Students Send Science Project to the International Space Station (Anthony Holmes, 13; Jacob Rubio, 11; Kalista Ybarra, 12; Madelyn Hickman, 11, Antonio, TX). In 2015, Crystal Tetris, an experiment designed by students from Hobby Middle School in San Antonio, Texas, blasted off to orbit at approximately 220 miles above the Earth's surface aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The project examined and concurrently compared the growth of ice crystals aboard the ISS and during a ground-truthing experiment on Earth at their school. Originally scheduled for an October 2014 launch, the students experienced a set-back when the rocket carrying their experiment exploded a few seconds after takeoff. The students regrouped and were able to recreate their experiment, which successfully launched in January 2015 and returned to Earth in February 2015.
Colorado Teen Branches out with Leaf-Imagery Project (Tiye Garret-Mills, 17, Denver, CO). High-school senior Tiye Garrett-Mills overcame a personal struggle with severe depression and anxiety. Inspired to make a change her life, Tiye started joining clubs and organizations, including participating in various science fairs. She began to research more economically viable and efficient ways to create images of the vein systems in leaves. Using an HP deskjet scanner, Tiye engineered several different methods to produce leaf images that could help reduce the cost and time it takes to procure these images professionally. She was recently accepted as a 2014 Recipient in the Teen Science Scholars program and participates in both the National Society of Black Engineers and the International Baccalaureate Black Student Organization.
President Barack Obama delivers remarks during the 2015 White House Science Fair celebrating student winners of a broad range of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competitions, in the East Room, March 23, 2015. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)
Students Design Sustainable Low-Cost Lantern to the Light the Way along a Lake (Corine Peifer, 17; Kristian Sonsteby, 18, Wallenpaupack, PA). Today, the extension of shore electricity onto docks on Lake Wallenpaupack, PA is prohibited by lake regulations, resulting in poorly lit docks. Corine Peifer and Kristian Sonsteby, as part of a broader InvenTeam, designed a generator that uses the movement of a boat dock on Lake Wallenpaupack to produce electricity. The device consists of modified gear motors acting as generators attached to an arm that reciprocates when waves cause the dock to rise and fall. The produced through the wave motion is stored in a battery and used to power an LED lantern. This device uses safer low-voltage electricity, which is allowed on the Lake. Their device mounts directly onto the dock instead of floating as a buoy like most other wave-powered generators. It can be easily adapted for use on other lakes with floating docks. The generator produces enough power to maintain the 4.8 volts at 700 milliamp-hours. The lantern can be powered for 8 hours with an output of 30 lumens when fully charged. The first prototype cost just $300 to fabricate. The team’s invention is on display at the nearby Wallenpaupack Environmental Learning Center and earned first place in the Pennsylvania Entrepreneurship Challenge sponsored by EconomicsPA.
In North Carolina, Students Step Up to Protect Honeybees (Claudia Button, 12; Nathan Button, 12; Kate Fitzpatrick, 14, Banner Elk, Boone, and Mountain City, NC). The Bee Aware team from North Carolina is working to help revitalize honey bee populations and to inform the public and businesses about the harmful effects of specific chemicals on honey bee populations and the harmful ramifications to human, animal, and plant life. As part of their project, the group has presented to local garden clubs, Christmas tree farms, businesses, visitors, and tourists about honeybee science. They've also presented scientific information about honeybees to schools across the region, educating more than a thousand High Country elementary schoolers on the importance of honeybees and what can be done to protect them. The Bee Award Team was awarded the $25,000 Columbus Foundation Community Grant for their project, which will include the opening of a bee sanctuary in their community this spring.
Raised in Family of Farmers, Student Seeks Sustainable Alternative to Ethanol (Eric Koehlmoos, 18, Granville, Iowa). Eric Koehlmoos's conducted three years of research with prairie cordgrass and switchgrass to better understand their impact in the cellulosic ethanol industry. Coming from a farming family, Eric has always been interested in the biofuel industry and in the new cellulosic ethanol plants being built near his home. Working with professors at South Dakota State University, Eric conducted experiments with cordgrass and switchgrass, discovering that both grasses produce nearly 200 more gallons of ethanol per acre than corn and wheat straw, two mainstream methods for ethanol production. He also discovered that when these grasses are pretreated with calcium hydroxide, ethanol yields are increased by as much as 80% and byproducts have higher protein values than corn distiller grains. Eric placed first in the National FFA Agriscience Fair and hopes to one day use these grasses to commercially produce ethanol in the Southern Plains, providing a sustainable solution to meet agriculture needs while avoiding competition with the food supply.
Using Machine Learning Techniques, Teen Demystifies Proteins Involved in Cancer and Ebola (Anvita Gupta, 17, Scottsdale, Arizona). Anvita Gupta used machine learning to "teach" a computer to identify potential new drugs for cancer, tuberculosis, and Ebola. She combined artificial intelligence techniques, 3D visualization, and biomimicry to systematically discover which drugs might inhibit the interactions of intrinsically disordered proteins with other proteins. These proteins make up 70% of all cancer proteins and are mutated in tuberculosis and Ebola. She's also an advocate for getting more girls in science fields, starting an after-school computer science group to teach middle school girls programming and app development. Forty girls enrolled the first year. Anvita’s research earned her Third Place Medal of Distinction for Global Good at the 2015 Intel Science Talent Search.
Phoenix Teens Lead Award-Winning Robotics Team (Sergio Corral, 17; Isela Martinez, 17, Phoenix, AZ). Phoenix high school seniors Sergio Corral and Isela Martinez are the president and vice-president, respectively, of the Carl Hayden Community High School Robotics Team. This team continues a winning tradition (and history of sending its students into collegiate engineering schools) ever since its remarkable 2004 first place finish in a sophisticated underwater robotics competition (defeating the likes of MIT and other college programs.) The story of this team, which features Sergio and Isela, was chronicled in the documentary film, Underwater Dreams, released last summer. Sergio and Isela, like many other Carl Hayden Robotics team members, have shown grit, resilience, and perseverance to achieve their goals and have inspired other students, especially those from immigrant communities, to pursue science. Carl Hayden Robotics, a member of the FIRST Hall of Fame, has won four consecutive Arizona FIRST Robotics regional competitions – and they compete in the prestigious AUVSI Robosub competition against universities.
Classmates Team up to Give Wheelchair 3D-Printed Upgrade (Mohammed Sayed, 16 and Kaitlin Reed, 16, Cambridge and Dover, MA). Mohammed Sayed is a wheelchair-bound student at NuVu experimental high school in Massachusetts, which encourages students to solve real-world problems through hands-on apprenticeship opportunities and studio-teaching. Mohammed and classmate Kaitlin Reed used a 3D printer to transform his wheelchair into a cutting-edge piece of technology. First, Kaitlin built and added a “hand-drive”, a lever-powered attachment that can propel the wheelchair both forwards and backwards, snap on and off the wheelchair easily, is entirely 3D printable, and completely open source. Then, Mohammed added a Universal Arm — a 3D-printed modular arm that can be used as a food tray, camera tripod, rain canopy, laptop holder, and cup holder.
Team of Students in Foster Care System will Compete in Georgia Robitics Regionals (Taj Rhodes, 14; Malachi Williams, 16; Johnny Manuel, 18; Illya Wynn, 15; Virginia Wynn, 13; Stephan Ellis, 10, Atlanta, GA). A rookie First Robotics team from Atlanta will be the first in the state of Georgia to participate as a group of kids from the state’s Foster Care System. The entire team is comprised of extraordinary students in the Georgia Foster Care System. These students are working on a robot on site at Johnson Research and Development and are being mentored by Dr. Lonnie Johnson, best known as the inventor of the Supersoaker. These students will experience their First Robotics Competition and compete at the Peachtree Regional FRC competition this spring.
With 3D-Printed Prosthetic Paws, Pup can now Run and Play (Derby the Dog, 18 months). Tara Anderson works at a South-Carolina-based company focused on 3D printing. When she took in a disabled foster dog named Derby, who was born with deformed front legs, she decided to take action. Tara worked with colleagues to design custom-made prosthetics for Derby using data from CAT scans and 2D photos of the dog’s legs. She was then able to 3D-print the new limbs. The pup, who has since been adopted by a loving family, can now run and play. He is reported to enjoy accompanying his owners on a 2-mile jog every morning.
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