HAMDEN, Conn., May 18, 2013 – Four Connecticut students captured Grand Awards yesterday at the 2013 Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest pre-college science fair.  The students traveled to the ISEF, held in Phoenix, Ariz., to compete with more than 1,500 high school students from over 70 countries, regions and territories around the globe. The event gave students an opportunity to showcase their independent research and vie for more than $3 million in total prizes. The Connecticut student delegation went to the ISEF, all expenses paid, as part of their prize for earning top awards at the Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair (CSEF) held in mid-March this year.

“We are very proud of the accomplishments of our state’s outstanding students,” said Bob Wisner, president of the Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair.  “Once again, our state has taken some of the major awards at this international competition and we are very pleased with their strong showing among their peers from around the world.”

At May 17 ISEF Grand Awards ceremony, the following awards were announced:

• Kaitavjeet Chowdhary, a senior at Glastonbury High School, earned a third-place ($1,000) Grand Award in ISEF’s Microbiology category.  In his project called, Morphogenesis of and Chromosome Segregation in Escherichia coli Branching Mutants, Chowdhary sought to understand how certain enzymes cause a unique “y-shaped branching” of E.coli and how this branching affects chromosome segregation.  Understanding these questions will provide key insight into the fundamental processes for how bacterial cells control cell shape as well as into chromosomal dynamics.  The work holds promise for applications such as antibiotic drug development.   At a separate ISEF Special Award ceremony held Thursday night, Chowdhary also earned a Third Award ($1,000) from the American Society for Microbiology.  • Mallory Madfes, a senior at Greenwich High School, earned a third-place ($1,000) Grand Award in ISEF’s Engineering: Materials & Bioengineering category.  In a project titled, Promotion of Wound Healing via a Novel Hydrophilic Dressing, she developed a method for delivering medicine directly to wound sites to minimize the development of infection and promote quicker healing.  This research offers an alternative to orally administered medications that can result in adverse drug reactions.

• Rebecca Murray, a junior at Greenwich High School, earned a fourth-place ($500) Grand Award in the ISEF’s Physics and Astronomy category, with her project, Laser-Induced Propulsion of Anticancer-Doxorubicin Using Low-Power Laser Optical Tweezing.  She explored the use of a relatively low-powered Helium-Neon laser to move complex chemotherapy drug molecules across an interface without harming the molecules.  Practical application of this method could be used to transport miniscule amounts of drug molecules across a cell membrane.   • Emily Baczyk, a senior at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, earned a third-place ($1,000) Grand Award in ISEF’s Environmental Management category.  In a project called, A Model-Based Approach to Predicting Species’ Responses to Climate Change by Characterizing Community Dynamics, Baczyk developed a general temperature-dependent community model to predict how a climate change-induced temperature rise of 4° over the next 100 years might affect the composition of ecological communities occurring along an elevational or latitudinal temperature gradient.  At a separate ISEF Special Award Ceremony held Thursday night, she also won a Third Award ($1,000) from NASA.

For pictures of the CT delegation, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctsciencefair/sets/

*** For more information about ISEF, visit http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/

***  For newsletters from the students describing their ISEF experience go to  2013 CSEF ISEF Newsletters.

The Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair is made possible by a grant and volunteer support from its presenting sponsor United Technologies Corporation and by contributions from industrial and individual supporters.

Download PDF of 2013 CSEF ISEF Winners

Wrap-up of the week at ISEF in Phoenix

• Kirk Shadle sums up the week, as follows:

As the saying goes: “All good things must come to an end” and thus ends Intel ISEF 2013. Reflecting on the week ushers in memories filled with nervousness, excitement and anticipation.

Project setup found six students eagerly setting up their booths and preparing to impress the judges. After a tense couple hours of relaying between the hotel and the convention hall, to gather everything the display inspectors required, the students were all set and “officially” ready to start their ISEF experience.

As a first time ISEF participant I was in awe at the breadth of projects being presented by over 1600 students representing 70 countries. The students quickly broke down language and social barriers while participating in the much anticipated pin exchange. This event was sponsored by Intel to allow the students to transcend the feeling of competition and develop friendships with students from throughout the United States as well as the world. Intel ISEF opening ceremony was certainly not a letdown. The energy of the crowd reached a fever pitch as the student groups cheered, paraded their national flags and were sent on a mission to Mars through the Keynote Speaker’s address.

As the week progressed the students bonded with the ever present thought in the back of their heads; Judging Day. The much anticipated Judging Day was finally here and the students conducted their individual last minute preparations while encouraging and assisting each other. As teachers the chaperones were left to allow the students to break out on their own and carve their own path.

Once judging was completed there was an evident sense of relief by the entire group. The students and chaperones were now able to relax at their own Intel sponsored mixers. This emotion was evident from all ISEF finalists as one student described to me that at the mixer the floor was literally bowing as all 1600 students danced to the pounding music with a collective sigh of relief. Much like the excitement of the opening ceremonies the Awards ceremonies shared the same energy but this time it was coupled with a strong sense of anticipation. Will the students be awarded a prize or will they return home as a non-awardee? I then reminded myself of the fact that just having the singular honor of representing Connecticut at this prestigious event was award enough to carry home. The excitement of having four of the six students representing Connecticut win awards was exhilarating. To know that they are competing against the best minds in the world and qualify in the top 20%-30% certainly says we are doing something right in our state.

Congratulations to all of the students, teachers and parents of the 2013 Intel ISEF finalists.

• Andy Bramante writes of his experiences:

Wow, another year’s ISEF has come and gone!! This was my fourth trip to ISEF, and each time, without fail, I am simply blown away by the enormity of the event, and the complexity of the student’s work from all over the world. Although it is a busy time, with lots of activities and events crammed into one week, I can think of no better time spent in guiding our Connecticut students to a successful week of presentations, friendships, growth, and learning. Oddly enough, the CT contingent felt immediately at home upon arriving at the ISEF convention center, as we were greeted by a life-size image of an old CT ISEF friend! From the lunches at Majerlee’s, breakfasts at The Breakfast Club (where I honestly felt like a light-weight with respect to food eaten … sorry, Emily & Karim!), my first SRC Violations meeting (where the SRC judges were as much apologetic to Mallory as they were inquisitive!), the Astros game, judging day, public viewing, awards, Iron Man 3 and Star Trek movies, and finally, a trip to Rawhide (where I learned that the chewing consistency of a real oyster is much more pleasant than a Rocky Mountain Oyster), I had the pleasure of watching a group of young adults come together in friendship and the love of science, in this tremendous experience! I am so very proud of each of our student’s efforts this week, both professionally at the fair, as well as personally, in their behavior away from home! Note to parents … not one of our students missed home! I am hopeful that those of our group that are off to college stay in touch as they plough through their freshman year, and those that are underclassman work hard to return to ISEF next year! I am already looking forward to the first reunion party at Max’s … yes, Sandy & Anthony, your son volunteered your home!

I’d like to especially thank those that worked in front of and behind the scenes, to make this year’s Intel ISEF a success. From Sandy and Wynn (who have now stopped calling my cell), Bob (who I know is feeling better physically, and hopefully is relieved that all went well), Sue (who had to live with Bob and his anxieties!), Ernie & Michele (who do a wonderful job posting the newsletters & blogs), Kirk Shadle (my new friend, and best co-assistant!), and finally Anne Fratalone (who is the “bestest” Adult in Charge, and runs the smoothest state delegation at ISEF) … thanks so much for the opportunity to play at least a small part in the what was a memorable learning experience for our six young adults! Hopefully my anecdotes and sayings have not scarred them for life … I know that they will never forget about “my street cred.” Take care!

• Ann Frattalone, the ISEF Week Coordinator, reflects on another exciting week at ISEF:

I believe I can safely say that I am an INTEL ISEF veteran as this was my fifth ISEF and my solo trip (missing in action, George “Bob” Wisner) seemed to go rather smoothly. Leaving the chilly spring of Connecticut we were all looking forward to “dry heat” of Phoenix. We actually landed nearly 45 minutes early so that we could check in the hotel, have a much needed meal, register, and the students go off to the pin exchange. This obviously was a good omen as we were all cleared by SRC and project set-up was completed without any serious problems. The rest of our week went just as well and this would not have been possible without the cooperation of all the students and my assistant coordinators! Whenever I gave a deadline or instructions everyone followed through with no complaints, (I never had to use my high school teacher voice!) and no one was sunburned (thanks to Dr. Madfes). Our entire group actually worked with a true team effort and for that I am extremely grateful as it clearly made my job easy. I really enjoyed the experience and was very proud to be the “Adult In Charge” of such an exceptional group of students!

Many thanks go to the parents of these terrific students for trusting me with their safety. I must also thank Sandy & Wynn for training me so well that this trip was such a success! Thanks to Ernie and Michel for posting our newsletters. Last but not least thank you to Bob for your support and good words that gave me the confidence to take on this task.

How can I not be excited to look forward to ISEF 2014 in LA, (as I have already been to this site) when I know I have such a wonderful support system!

As Bob Hope always sang “Thanks for the memories”! (You youngsters will have to Google that one!)

Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair

Friday, May 17, 2013

The six finalists woke up this morning to experience a great day of suspense and anxiety. At 8:30 am the doors to the Intel ISEF grand awards ceremony, slowly opened to reveal a blast of music and strobe lighting. We took our seats and over the course of three hours Team Connecticut (a.k.a The Nutmeggers) had acquired four grand awards. Rebecca was the first one to bring back a fourth place award for her category in physics and astronomy. Mallory, Emily and Kaitavjeet won the third place awards for their categories each winning a $1000 cash award. Congratulations to our big winners representing Connecticut!

We all had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe enjoying fruit smoothies, milkshakes and 10 oz hamburgers. We were soon off to the Rawhide Amusement Village where each of us panned for gold, went rock climbing, and had the most memorable dinner of our lives. The famous Rawhide Steakhouse served us exotic delicacies such as Rattlesnake and Rocky Mountain Oysters (from an unfortunate male cow).

To finish our day and trip in Arizona, Team Connecticut went down to the pool for a late-night swim. All of us have had such an unbelievable and unforgettable experience at the 2013 Intel ISEF.

-Maxmillian Minichetti
Greenwich High School

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Hi all,

Today was public viewing day at ISEF, which for finalists meant another long day of standing in front of our projects but without the added stress of competition. The CT finalists assembled for breakfast in the hotel at around 9:15am, most of them tired after having stayed up for the midnight showing of Star Trek: Into Darkness (which received good reviews all around). By 10 am, all of us were back in the exhibition hall, ready to explain our research to the middle school students that were attending public viewing. Many teachers, off-duty judges, and science-minded people also visited projects, and some of the finalists even got to walk around and look at the work of their peers.

After the public viewing ended at 2:00pm, the CT finalists returned to the hotel for an afternoon of taking naps and swimming at the pool. After dinner at Majerle’s , we headed down to the Special Awards ceremony, where CT had two winners! Kaitavjeet won the Third Award of $1000 from the American Society for Microbiology, and Emily also won the Third Award of $1000 from NASA. Afterwards, some of the finalists went to Cold Stone for celebratory ice cream, while others began catching up on lost sleep.

Tomorrow we will find out who wins the category awards!

-Rebecca Murray
Greenwich High School

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Hello Science Fair Friends, Sponsors, and Alumni,

Today was the big day! We all rose early in the morning to prepare ourselves for judging. The anticipation was all building to this, and everyone was somewhere between nervous and excited. After eating breakfast in our rooms and changing into our business attire, the crew left for the convention center for judging. We were there at 8 AM sharp with our projects ready to go.

The judging itself was interesting, but also very protracted. We thoroughly enjoyed sharing the results of our hard work and representing CT, but after the first three hours, there was a little fatigue mixed in as well. We all received different numbers of judges in this morning session—ranging from five to seven among our group. Each judge talked to us for about fifteen minutes, listening to our presentations and asking relevant questions along the way. By the time it was lunch, we were all glad to eat at the nearby restaurant, Majerle’s, for a quick refueling. Soon enough, however, we found ourselves heading back to the judging area to man our exhibits once again.

Judging extended all the way to 5 PM, and by the end of the day, some of us had talked to upwards of 20 judges! Luckily, Ms. Frattalone’s care packages of cough drops, tissues, and mints sustained us through the ordeal. The announcement marking the conclusion of judging for the day was met with the thunderous applause of 1600+ tired competitors. We shared stories about our respective judging experiences as we returned to the hotel, and Max, Rebecca, Emily, and Karim washed away the fatigue of the day with a relaxing dip in the pool.

The day, which started off on a serious note, ended on a celebratory and fun one. In the evening, all of the students headed over to the student mixer, where they met and socialized with all of the students at the fair, who hail from all over the world. This mixer featured games, food, and dancing. Meanwhile, the adults attended their own, separate adult mixer. Finally, to top off the day, most of us went to watch the midnight premiere of the new Star Trek movie, while the others decided to get some much needed sleep and rest.

We are all looking forward to see how the judging went at the awards ceremonies tomorrow and Friday!

–Kaitavjeet Chowdhary
Senior, Glastonbury High School

CSEF Students Are Honored at I–SWEEEP

All Seven of this year’s CSEF competitors received honors at the 2013I–SWEEEP International Sustainable World May 8-13, Houston, Texas. CSEF financially sponsored three students and their advisors/parents this year. In addition, four students who competed in our Fair also chose to submit their projects directly to I-SWEEEP. (Direct registration deadline was March 8 in 2013. www.isweeep.org)

Students Winning I-SWEEEP Participation and travel funding at the 2013 Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair

Aasiya Ahmed – Madina Academy Upper School, Windsor, CT
A Novel Design for the Integration of a Microbial Desalination Cell in a Microbial Fuel Cell for the Production of Energy and Purification of Water
Award: Honorable Mention/Energy

Zheni Gusho – Greenwich High School
Sustainable Enhancement of Plant Growth & Disease Reduction Using Biochar Soil Additives
Award: Gold – Senior/Environment

Andrew Ma – Greenwich High School
Solvent Extraction of Hydrocarbons and Hydrocarbon Derivatives from Lythrum salicaria
Award: Bronze – Senior/Environment

CSEF Competitors Submitting Direct Entries to I-SWEEEP

Travis Anderson – Greenwich High School
Intrinsic Laptop Energy Capture via Keyboard Piezoelectric Conversion
Award: Gold – Senior/Energy

Peter Russell – Greenwich High School
Integration of Photoluminescent Manganese-doped ZnS Nanocrystals for Improved Solar Cell Response
Award: Gold – Senior/Grand Award in Energy, Special Award from the Consumer Energy Alliance

Selman Avci, Almas Myrzatay – Putnam Science Academy
A novel approach to degrade harmful byproducts formed during the production of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) by using Fomepizole.
Award: Silver – Senior/Environment
Lawand Lateef, Suleyman Er – Putnam Science Academy
Chlorophyll Enhanced Dye Sensitized Solar Cells
Award: Bronze – Senior/Energy

I-SWEEEP Reports to Come

We expect to hear from some of the Connecticut I-SWEEEP competitors in the days to come.

Here’s a quick note that Aasiya Ahmed, Madina Academy Upper School, Windsor was kind enough to send when she just arrived home to Houston.

The trip was excellent. I got to meet people from so many countries, including Slovenia, South Africa, Malaysia and Turkey, and I hope to keep in contact with them. At the opening ceremonies, I got to hold the two American flags representing Connecticut (when our state was called out, we needed to run to the stage waving them). The judging day went very well, it was very similar to how we have it at CSEF.

Thank you for the Connecticut pins, they came in handy during the social event. I also got to talk to a couple of the other kids from CT there!

I just wanted to thank you Mr. Wisner, and everyone else from the CSEF for this opportunity. I cannot explain to you how thankful I am to have been given the opportunity to compete at I-SWEEEP, representing the Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair. It was such an honor. It may be too early to start thinking about it, but I cannot wait to participate in the Connecticut Science Fair again!

Thank you again,
Aasiya

Peter Russell, Greenwich High School I-SWEEEP  impressions

Hi Everyone,

See I-SWEEEP photos from the Greenwich HS competitors at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ctsciencefair/sets/72157633483783969/

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Hi all-

Today was a fun day that fortunately contained very little science. Because no one was listed on any infraction sheets, we were free to spend the day exploring Arizona. We started off the day with another delicious breakfast at The Breakfast Club, checked up on our projects in the exhibit hall (apparently there were rumors that the air conditioning had been turned on and knocked some boards over, but all was well), and took some pictures with some new friends from other states.

Next, we traveled out to the middle of the desert to manmade Saguaro Lake to take the Desert Belle Boat Tour around the region. We got to see the landscape (including photo ops with a huge cactus!) and relax out on the water for about an hour and a half. We returned to the hotel and split up to practice speeches for the judges and get our materials ready for tomorrow, but still found time for a short swim together before the next event of the day: the baseball game.

ISEF participants all received tickets to the night’s Diamondbacks vs. Braves game, as well as access to special game and activity rooms. The CT delegation all exchanged signatures on our t-shirts with competitors from around the world and the boys triumphed in an international air hockey tournament. We left the game a few minutes early to put the final touches on our speeches for judging, but were happy to hear that the Diamondbacks did win the game 2-0.

Now, everyone is getting prepared for judging and an early wake up tomorrow!

Emily E. Baczyk

Choate Rosemary Hall

Monday, May 13, 2013

Hello Science Fair Friends, Sponsors, and Alumni,

After a much needed night of sleep, the six students woke up early and met with the chaperones in the hotel’s lobby to head out for breakfast. We decided to begin the day with delicious meals from The Breakfast Club. Trying to satisfy her craving for chocolate, Mallory enjoyed three beautiful chocolate chip pancakes while Karim feasted on a sandwich which compacted all breakfast components in one place. Max, Rebecca and Kaitavjeet struggled to finish their meals. Emily and the others enjoyed their meals.

The party headed out to project set-up where everything went smoothly… for the most part.. Emily and Karim found themselves running back and forth to the hotel to grab laptops and then flash drives for clearance. After a process that took around hour, everybody was good to go.

Some shopping at the retail store, where Max almost bought it out, the party headed out to lunch. After a spicy Mexican meal, we headed to see the movie “Iron Man 3″. We all agreed that we got a high dose of special effects and then we headed to the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony was simply amazing with jaw-dropping entertainment and energy from the crowd that was simply electric. We were walked through the landing of the Mars rover Curiosity experience by the Director of the rover landings from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labs. The ceremony ended with the introduction of all 70 countries that are participating in Intel ISEF and the true scope of the fair was realized as the stage was filled with students

The party headed back to the hotel where they had some dessert then the students went to their rooms and practiced their presentations amongst themselves. Tomorrow the party heads out to an eventful day of sightseeing.

Karim Kharbouch

Bridgeport Regional Aquaculture Science and Technology Education Center

May 12, 2013

Everyone met up at Bradley International Airport, ready for a full day of travel. The six students and three chaperones quickly bonded over breakfast.  Even though the flight to Baltimore left a little late, the group was ecstatic because each individual got to choose where they wanted to sit. The flight was smooth and before anyone could settle in, our short layover in Baltimore was over and everyone was once again lined up to get on our connecting plane to Phoenix. While boarding, a Connecticut finalist took a glance at the other young adults in the airport and pointed out who else was probably going to Intel ISEF.

Landing 45 minutes early in Phoenix freed up the rest of the afternoon for meals and registration. Max, Rebecca, and Kaitavjeet ran off the escalator in the convention center towards the famous wall of the current finalist’s names that is resurrected every year. Mallory tried to remind everyone that the wall would not move and we could get pictures later in the week (pictures to come). Karim and Emily went ahead to registration and thus Connecticut had started Intel ISEF 2013.

After registration the rush of emotions did not stop. Most of the 1500 students competing or observing this week were placed in one room to run away and take part in the much anticipated pin exchange. This is the first of many mixer/icebreaker events. Our Connecticut group met finalists from Brazil, Egypt, Guatemala, France, Canada, and many of the 50 United States. By 9:00pm, or midnight back home, everyone was ready for bed. Each student went their separate ways and will meet back up again tomorrow for Poster Set Up and the opening ceremonies tomorrow night!

Mallory Madfes
Senior Greenwich High School

Hello Science Fair Friends, Sponsors, and Alumni,

The six top high school winners of the 2013 Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair are packing their bags and heading to Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday, May12. (Sorry Mothers!) There, they will compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world’s largest precollege competition of science and engineering.

Intel ISEF will take place from Sunday, May 12 through Friday, May 17. It is a tradition of our Fair to provide newsletters detailing our group’s adventures for our sponsors and friends. The newsletters will be emailed to you and will be posted on the Fair’s website at 2013 ISEF: CSEF Students. A limited number of photos will be attached to the emails but a great many more will be available through the CSEF website. There will be approximately six email newsletters, one for each major event.

Follow along with us:

• Sunday – Arrive in Phoenix late afternoon, check into hotel, have dinner, go through registration and off to the student pin exchange
• Monday – Getting through the Scientific Review and the Display Rules & Safety Committees, and project set-up
• Tuesday – Clearing Project Violations, Sightseeing, Excellence in Science and Technology Panel Discussion, Mixer Event
• Wednesday – Judging and Welcome Event
• Thursday – Public Viewing & Special Awards Ceremony
• Friday – Grand Awards Ceremony, Sponsor’s dinner at Rawhide and packing up to head home on Saturday

2013 Intel ISEF – Get the Finalist Directory

Peruse the Finalist Directory and judge for yourself. There is much to be learned from even a project title.

The Official party includes the following:

(View Meet the Winners containing the students’ abstracts and bios; also check out Meet the Chaperones.)

Students:

• Emily Baczyk, Senior, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, “A Model-Based Approach to Predicting Species’ Responses to Climate Change by Characterizing Community Dynamics”
• Kaitavjeet Chowdhary, 17, Senior, Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, “Morphogenesis of and Chromosome Segregation in Escherichia coli Branching Mutants”
• Karim Kharbouch, 17, Senior, Bridgeport Regional Aquaculture Science and Technology Education Center, Bridgeport, “Optimization of the Cellulose Algae Sodium Chloride Battery”
• Mallory Madfes, 17, Senior, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, “Promotion of Wound Healing via a Novel Hydrophilic Dressing”
• Maxmillian Minichetti, 15, Sophomore, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, “Optimization of a Dye Co-Sensitized Solar Cell to Assist Photo-Electrochemical Water-Splitting with a Nanostructured C-PC Enhanced Fe203 Photo-Anode”
• Rebecca Murray, 16, Junior, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, “Laser-induced Propulsion of Anticancer-Doxurubicin Using Low-Power Laser Optical Tweezing”

Accompanying Adults:

• Mrs. Ann Frattalone, ISEF Week Coordinator, Regular Awards Chair
• Mr. Andy Bramante, ISEF Week Associate Coordinator
• Mr. Kirk Shadle, Teacher, ISEF Week Associate Coordinator

On behalf of our Board, Officers, and Executive Committee, thank you for your continuing support of the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair. We hope that you enjoy following the week’s activities.

If you rather not receive our newsletters, please respond by sending us a “No Thanks” email.

Connecticut Science & Engineering Fair