Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students took two of the top prizes in the state Science Fair and the top three prizes in the state Junior Academy of Sciences competition. The school also won the Overall Team award and the Class 7A Team award at the state Science Fair, which was held April 1-2 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway.
Arnab Dey of White Hall won first place Best in State in the State Science Fair, and Devika Mehta of Conway won second place. Arnab and Devika also won first and second place overall at the West Central Regional Science Fair and had already qualified to attend the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, May 8-13 in Los Angeles. Arnab’s applied his interest and knowledge of jet engine design to design an improved inhaler for asthma medication. Devika investigated ways to improved dye-sensitized solar cells and improve their efficiency.
In the Junior Academy of Sciences competition, students give a 10-minute presentation about their science fair projects. ASMSA students won the top three overall awards with first place going to Carrie Yang of Hot Springs, second place to M’Kenzie Wilson of Little Rock, and third place to Arnab Dey of White Hall. ASMSA students also won first place in 8 of the 13 categories.
“This is one of our best years ever,” said Science Fair Director Dr. Brian Monson. “Of the 26 students who went to the state science fair, 22 won prizes. This shows the overall strength of our curriculum and our student research program.”
ASMSA students received Science Fair awards in the following categories:
Animal Science – Jim Burke, second place; Ted Stiritz, honorable mention. Ted also received the Arkansas Heritage Award.
Behavioral and Social Science – Serena Murphy, second place.
Biochemistry – Nora Bouzihay, third place.
Cellular and Molecular Biology – Carrie Yang, second place.
Chemistry – Bijal Shah, third place.
Computer Science – Alec Crow, second place; Calvin MacKenzie, third place; Stephen Hu, honorable mention. Alec also received a $75 savings bond from the Arkansas Computer Science Teacher Association.
Earth Science – M’Kenzie Wilson, second place; Luke Kreul, honorable mention. M’Kenzie also received the U.S. Geological Survey award for the best geology project and the Association for Women Geoscientists for geoscience excellence award.
Energy and Transportation – Joseph Horton, honorable mention.
Engineering: Mechanical and Electrical – Scott Glover, first place. Scott also received a special award from the Society of Professional Engineers.
Environmental Management – Paul Rogers, third place. Cayley Griffiths received the Best Aquatic Science Project Award and the Arkansas Natural Heritage Award.
Medicine and Health – Ryan Medlock, second place; Xeniya Rudolf, honorable mention. Ryan also received first place neuroscience award and first place clinical chemistry award.
Microbiology – Jonathan Bauer-Erickson, third place; Anjali Patel, honorable mention. Jonathan also received the second place clinical science award.
Physics and Astronomy – Thanh Hoang, first place.
Plant Sciences – Tait Clements, first place.
Junior Academy of Sciences
ASMSA students took first place in 8 of the 13 Junior Academy of Sciences categories, and took the top three places in the overall competition:
Behavioral and Social Science – Serena Murphy, first place.
Biochemistry – Carrie Yang, first place.
Botany – Tait Clements, second place.
Chemistry – Bijal Shah, first place.
Computer Science – Alec Crow, first place; Calvin MacKenzie, second place; Stephen Hu, third place.
Earth and Space Sciences– M’Kenzie Wilson, first place; Luke Kreul, second place; Joseph Koon, third place.
Engineering – Arnab Dey, first place; Devika Mehta, second place; Scott Glover, third place.
Microbiology – Sophia Son, first place; Anjali Patel, third place.
Physics – Thanh Hoang, first place.