earlier this month at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.Students qualified for the state competition through top placement in regional science fairs.

A total of $15,000 in prizes were awarded, and another $15,000 will be spent on sending a delegation of top winners to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair next month in Los Angeles - all made possible by sponsorships from Southwestern Energy Co. and the Arkansas General Assembly.

The second-place individual winner of the state competition was Nimit Gandhi, Little Rock Central, for a project titled “Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Silicon Based Solar Cells.”

Third place went to Hanya Qureshi of Pulaski Academy in Little Rock for a project titled “Using Nanotechnology to Enhance Osteoblast Proliferation and Adhesion: Comparison of Different Implantable Biologically Inert Spinal Instrumentation Materials.”

Fourth place went to John Bell of Little Rock Central for his project, “Effect of Phosphorus on Growth of Duckweed.”

In addition to Tang, who was the first-place “Best in State” award winner, other Best in State recipients were second-place winner Russell Bryan of the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts for “Brownian Motion as a Source of Entropy for the Generation of Random Numbers”; and third-place winner Kevin Fialkowski, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts, for “Computational Analysis of Beta-Lactam Stabilization in the N-Terminal Domain of Silk Fibroin.”

Best in State fourth place went to Hwang. Fifth place went to Gandhi.

The following is a list of regional science fair winners announced at the state competition:

Central Region individual finalists: Tang, Little Rock Central; Enoch Park, Pulaski Academy; Darius Ford, Little Rock Parkview High School.

Northeast Region individual finalists: Adrienne Green, Nettleton High; Gabe Priest, Nettleton High; Drew McFall, Buffalo Island Central High.

Northwest Region individual finalists: Connor Fritsch, Haas Hall Academy; Brandon Locknar, Chaffin Junior High School in Fort Smith; Will Welch and Katie Welch, Alpena High School.

Southeast Region individual finalist: Peyton Aulds, Ridgeway Christian High School in Pine Bluff.

West Central Region individual finalists: Fialkowski, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts; Bryan, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts.

The first-place winners in the state competition by category are:

Animal Science: Madison Vanhoozer, Little Rock Central, “Can Two Species of Ants Cohabitate in a Controlled Environment: For Ant Management Purposes.”

Behavioral and Social Science: Morgan Willis, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts, “Statistical Analysis of Traditional Pedagogy versus Classroom Inversion.”

Biochemistry: Casey Labbate, Little Rock Central, “The Effect of pH on the Life Expectancy of Brine Shrimp.”

Cellular and Molecular Biology: Joah Clements, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts, “An Everlasting Gene: CREB1 and Long-Term Memory.”

Chemistry: Azrene Matin, Little Rock Central, “Metalling Lips? (Heavy Metal Toxicity in Lipsticks).”

Computer Science: Hwang, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts,“Improving the Efficiency of Mobile Ad Hoc Networks through Optimization of Inter-frame Space Values.”

Earth and Planetary Science: Elizabeth Lawrence, Ridgeway Christian School, “Is Fracking the Reason?”

Energy and Transport: Dhruba Dasgupta, Little Rock Central, “The Effect of the Work Function and Alignment on Organic Photovoltaic Devices.”

Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical: Gandhi, Little Rock Central, “Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Silicon Based Solar Cells.”

Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering: Qureshi, Pulaski Academy, “Using Nanotechnology to Enhance Osteoblast Proliferation and Adhesion: Comparison of Different Implantable Biologically Inert Spinal Instrumentation Materials.”

Environmental Management: Ashlynn Arriaza, Haas Hall Academy, “New vs. Natural Comparing Man-Made and Natural Filters.”

Environmental Sciences: Bell, Little Rock Central, “Effect of Phosphorus on Growth of Duckweed.”

Mathematics: Luke McEntire, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts, “Perfect Score.”

Medicine and Health: Zeel Modi, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts, “Detecting MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer cellsusing Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes through Raman Spectroscopy.”

Microbiology: Emily Stone, Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts, “Genetic Diversity of Hot Springs Thermophiles.”

Physics and Astronomy: Ryan Kaufmann, Little Rock Central, “The Effects of Sympathetic Vibrations Caused by Piano Strings on an Open Piano String.”

Plant Sciences: Safi Alsebai, Little Rock Central, “ Water Salinity vs. Vitamin C: the Effect of Water Salinity on the Vitamin C Levels in Radishes.”

The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Science and the Arts won the first-place school trophy, which is awarded to the school accumulating the most points for its students who won awards divided by the total number of projects entered in the fair. The second-place trophy went to Little Rock Central, third place to Haas Hall Academy, fourth place to Pulaski Academy and fifth place to Alma High.

The Southwestern Energy Teacher Appreciation Award, awarded to a teacher or teachers who emerged as strong supporters of the Science Fair Program, went to David Good and Roger Rose of Alpena High School.

The Dennis Thurman Teacher Appreciation Award, awarded to a veteran or senior teacher who has been a longtime supporter of the Science Fair Program went to Bill Rosser of Fayetteville High School.

The Robert T. Kirkwood & Judith Bean Memorial Award, presented to an individual whose service is invaluable to the Arkansas Science and Engineering Fair, went to Patrick Foley of Little Rock Central.

Additional information about the 2014 state science fair is on the University of Central Arkansas website: uca.edu/cnsm/ar-science-fair.

Front Section, Pages 11 on 04/20/2014

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