LA County Students Win Big at Intel ISEF 2013
Link to slideshow of the event
Our own David Zimmerman, 18, from the Brentwood School in Los Angeles won FOUR top awards at this year’s Intel ISEF at Phoenix, AZ. David is also the Sr. Sweepstakes winner at the 2013 Los Angeles County Science Fair, the Fair’s top award. David’s project, Site-directed Mutagenesis of the Metal-reducing Bacterium S. oneidensis MR-1: A Novel Strategy for Genetic Engineering in Recalcitrant Microorganisms, first won $2,500 from the American Society for Microbiology.
Founded in 1899, the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is the largest single life science membership organization in the world. Members worldwide represent 26 disciplines of microbiological specializations plus a division for microbiology educators. The ASM awards honor the most outstanding microbiology projects.
Next, David won 1st in Microbiology, a $3,000 award. In addition, David won Best in Category (Life Science) and received an additional $5,000. The Intel Foundation also awarded a $1,000 grant to the Los Angeles County Science Fair as the affiliated fair that David was representing.
Finally, David won the Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award, and all-expense-paid trip awarded to three finalists to attend the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SIYSS) (www.fuf.org/siyss/), which includes attendance at the Nobel Prize ceremonies, in Stockholm, Sweden in December. The Dudley R. Herschbach SIYSS Award is a multi-disciplinary seminar highlighting some of the most remarkable achievements by young scientists from around the world. The students have the opportunity to visit scientific institutes, attend the Nobel lectures and press conferences, learn more about Sweden and experience the extravagance of the Nobel festivities.
That’s a trip of a lifetime for his outstanding research and a total of $10,500 to help to pay his way through Stanford University. Many congratulations on your difficult and important work, David!!
Easun Arunachalam, a 16 year old Senior at Crescenta Valley High School in La Crescenta, won 2nd place and $1,500 in the Medical & Health Sciences category for his Pharmacology Project is entitled: “An Examination of Quorum Sensing Mechanisms in Glioblastoma Multiforme.” Easun’s win was particularly impressive since his category is one of the largest categories at ISEF. Easun’s work on the most common and deadliest of malignant brain tumors in adults has implications on tumor growth. Easun will be attending UC Berkeley in the fall
Change settings on “cog” icon below to 480 p for best viewing
Easun, we congratulate you on your excellent achievement!
As 1st or 2nd place Category award winners at Intel ISEF, both students’ names will be submitted to the International Astronomical Union (IAU) for naming of a minor planet. All minor planets in the Ceres Connection have been discovered by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program, operated by MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory, who partnered with SSP and the Intel ISEF to promote science education.
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Hands-on Research Critical Element of the New Next Generation Science Standards
In my role as president of Society for Science & the Public, I’m often invited to speak to the leaders of science fairs in countries that participate in SSP’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. I’m frequently asked, albeit politely, why the biggest economic powerhouse in the world is doing relatively poorly in the area of science education.
The answer is complicated, but education policy experts generally agree on the culprit: we tend to constrain instructors to teach objectively measurable facts, limiting their freedom to encourage discovery and creativity and instead rewarding them for “teaching to the test.” Complicating the picture, each of our 50 states, with different priorities and values for education, controls the structure, funding, and politics of education.
Read the rest of Marincola’s Huffington Post blog on the release of the Next Generation Science Standards.
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LA Takes Top Prizes at the 2013 CA State Science Fair!
ALEXANDER CHEN, a senior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, was named 2013 California State Science Fair Student of the Year and was presented with a $1,000 cash prize! The project entry was titled “A Foldable Solar Panel with an Improved Hill Climbing MPPT Circuit.” Alex’s advisor was Mr Peter Starodub. This award is presented to the high school senior who, in the opinion of the judges, best exemplifies the qualities necessary for success in science.
Click Here to see the list of Category and Special Award winners from LA County
Press Release
Science Fair Brings Together the Best!
Thanks to the hard work and generosity of a core group of educators and school volunteers, parents, scientists, engineers, business and corporate leaders, including staff from the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the annual Los Angeles County Science Fair was again presented in fine style. Recent large donations from S.T.E.M. (Science Technology Engineering and Math) companies such as Edison International, SpaceX, Raytheon, Professional Engineers in California Government and the Southern California Gas Company allowed the fair to continue in a tight economic climate. People around the world from 6 nations and 25 states also made individual donations to support the kind of project-based learning and inquiry approach needed for successful student research.
As Science Fair President Dean Gilbert said: “The essence of a science fair project is solving problems using their critical thinking skills and that is really what the job market, the technological workforce is demanding. We are grateful to all our donors for stepping up at our time of need.”
The fair, the oldest and largest event of its kind in the western U.S., brought together some 900 student participants from private and public schools throughout the county during its March 21-23 run at the Pasadena Convention Center.
In keeping with the fair’s tradition of lavish recognition, there were scores of medals, special awards and scholarships handed out to those students whose projects were judged as the best in their category.
The fair’s top Senior Division winner was David Zimmerman (above), a Senior at the Brentwood School, for his Microbiology project, “Site-Directed Mutagenesis of the Metal-Reducing Bacteria Shewanella oneidensis MR-1: a Novel Strategy for Genetic Engineering in Recalcitrant Microorganisms.” David was also chosen as one of two representatives from Los Angeles to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, AZ on May 15-17, 2013.
At the Junior Division level, Abdulkarim Alamad (above), an 8th grader from Al-Huda Islamic School, received the top honor for his Animal Biology project, “Breastmilk + Baby = Autism? Debunking the Theory of Breastmilk as a Contributing Factor in Autism.” Abdulkarim was invited to compete in the national Broadcom Masters Competition, along with other top Junior Division Winners.
The sweepstakes winners and other top finishers advanced to the California State Science Fair held April 15-16, 2013 at the California Science Center in Los Angeles.
LA County Science Fair Shutterfly links
CLICK ON “PICTURES & VIDEOS” ON THE LEFT TO PREVIEW ALBUMS at photographer Anne F. Maben’s LA County Science Fair Shutterfly site, for download.Photos have copyrights and for personal viewing and non-commercial use only.
- Click here to view and download official 2013 Student Portraits
- Click here to view and download 2013 Senior Students at their Displays
- Click here to view and download 2013 Junior Students at their Displays (more coming soon…)
- Click here to view and download any captioned photo of the 2013 Category Awards
- Click here to view and download any captioned photo of the 2013 Special Awards
- Click here to view the 2013 Pre-Awards Event with Raymond Gilmartin
- Click here to view and download any captioned photo of the Judging process
- Click here to view and download any captioned photo of the Checking In – Setting Up process
- Click Here to see loads of photos from “Trash for Teaching” (T4T) taken at the 2013 Mini Maker Faire!
Thanks to all the students, teachers, volunteers, scientists and donor/partners who helped make this year’s Fair one of the very best!
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News Articles/Videos: 2013 LA County Science Fair
Searching for Alien Worlds at the Los Angeles County Science Fair
“This year, Team Celestron presented the first-ever Celestron Astronomical Studies Award to a student at the science fair. We certainly weren’t expecting to see a project as advanced or impressive as Cameron’s! We were delighted to present him with the award, along with a NexStar 130SLT telescope for backyard observing.” 3/28/2013 Andrea Tabor
Social Media Coordinator for Celestron. Read the article on Cameron and his passion for hunting new planets above!
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LA 18 – Asian News Channel Interviews Science Fair Students
Click here to view the full LA 18 video
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PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) Gives $1,000 Award to 10th Grader Invents Tool for Earlier Cancer Detection
Click here to view the full PETA article
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Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) News Flash
Of about 1,000 student entries reviewed, 60 projects were shortlisted and judged by the PECG Special Awards Team. Their top 10 projects were advanced for further judging for the special awards. These finalists received honorable mention certificates, recognition medals and gift cards from Target stores from the Los Angeles Section of PECG. A photo album with pictures covering the science fair activities, student projects and awards will soon be available for viewing on the LA Section website at www.lapecg.net. After further
evaluation of the 10 finalists, the judges came to a tie vote on the winners and thus decided to split the two special awards as follows:
Click here to download the full PECG article.
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Click here to download: Santa Monica High School’s “Team Marine” Wins First Place in Environmental Management at LA County Science Fair
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Edison International Rescues the 2013 Los Angeles County Science Fair!
Thanks to a $25,000 donation from Edison International, the annual Los Angeles County Science Fair is promising to be successful once again.
“Edison International is committed to supporting students by giving to programs focused on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) who are pursuing their dreams of becoming scientists. This grant is an investment in our community and our future workforce,” said Tammy Tumbling, Director of Philanthropy and Community Investment for Southern California Edison, a subsidiary of Edison International.
The 63nd Annual Los Angeles County Science & Engineering Fair centers on the theme of “Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought”- Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
“We are looking forward to another successful fair,” said Dean Gilbert, President of the Los Angeles County Science Fair. “We are grateful to Edison International for stepping up at our time of need.”
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News Flash! Southern California Public Radio interviews student and LA County Science Fair President.
The “Take Two” radio show on March 15th highlighted the fair’s current budget shortfall and the importance of science fairs in helping students learn to solve problems using their critical thinking skills, which is really what the job market and the technological workforce is demanding. Click here to read or listen.
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