Dobbs Ferry High School Senior Named Finalist in 2016 Siemens Science Competition

From the Dobbs Ferry School District:

Dobbs Ferry High School senior Blake Hord has been
named a regional finalist in the 2016 Siemens Competition, the nation’s premier research
competition in math, science and technology for high school students. More than 1,600 projects
were submitted this year with 498 being selected as semifinalists. Of those, 96 were named regional
finalists. Hord was one of Westchester’s six semifinalists, and subsequently the only finalist in
Westchester.
The finalists have been invited to advance to the next round of the competition where they will vie
for college scholarships ranging from $1,000 up to $100,000. Regional finalists will compete in one
of six regional competitions, virtually hosted by select colleges across the country, over three
consecutive weekends in November. Winners will advance to the final phase of the competition, the
National Finals at The George Washington University in Washington D.C, on December 5-6.
Hord’s research focused on spiral features that Scientists have observed around nearby stars. It is
thought that these features may be caused by the early formation of planets generating a wake in the
dust surrounding the stars, much like a motorboat doing donuts in the water would form spiral
waves. To test this theory, he developed a pipeline between a code that simulated a high-mass planet
and another code that replicated the sources of heat around the star. The results demonstrated a
match with patterns around different stars, suggesting that that those spirals may indeed be created
by planets forming in those regions. His research is entitled “High Mass Planet Spiral Shocks as a
Source of Infrared Emission in Protoplanetary Disks.”
Hord is an IB Diploma candidate and member of the National Honor Society and French Honor
Society. He was recently named a National Merit Semifinalist. He is active in the High School’s
Wilderness Club and has earned the Eagle Scout designation, the Boy Scout’s highest award. Hord is
also a member of the school’s Legislative Branch of Student Government and is in the Boys
Volleyball Club. He has been involved in the Destination ImagiNation program since 4th grade and
his team made it to the Global Finals multiple times. Hord has been in the science research program
since sophomore year and is thinking about majoring in physics or computer science in college.
“Blake is one of the most unassuming and hardest working students I have in the program,” said
Dobbs Ferry High School Science Research Program Coordinator Erica Curran. “He truly enjoyed
researching and exploring his topic and this is an amazing acknowledgement of his achievement.
Congratulations to Blake on this outstanding accomplishment.”
Becoming a Siemens finalist is a first for Dobbs Ferry High School’s Science Research Program,
which continues to grow and garner awards. Former Dobbs Ferry student Yiorgos Argyros was
named a semifinalist in the 2014 Siemens Competition teaming up with Mamaroneck High School
senior Emily McCarthy to study the effect that a specific gene has on a person’s susceptibility to
epilepsy and seizures. This collaboration was a first for the two Westchester schools, which each
have their own award-winning science research programs.
The Siemens Competition, launched in 1999 by the Siemens Foundation, seeks to recognize and
build a strong pipeline for the nation’s most promising scientists, engineers and mathematicians. The
Siemens Competition honors the best and brightest students for their STEM accomplishments–
students who are changing the world for the better.
A complete list of finalists and their projects will be available at www.siemens-foundation.org
preceding each regional event held in November.