2012 Edition
The Membrane Mutation Effect Classifier (MMEC): A Novel-Structure Based Approach to Predicting the Functional Effects of Mutations in Membrane Proteins
Rebecca Alford
Medicine Biology
I always loved career day as an elementary student because I was able to share that my dad was a rocket scientist. Maybe he was not the astronaut flying into space or sitting in the control room, but I believed he had the coolest job because he was the engineer designing new space cameras . . . My passion for innovation was somewhat out of the ordinary because I was facing a challenge that was very real for me.
2012 Edition
Modeling the Adaptive Venation Network of
Modeling the Adaptive Venation Network of Physarum polycephalum
Hannah Blumberg
Biology Physics
Physarum polycephalum is an organism that one cannot help but find interesting. This single-celled amoeboid is able to self-organize and self-optimize without the help of any sort of central nervous system. It can find the shortest path connecting any number of food sources, solve mazes created by physical barriers, and create paths that avoid light. I was introduced to this organism by my mentor, a member of the Laboratory of Mathematical Physics at The Rockefeller University in Manhattan, New York.
2012 Edition
The Search for a Quantum Computer through Braiding Quantum Gates
Rebecca Chen
Mathematics Quantum Computers
It is difficult to say when my passion for mathematics was first kindled. I have liked doing number problems and logic puzzles for as long as I can recall: one of my earliest memories is of using toothpicks to guide a brave mouse across shark-infested waters to steal the king’s cheese (a challenge found in The Puzzle Book, which I owned when I was younger). My interest was further strengthened by participation in math competitions and a math club organized by Professor Ron Ji at IUPUI.
2012 Edition
Colony Collapse Disorder
Jill Dolowich
Biology Mathematics
I am especially interested in Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) as an environmental issue as well as an economic and policy issue. Within the United States honeybees contribute to the success of one-third of U.S. agriculture; furthermore these insects are responsible for countless jobs and many billions of dollars in revenue. They are the unsung heroes of harvests of numerous fruits, berries, and nuts, and therefore crucial to the long-term viability of our global economy.
2012 Edition
Guardians Who Are the Last to Know: An Investigation of Why Adolescents Choose Not to Report Bullying to Teachers
Patricia Donskoy
Psychology Statistics
When one asks a group of students at any school in the country if they have ever been involved in and/or affected by bullying almost every hand shoots up into the air. Such instances demonstrate the rising incidence of bullying in each community, the country, and throughout the world. Although it is obvious that bullying occurs in schools, teachers, the adults closest to the problem, have been avoided by students. Prior studies already established statistics indicating that teachers are the last group to be approached, followed by family and friends, in cases of students who witness bullying.
2012 Edition
Correlation of Metrics of Clad Damage by Neutrons in Fast Reactors
Anthony Grebe
Physics Chemistry
Despite my enthusiasm for science, I was initially nervous about conducting research, and I was hesitant to apply for the Research Science Institute. I had always assumed that meaningful research was in the domain of Ph.D. professors and graduate students, far outside the reach of high school students like me. Given the complexity and dangers of nuclear energy, I thought that this would be especially true for the area in which I was assigned to work.
2012 Edition
From Dusk to Dawn: Contact Lenses in the Night Tear Proteome
Jack Huang
Medicine Opthamology
I saw the letter E, big, black and bold. Now read me line six, the nurse said, pointing to a row of blurry rectangles. I squinted and took my best educated guess, but the nurse frowned, scribbling a note on her clipboard. The second week of first grade, I had failed my first test. The school vision test was the one (and usually only) exam I failed each year. It became somewhat of a routine, seeing the school nurse, squinting at the fuzzy shapes on the eye chart, finding myself in the optometrist’s office a week later.
2012 Edition
High Cholesterol
Siddhartha Jena
Molecular Biology Medicine
My interest in cardiovascular health stems from a range of factors. There is currently a health epidemic in the United States: our largely unhealthy lifestyles, fatty and high-cholesterol diet, and lacking exercise, combine with genetic factors, contribute to some of the highest levels of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. In fact heart disease is prevalent in most developed and some developing countries, contributing to more deaths then cancer and HIV combined, worldwide.
2012 Edition
Understanding the Pathogenesis of Acid-Resistant
Understanding the Pathogenesis of Acid-Resistant E. coli : Computational Modeling of pH-Dependent Conformational Changes in GadB
Hannah S. Kenagy
Biology Chemistry
I come from an agricultural family: one side of my family owns a 200-acre farm in Oregon and the other owns a plant nursery adjacent to my backyard in New York. Between living right next to the nursery and spending two or three weeks a year on the Oregon farm, I have been exposed to agricultural and horticultural issues my entire life. When report after report of acid-resistant E. coli outbreaks hit the news over the past few years, I became quite interested in the issue as a result of my agricultural background (and my foodie interests).
2012 Edition
The Effect of Technological Devices in a Teen's Bedroom on the Amount and Quality of Sleep
Christine Kim
Medicine Mathematics
How many times does a child hear his or her parent say, turn your phone off before going to bed or don’t sleep with your phone on next to you or stop texting at night because you won’t get enough sleep? I know I’ve heard those words countless times. But, I’ve always wondered if using my phone, or any other technological device, could actually hinder me from getting the best quality sleep I can get.
2012 Edition
The Impace of Culture and Gender on HIV Resilience
Mariam Makram
Madicine Psychology
Most people, especially teenagers, do not know HIV as anything more than an STD and that we are to avoid being infected . . . Past research has shown that the highest percentage of HIV infected patients lies in East Africa. Research has also shown that the HIV population of the United States is rapidly growing. Like all humans, my childhood played a major role in the shaping of my current personality.
2012 Edition
Modifying Inappropriate Behaviors in Autistic Children Using Social Stories: Three Case Studies
Brian McGovern
Medicine Psychology
Autism is a mental disorder that impairs the mental and social development of children on their way to adulthood. Not everyone with autism has the same severity of symptoms and therefore researchers refer to the variance of the disorder as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In recent years, there has been an increase in children diagnosed with autism (Groom, 2009). Reasons for such a peak in diagnoses range from a vaccine link to simply just more accurate methods of testing (Downs, 2009).
2012 Edition
Modeling Tumor Growth and Quantifying the Duration of Time between Metastasis, Detection, and Mortality in Breast Cancer Patients
Daniel Pollack
Medicine Mathematics
Autism is a mental disorder that impairs the mental and social development of children on their way to adulthood. Not everyone with autism has the same severity of symptoms and therefore researchers refer to the variance of the disorder as autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In recent years, there has been an increase in children diagnosed with autism (Groom, 2009). Reasons for such a peak in diagnoses range from a vaccine link to simply just more accurate methods of testing (Downs, 2009).
2012 Edition
Middle Grade School Structure and Young Adolescent Girls' Body Image
Jacklyn Sullivan
Psychology Mathematics
In 1997, The New York Times quoted a Bronx High School of Science administrator regarding the then- surprising increase in behavioral science honorees in the prestigious Westinghouse (now Intel) Science Talent Search competition: ‘It [behavioral science] does provide another outlet for some students whose strength may not be in empirical science and math,’ said the chairwoman of the school’s biology department (A Fine Hour For Squishy Sciences, NYT 2/16/97). Oh really?
2012 Edition
Correlation Between School Budgets and SAT Scores
Casey Vieni
Electronics Mathematics
In order to build my own guitar I clearly needed to research how I would go about the task. Thus began, unbeknownst to me, my first true application of the scientific method that would eventually inspire me to become an Intel participant. I researched multiple designs in order to create something that felt both original and practical and then I made detailed lists of the necessary supplies. I collected materials from around my house, online, and occasionally even the garbage can.