Ossining Win 54 Awards at Westchester Science & Engineering Fair

Ossining High School students showed off their immense talent in the sciences by winning 54 awards at last weekend’s Regeneron Westchester Science & Engineering Fair. They include five first-place awards, 11 for second place, seven for third place, five for fourth place, and 26 special awards.

More than 570 students representing 44 high schools in Westchester and Putnam counties participated in the competition, which took place Saturday at Sleepy Hollow High School. The caliber of students’ work was exceptional and rivals that of professional scientists, according to the event organizers.

“The students of the Ossining Science Research Program again showed they are among the best in New York,” said Valerie Holmes, who co-teaches the program with Angelo Piccirillo.

Five Ossining students were grand-prize winners at WESEF. The team of Julia and Sabrina Piccirillo-Stosser and Kiara Taveras, as well as Madiha Zia, received all-expenses-paid trips to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh May 13-18. More than 1,800 students from over 75 countries will compete for $4 million in prizes at the competition, which is known as the Super Bowl of Science Fairs. The top 12 individuals and three teams from WESEF will advance to Intel ISEF.

OHS junior Magdalene Ford is the fifth OHS grand-prize winner at WESEF. She will advance to the Genius Olympiad June 11-16at the State University of New York at Oswego, where she will compete against students from more than 70 countries. She will receive an all-expenses paid trip to the Olympiad.

“Congratulations to all students who participated in the event and good luck to those students who are moving on to represent Ossining High School at international events,” Mr. Piccirillo said.

This is a list of all the Ossining award winners at WESEF:

First place:

• Catherine Kamp (environmental science)
• Jared Fel (neuroscience)
• Skyler Jones (chemistry)
• Batebe “Caroline” Mugambwa (cell and molecular biology)
• Julia Piccirillo-Stosser, Sabrina Piccirillo-Stosser and Kiara Taveras (animal science).

Second place:

• Paula Espinoza (animal science)
• Dylan Spedalieri (behavioral science)
• Mackenzie Boatman (behavioral science)
• Madiha Zia (biochemistry)
• Magdalene Ford (biochemistry)
• Emma Montgomery (cell and molecular biology)
• Brian Dockery (chemistry)
• Eric Schmid (computer science)
• Chinmai Deo (medicine and health)
• Sofia Japal (medicine and health)
• Keven Victoria (neuroscience).

Third place:

• Kellen Cooks (behavioral science)
• Nina Foster (behavioral science)
• Melanie Lattin (behavioral science)
• Sara Hoffman (biochemistry)
• John “Jack” Kaitz (cell and molecular biology)
• Nick Tremaroli (environmental science)
• Olivia Lenaghan (medicine and helath).

Fourth place:

• Pedro Montes De Oca II (animal science)
• Grace Bradshaw (behavioral science)
• Dhara Patel (cell and molecular biology)
• Emma San Martin (computational bioinformatics)
• Romina Gamarra (environmental science).

Special awards not mentioned above:

• Maxwell Calman, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Award
• Victoria Conzone, Behavioral Science Achievement Award
• Jared Fel, George Yancopoulos Young Science Award
• Romina Gamarra, Ricoh America's Sustainable Development Award
• Skyler Jones, ASU Walter Sustainability Solutions Initiative
• Catherine Kamp, Stockholm Junior Water Prize, Environmental Perspiration Award
• Pedro Montes De Oca Jr., American Meteorological Society Award
• Elliot Ocheltree, Stockholm Junior Water Prize
• Vishnu and Srinidhi Polkampally, Leason Ellis Team Project Award
• Patrick Saint Ange, Greg Horrace Creative Approach to Research Award
• Eric Schmid, Intel Excellence in Computer Science
• Nick Tremaroli, Intel Excellence in Computer Science
• Tyler Shaw, Teatown Young Conservationist Award
• Dylan Spedalieri, NASA Earth System Science Award
• Anne Stein, Association for Women Geoscientists Award, Environmental Perspiration Award
• Jacqueline Mundadan, Excellence in Medical Research Award.