Taryn Imamura, a senior at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts, was named a semifinalist in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
Imamura, the daughter of Cynthia and Dr. Bryan Imamura of Conway, was one of two national semifinalists from Arkansas in the nation’s premier research competition for high school students. A total of 466 semifinalists from a pool of nearly 1,800 projects were announced on Oct. 16.
Imamura’s project focused on using rice hulls to produce a surfactant in place of petroleum or coconut and palm seeds. With Arkansas being a large producer of rice, using the hulls leftover from rice harvests in the state could provide an economic boost to farmers and businesses while providing an environmentally friendly option.
She began her research on the topic almost two years ago during a summer internship in a Cambridge, Mass., laboratory. She decided to use that research as her Fundamentals in Research Methods project at ASMSA. Each student is required to complete a FIRM project by the second semester of their senior year for competition in the annual West Central Regional Science Fair at the school. Imamura entered her project into the science fair in February as a junior and won fourth place overall.
She said Dr. Brian Monson, chair of ASMSA’s Science Department who serves as her FIRM adviser, suggested that she enter the Siemens Competition. She had to write a scientific report and a one-page layman’s summary of her project for the competition as well as include recommendations from her research adviser, teachers, Dean of Academic Affairs Bob Gregory and her mother.
Imamura said preparing the project for the competition helped her solidify and clarify her ideas. “Revisiting certain aspects of my project helped me raise new questions on what can be improved upon for my future research,” she said.
Imamura said she had forgotten that Friday was the day semifinalists would be announced. She went to the fifth floor of the Administration Building to ask Walt Levisee, chair of the Mathematics Department, a question. When she arrived, everyone began congratulating her.
“I said ‘Thanks! What for?’” she said. When she saw her name on the list of semifinalists displayed on the screen in the classroom, she said she jumped in the air. She and Bob Gregory, the academic dean, began yelling and jumping up and down, she said.
“Dean Gregory said, ‘You’re a semifinalist!” and I said ‘I’m a semifinalist … What do I do now?” I was so excited that I honestly couldn’t think. He laughed and replied, ‘You should probably call your mom,’ and I said, “Yeah, I should call my mom. That’s something that I could do! And I should tell Dr. Monson, too!” Finding out made that a pretty great afternoon,” she said.
Imamura did not advance to the regional finalists stage on Monday, but that didn’t keep her from being excited about the recognition she received.
“I think my project is cool, but it’s amazing to know that other people think so too. Like other students here, I put so much time into my FIRM project, and it is so cool to know that others in science consider my project worthwhile also,” she said.
The Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology is sponsored by the Siemens Foundation and Discovery Education. Siemens Foundation has invested more than $90 million in the United States to advance workforce development and education initiatives in science, technology, engineering and math.
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