May 12-17, 2002

The Science and Engineering Fair of Metropolitan Detroit sent eleven students to the 53^rd International Science and Engineering Fair held in Louisville, Kentucky, May 12-17, 2002. In addition, the Michigan Science and Engineering Fair sent two students to the ISEF. ISEF Grand Awards were presented to students judged best from each of the 15 categories in which over 1200 finalists from over 35 countries competed. Winners of the ISEF Grand Awards received $5,000 for the Intel Best of Category Award, $3,000 for a First Award, $1,500 for a Second Award, $1,000 for a Third Award, and $500 for a Fourth Award. Schools of the First Award winners receive a plaque and a $250 equipment-book grant. All winners and their schools received Certificates of Achievement.

The Detroit-area students received numerous awards this year, with eleven of our thirteen finalists receiving some type of award. The awards received were the following:

Third Place Grand Award of $1,000 in the Category of Behavioral and Social Sciences:

Effects of 5-HT 2A, 2C Receptor Inhibition in the pBLA on Ingestion and Ingestive Behavior

Dipa M. Joshi, 17, Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills, MI.

Fourth Place Grand Award of $500 in the Category of Chemistry:

Sunscreens: Analyzing Active Ingredients for UV Absorption

Sean I. Ahmed, 17, Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills, MI.

Fourth Place Grand Award of $500 in the Category of Earth and Space Sciences:

Mineral Fluorescence in the Near Infrared

Amanda O. Henderson, 18, Grosse Pointe South High School, Grosse Pointe

Farms, MI.

Honorable Mention Award of $250 from the Association for Computing Machinery;

Team First Award of $500 for each team member from the IEEE Computer Society:

Computer Science project: Paper Computer Practical Application

James A. Turner, 17, Mark A. Stanislav, 17, and Luke J. Duncan, 15,

Dearborn High School, Dearborn, MI.

Second Award of $500 from the IEEE Computer Society:

Computer Science project: Advanced Video Animation Compression

Colin P. Sprinkle, 17, Detroit Country Day School, Beverly Hills, MI.

Second Award of $1500 from the U.S. Air Force:

Zoology project: Effect of Electromagnetic Fields on the Movement of Artemia

Aaron J. Brown, 15, Cass Technical High School, Detroit, MI

Tuition Scholarship of $5,000 per year from Indiana University:

Chemistry project: Synthesis of Monomer Precursors for Piezoelectric Polymers

Kamaljit S. Chahal, 17, Cass Technical High School, Detroit, MI

Full Presidential Scholarship (including full tuition, room, board, books, and fees) from Kentucky State University:

Chemistry project: Household Item or Insulator?

Meet S. Patel, 16, Divine Child High School, Dearborn, MI.

The other ISEF Finalists from the SEFMD were:

Savitha G. Chelladurai, 18, Birmingham Groves High School, Beverly Hills, MI,

microbiology project: Community Acquired Antibiotic Resistance in Non-pathogenic Staphylococci.

Michael C. Symanow, 17, Divine Child High School, Dearborn, MI, engineering project: Improving the Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Airfoil Through the Use of Stall Barriers.

The Michigan Science and Engineering Fair winners for 2003 were Sean Ahmed from Detroit Country Day School and Kunil Raval, 16, Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, Saginaw, MI. Kunil’s project, Utilizing Room Temperature Ionic Liquids as the Electrolyte in an Electrochemical Cell, received a Fourth Place Grand Award of $500 in the category of Chemistry.

Congratulations to these Sponsoring Teachers:

Lenora Ashford (Catt Technical H.S.), Steven Dickie (Divine Child H.S.), Russ Gibb (Dearborn H.S.), Marketa Harvey (Divine Child H.S.), Leonard Klein (Birmingham Groves H.S.), Ardis Maciolek (Grosse Pointe South H.S.), Gene Menton (Detroit Country Day), Karen Pikula (Dearborn public schools), Dan Sealey (Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy), Barry Webster (Detroit Country Day), Julia Winter (Detroit Country Day), and Earl Wilson (Cass Technical H.S.).