Success at Synopsis

July 15, 2009

Laura Perrone   , Staff Reporter •

Filed under Uncategorized

High school students slowly filled the rows of Great America’s Showtime Theater. As they settled into their seats, the lights dimmed and the building rattled slightly as riders on Flight Deck flew over the theater’s roof. Inside, the students were reminded of the thrilling rides they had enjoyed with friends before the ceremony. Their hard work in the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championships was finally paying off.

The Synopsys Championship is a competition held each year in Santa Clara Valley. It allows middle school and high school students to develop and present a project in science or technology. This year 22 students from Presentation entered projects, having devoted much time and effort to developing them. Many participated in Dr. Howe’s Independent Study Math and Science Research Class, where Dr. Howe guided them in conceiving of, carrying out and writing about their projects. Other students worked independently with a sponsor. This year, 14 of the students received awards. They were invited to attend the awards ceremony on March 29 at Great America.

Many Pres students won category awards for their projects. Junior Megna Hari’s individual project in zoology and sophomores Sarah Cole and Kaitlyn Leahey’s team project in botany received honorable mention awards in their categories. Sophomore Taylor Rottjakob’s individual project in botany, juniors Elbret Bebla and Ivy Nguyen’s team project in physics and juniors Danielle Pepping and Sareen Sandhu’s team project in zoology all received second place awards in their categories. Hari also received an honorable mention for her technical paper on her project.

Other Presentation students received special awards from sponsors other than Synopsys. Sophomores Sarah Khasrovi and Julie Perrone received an honorable mention certificate of achievement from the United States Army for their strong teamwork and for the relevancy of their project. Junior Nicolette Affonso-McMorrow received a certificate of merit and a $50 cash reward from the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers for best use of electrical and electronic components. Sophomore Angie Korpusik was awarded $100 for herself and $100 for Presentation for best geographic content and creativity. Senior Tracey Myint received a second place award with a $100 prize from the Pauchon Foundation, an organization that provides funding to research in medicine, business and science. Sophomore Shelby Nemeth was awarded the United States Air Force’s award for an outstanding engineering project.

Many of these winning projects were inspired by problems students had observed in the world. For example, Khasrovi and Perrone’s project, The Removal of Oil from Bird Feathers, focused on the difficulties of cleaning the feathers of birds that are exposed to oil spills. “We felt that oil spills are a prevalent problem in our society today and, therefore, we were inspired to investigate further and delve deeper into potential solutions for this issue,” explained Khasrovi. To meet this goal, Khasrovi and Perrone tested different chemical cleansers on feathers exposed to oil. They found that ethyl alcohol, commonly found in the dishwashing soap Dawn, was most effective.

Rottjakob also focused her project on a real-world application. Her project, The Effects of Visible Light Spectra on Plant Photosynthesis, examined an African Violet’s consumption of carbon dioxide and production of oxygen under different types of light. She found that the violet produced the most oxygen when exposed to the blue-violet light. “I chose to perform this experiment because NASA is currently in the process of finding a plant that would give off enough oxygen so that astronauts would have the opportunity to go on endless missions in space,” Rottjakob explained.

Inspired by the importance of alternative sources of energy, Affonso-McMorrow chose to examine whether hydrogen fuel cell energy or solar energy is more efficient. “I’ve heard a lot about different types of energy, but I wanted to do an experiment for myself so I could see what all the fuss was about,” she explained. For her project, Comparative Efficiency of Solar and Hydrogen Fuel Cell Model Cars, Affonso-McMorrow built two model cars from kits. One car used a hydrogen fuel cell for energy, while the other used a solar panel. For her actual experiment, she charged the cars for the same amount of time and then compared how long each car could run on different ramps. She determined that the hydrogen fuel cell was the most efficient.

Nemeth, on the other hand, was motivated by her interest in aeronautics and aeronautical engineering. “Aircraft are very interesting to me and it is fun to work with them,” Nemeth explained. For the project An Assessment of Prototype Airfoil, she examined the use of winglets found on commercial aircraft such as Southwest’s newer 747-8000 aircraft. This year, Nemeth built and explained her experiment on winglets at the Synopsys science fair. She plans to continue her project by building a hydroflow channel in which she will be able to test the wings she built. She will present her findings at next year’s science fair.

Other projects were inspired by personal experiences. Myint’s family is from Burma and some of her relatives still live there. When Irrawaddy, a region in Burma, was severely hit by Cyclone Nargis on May 2, 2008, Myint was inspired to study cyclones in the area. Her project, Irrawaddy Impact: The Effect of Position on Cyclone Strength, monitored cyclones as they approached the Equator. She used statistics from past storms in combination with the Coriolis effect and wind speed to determine that cyclonic storms strengthen as they approach the Equator and weaken as they move away from the Equator.

Many of Presentation’s participants in this year’s Synopsys Championship would agree that a trip to Great America and awards were not the only things they received. “It was so thrilling to meet such interesting and accomplished scientists from places like NASA and Stanford,” said Bebla.

Any Presentation student interested in science can look forward to the opportunity to participate in next year’s Synopsys Championship. With the inspiration of past successful projects and new ideas of their own, next year’s participants can strive for their own success.

 Email This Story        Print This Story      

Tags: