Blair tops competition at county science fair

Twenty-one Blair students garnered over 100 awards, more than any other school in the county, at the 2005 Montgomery Area Science Fair held at Montgomery County Fair Grounds from March 11 to March 13.

Seniors Kristina Yang and Renee Park won the senior division grand awards for the life sciences and physical sciences categories, respectively. Yang and Park will each receive an expense-paid trip to enter their projects at the 56th International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona.

Park was both excited and surprised to win the grand award as well as other special awards. "I got called up a lot because there were few space science awards," she said. Park is now keeping herself busy with adjusting her presentation board, filling out forms for the international competition and organizing make-up dates for two of her AP tests that clash with the international competition dates.

Each Blair student entered his or her Magnet senior research project from an internship completed over the summer. Magnet research teacher Glenda Torrence was pleased with the number of awards the students received, but she was not surprised about the news; Blair seniors top the competition every year. "There are so many judges and categories, and the papers we sent up covered the whole range of topics," Torrence said.

The students that represented Blair at the science fair were only a fraction of the number of students that completed research projects. More students could have applied but chose not to due to busy schedules, senioritis, paperwork and general exhaustion, according to Torrence.

The following is a list of awards given to Blair students:

Honorable Mention to the Grand Award and Alternate to the International Science and Engineering Fair and a $50.00 bond from the Montgomery Area Science Fair Association.
Prasanna Vasudevan
Toward Early Detection of Alzheimer's Disease: Developing a Method to
Determine Activity in the Cerebral Cortex Using Surface Analysis

Physical Sciences:
Expense paid trip to enter their projects at the 56th International Science and Engineering Fair, Phoenix, Arizona.
Renee Park
Effects of Atmospheric Turbulence on Simulated Starlight in a Low-Pressure Telescope Environment

Honorable Mention to the Grand Award and Alternate to the International Science and Engineering Fair and a $50.00 bond from the Montgomery Area Science Fair Association.
Adrienne Smith
Oxidation Resistance and Mechanical Properties of Ceramics in the ZrB2 / Ta5Si3 System

CATEGORY AWARDS
Biochemistry
1 Kristina Yang
2 Padma Rajagopal
3 Daniel Aisen

Chemistry
1 Adrienne Smith
3 Lauren Smith

Computer Science
1 Gregory Eden
2 Alexander Mont
H David Crawford

Engineering
2 Ameer Abutaleb
H Kathy Wang

Medicine and Health
1 Prasanna Vasudevan
2 Min Wu

Microbiology
1 Kendra Leigh

Physics
1 Douglas Adams
3 Saul Kinter

Space Science
1 Renee Park
2 Abigail Fraeman

Team Projects (Physical)
3 Alexander May
3 Ilya Ganelin
3 Gregory Comstock
3 Gregory Cox

SPECIAL AWARDS
American Astronautical Society
3rd Place Certificate and 1Yr. Membership
Abigail Fraeman
2nd Place $100 Cash Award, Certificate and 1 Yr Membership
Renee Park

American Industrial Hygiene Association
3rd Place Honorable Mention Certificate
Ameer Abutaleb

American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics - AIAA
Honorable Mention Award
Abigail Fraeman
Renee Park
3rd Place $50 Cash Award and Invitation to Awards Banquet
Douglas Adams

American Meteorological Society
Certificate
Renee Park

American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Honorable Mention Certificate
Alexander May
Ilya Ganelin
3rd Place $25 Cash Award and Certificate
Gregory Comstock
Gregory Cox

American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), Nat'l Committee on Environmental Engineering (CEE)
First Place Plaque, Membership, and Exhibit Opportunity
Adrienne Smith

American Society of Safety Engineers - National Capital Chapter
$400 Check, Certificate, Golf Shirt
Lauren Smith

ASM International, Washington DC Chapter
Honorable Mention Certificate
Lauren Smith
Certificate of Achievement
Adrienne Smith

Association for Computing Machinery, DC Chapter
One Year Membership and Subscription to Crossroads
David Crawford
Gregory Eden
Alexander Mont

Capital PC Users Group
$50 Savings Bond
Alexander May
Ilya Ganelin

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Invitation to Awards Ceremony and Tour of CIA Headquarters
Douglas Adams
Saul Kinter
Gregory Eden
Ameer Abutaleb

Chemical Society of Washington/American Chemical Society
Certificate of Excellence in Chemistry
Adrienne Smith
Lauren Smith

Commissioned Officers Association of the U.S. Public Health Service
Best of Category Medicine and Health Award and Book
Min Wu
Best of Category Medicine and Health Award and Bank
Prasanna Vasudevan

Eastman Kodak Company
Certificate of Achievement and Camera for Student and Student's Teacher
Prasanna Vasudevan

Electrochemical Society, National Capital Chapter
1st Place $25 cash award, Certificate, Awards Banquet
Adrienne Smith

George Washington University Engineering Alumni Association
Gift and Invitation to Dean's Reception
Renee Park
Ameer Abutaleb
Saul Kinter
Douglas Adams
Gregory Eden

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - IEEE
3rd Place Certificate and $50 Cash Award
Alexander Mont
1st Place Certificate and $200 Cash Award, Banquet
Ameer Abutaleb

Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award
Certificate and $200 Cash Award
Gregory Eden

International Society for Optical Engineering
Certificate of Achievement and Entry into a drawing for Cash Award
Douglas Adams

MedImmune
$100 Cash Award and Summer Internship
Daniel Aisen

MU Alpha Theta
Certificate of Achievement
Alexander Mont
Ameer Abutaleb

National Capital Astronomers
Invitation to Present to the Association
Renee Park
Abigail Fraeman

National Space Club
Honorable Mention Certificate of Merit
Abigail Fraeman
Renee Park

Northrop Grumman
$200 US Savings Bond
Gregory Eden
Ameer Abutaleb
Renee Park

Office of Naval Research
$50 Gift Certificate, Medallion, Certificate of Award
Lauren Smith

Optical Society of America - National Capital Section
Outstanding Level - Certificate and Invitation to Banquet
Renee Park
Douglas Adams
Notable Achievement Level - Certificate
Saul Kinter

Organization of Chinese Americans
Invited to Gala: receive $100, certificate, OCA membership
Kristina Yang
Min Wu

Sigma Delta Epsilon Graduate Women in Science, Omicron Chapter
Certificate of Recognition
Padma Rajagopal
Min Wu
Abigail Fraeman
Renee Park
Certificate of Excellence, 1 Yr Subscription to Science News
Kendra Leigh

Sigma Xi - FDA Chapter
1st Place Certificate, $200 Savings Bond
Kathy Wang

Sigma Xi - NIST Chapter
$50 Cash Award, Certificate, Invitation to Annual Banquet
Kristina Yang

Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration, Inc.
Certificate and T-Shirt
Lauren Smith
Adrienne Smith

U.S. Air Force
Techfolio containing a Franklin Spelling Ace/Thesaurus, Pen/Pencil Set, Certificate and
Medallion
Gregory Eden
Ameer Abutaleb

U.S. Army Research Office
Framed Certificate of Achievement, Polo Shirt
Adrienne Smith
Lauren Smith
Ameer Abutaleb
Prasanna Vasudevan
Framed Certificate of Achievement
Gregory Eden
Certificate of Achievement
Daniel Aisen
Kristina Yang
Kathy Wang
Min Wu
Saul Kinter
Kendra Leigh
Renee Park
Army Medallion, Framed Certificate of Achievement
Douglas Adams

U.S. Metric Association
Certificate of Merit
Adrienne Smith