​John Jay’s Science Research Students Bring Home Prizes From Science And Engineering Fair

CROSS RIVER, NY — Fifteen John Jay Science Research seniors and three John Jay Science Research juniors participated in the Westchester County Science and Engineering Fair on March 4.

There were approximately 520 projects in 17 different categories with students representing 38 high schools. The JJHS competitors presentED their work to the scientist judges and made an impressive showing at the awards ceremony, according to a district spokeswoman.

From the Katonah-Lewisboro School District:

Grand Prizes

Senior DeeAnn Guo won a spot to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, California for her work on lucid dreaming. Guo was one of 12 finalists. This grand prize is made possible by a grant from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Acorda Therapeutics.

Junior Kailas Amin won a spot the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering and Environment Projects Fair in Houston Texas. Kailas will present his work on using machine learning to detect and predict the impact of the millions of tons of wastes produced by mines on water pollution. This grand prize is made possible by a grant from Energy. Amin is one of seven finalists.

Best in Category Awards

Senior DeeAnn Guo placed first in the Behavioral and Social Science Category for her work on using interrupted sleep to induce lucid dreaming.

Junior Kailas Amin (Environmental Science) and Senior Simrit Uppal (Medicine and Health) placed second in their categories. Amin created a method to detect mine waste and predict its impact on the environment. Uppal studied the effect of low red blood cell concentration during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery on acute kidney injury.

Seniors Jackson Mingle (Cellular and Molecular Biology), Georgia Mraz (Physics and Astronomy) and Matthew Gomes (Plant Sciences) placed third in third in their categories. Mingle studied the pathways involved in neurodegeneration that occurs in ALS. Mraz studied the Oort cloud, and Gomes studied different methods to prevent the spread of invasive plant species. Ian Woods, a senior, placed second in Cellular and Molecular Biology.

Special Awards:

Junior Brenden Oates won the ASU Walton Sustainability Initiative prize and the Stockholm Junior Water Prize for his engineering project on wave energy converters. Oates constructed and tested wave energy converters.

Senior Karina Heaton was awarded the Future of Medicine Award for her work on constructing Europium doped nanoparticles for cancer detection.

Senior Jack Horvath received the Teatown Young Naturalist Award for his work on barberry and deer browsing.

All of the students did a great job presenting their work. The presenters included seniors Eric Eberhardt, Matthew Gomes, Arielle Gordon, DeeAnn Guo, Sara Hager, Karina Heaton, Jack Horvath, Anabel Miller, Jackson Mingle, Georgia Mraz, Margaret Oestreicher, Ike Radin, Jayson Sementilli, Simrit Uppal, and Ian Woods, and juniors Kailas Amin, Brenden Oates and Guy Pillon.

Photo caption: Awaiting the balloon drop: ISEF and ISWEEEP Finalists; Kailas Amin rear row at left, DeeAnn Guo, rear row sixth from left. Photo credit: Michael Bluegrass, president of Westchester Science and Engineering Fair.