International success

As part of their participation in the renowned Ossining High School Science Research Program, OHS seniors attended the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held last week. The global event was the culmination of three years of hard work on an independent research project.

By the end of the event, three of the four scholars in attendance had earned top prizes.

Katelyn Wasilenko placed 2nd in the Biomedical and Health Sciences category. She presented her research project, “Pediatric BMSC Exosome Treatment Requires Interaction with Bone Tissue Defect Environment to Improve Bone Repair.” She was awarded a $2,000 prize.

Ritika Brahmadesam earned 3rd place in the Systems of Software category. She presented her research project, “An Active Fairness Algorithm for Estimating Socioeconomic Status from Household Surveys and Satellite Images” and was awarded a $1,000 prize.

Finally, Aaron Strong finished in 4th place in the Plant Sciences category for his research project, “Elucidating Terrestrial Optical Refrigeration Through Transpiring in Rhizophora mangle and Chlorophyll a Fluorescence in Low-Polarity Mediums.” He received a $500 prize.

Although he did not place, Orlando Osgood, who will be attending Wesleyan University in the fall, presented his project at ISEF, “Analyzing the Distribution of Excessive Noise Exposure and the Risk of Tinnitus Onset in Opera, Orchestra and High School Musicians.”

“These students have made our entire town, county, state and country proud – placing among the top in the entire world in their respective fields,” said Superintendent of Schools Ray Sanchez. “No other school in Westchester County has placed three students as high in the rankings as Ossining has. These young people have dedicated hundreds of hours to their work for years and they deserve our praise and admiration.”

ISEF is the world’s largest global science high school competition. This year the event involved 1,750 students from 63 different countries and was held in Atlanta, Ga. On May 6-13, 2022.

The OHS program began in 1998 and has since grown to include more than 100 students. Scholars enrolled in the program can earn up to 12 college credits through the University of Albany. The program is directed by OHS science teachers Angelo Piccirillo and Valerie Holmes.

Mr. Piccirillo has accompanied several groups to ISEF over the years and remains impressed with not only the work his students do, but recently the resiliency they showed managing their projects through a pandemic.

“The pride and the satisfaction of seeing them, you can’t explain,” Mr. Piccirillo of the students. “Even if none had been recognized, it’s so worth it when you have kids interacting with Nobel Prize winners. You are meeting with kids from all over the world, how can that not be worthwhile?”

“Where we set our expectations for student learners we can’t limit them,” Ms. Holmes said of those in the program. “It’s not about getting 100 on the test, it’s about engaging in authentic science, doing research, sometimes it works out, sometimes you do an experiment for three weeks and it doesn’t work out but that is what real science is.”

Prior to attending ISEF, scholars first had to place in the top spots at the Westchester Engineering and Science Fair, which Orlando, Aaron and Katelyn did. Ritika was a top winner at the New York State Science and Engineering Fair, which enabled her to also attend ISEF.

“It was sort of advertised as the ‘pinnacle of STEM’ at a high school level,” Aaron said of the Science Research Program. “If you have those sorts of interests and you want to pursue them, it allows you to develop the skillset to do it. I found you get so much more than just how to conduct research and how to present — it provides so many essential life skills like how to talk to people and how to establish connections.” Aaron will be attending Cornell University in the Fall.

Ritika said the program helped her find her passion.

“That is the beauty of this program,” she said. “With Science Research I started to find this new passion. I really like to code. Through this project you find so many amazing friends who you can spend hours with, while also discovering what you truly want to do.”

Katelyn said being involved enabled her to see firsthand what a unique opportunity the program is for OHS scholars.

“There is no class in this school, or many other schools for that matter, that is anywhere near the level that our Science Research Program achieves,” she said. “The culmination of your project is a paper that is in parallel with some of the same people being published who have PhDs and master’s degrees, who have gone through multiple levels of intense schooling on this topic.”

“No other class has challenged me not only in its time requirement but also in the sense that I’m learning so deeply about a topic I care about,” she continued. “You gain real-world experience a lot faster than you would in a typical high school educational setting.”

Each scholar developed their specific project based on a personal interest. For Orlando, who is musically inclined, he wanted to research the impact of loud noise on young musicians, something he initially did not think would be considered an appropriate topic as it was not “scientific” enough.

“There was a huge opening for the research,” he said, explaining other topics he investigated had already been explored. “In doing the research and refining my topic, I found that this is something that really matters to me and I’m passionate about.”

Because of the interest he had in the topic and the relevance to his own life, Orlando found it easier and felt more confident when it came time to present it to the judges. The entire experience not only instructed him on how to conduct research, but when the pandemic caused labs to shut down, he realized just how resilient he is, prompting him to find a way to persevere.

“I felt like I was doing something cool,” Aaron said. “I’m in high school doing graduate level research. I was really into sustainability. I created a two-part project, one with plants and the second half I did at a lab with a mentor.”

Ritika, who will be attending RPI in the fall, initially thought her focus would be in mathematics and that computer science was out of her league because of her limited experience with coding. But she proved herself wrong.

“Computer science is very connected to mathematics,” she said.

Katelyn, who will be attending SUNY Binghamton, also saw her project change. At first, she was ready to research blood clotting and hemorrhage control, but soon she narrowed it down to bone healing.

They all agreed having an opportunity to present at ISEF was an honor and not something to be taken lightly.

“At this point ISEF is a celebration of you and all you’ve done,” Ritika said.

“In terms of qualifying for WSEF or ISEF, I was the last person I would expect to place,” Katelyn said. “I was going to get an honorable mention. To be placed in the top three percent was a shock to me.”

Katelyn assured that while writing a 20-page paper is daunting, the program is structured so participants have time to pursue other interests, for her it was running track and her job.

“You still have time to work and do other passions in your life,” she said

“Do it,” Ritika said to encourage underclassmen to join the Science Research Program. “Just apply because you will have the opportunity to form all of these amazing life-long connections, and you will all help each other throughout the entire process.