Three Yorktown High Seniors Win Acorda Science Awards

Three local Yorktown High School students recently won the Acorda Scientific Excellence Award in recognition of their independent research projects.

The three are seniors in their third year of the Science Research program at Yorktown HS. “They are all great students!” said teacher Michael Blueglass, head of the program.

• Inspired by stories of his aunt’s struggles with epilepsy, Drew Amini researched a device that could predict seizures. While EEGs are currently used to diagnose seizures, they require a large number, are only available in-hospital, and cannot predict the seizures in advance. Drew’s research suggests it may be possible for a single EEG sensor, implanted just beneath the scalp, may be sufficient to predict seizure onset and severity. Drew created a smartphone app that could warn people with epilepsy of these impending seizures, which would enable them to take a safe position or administer situation-specific treatment.
• Pradeepa Krish researched incentives and management styles in small companies vs large corporations. She found that differences in gender (women find flexible hours a greater incentive than men) and ethnicity (minorities found non-financial benefits more incentivizing than did Caucasians), and somewhat surprisingly found that managers at smaller companies tend to be more authoritarian and micromanaging than managers at large corporations.
• Cayla Hamann researched CZTS, a cheaper alternative to traditional solar energy. Cayla’s research looked at why there is a wide range of efficiency among CZTS cells, and found that an uneven distribution of a chemical within the cells is to blame. This is important because if the efficiency of the cells can be better controlled and understood, CZTS could represent a cheaper alternative to traditional solar.

The Acorda Scientific Excellence Award was created to encourage young people to pursue careers in STEM. Each winner is interviewed on the Lisa Wexler Radio Show as part of their award.

Ardsley-based Acorda Therapeutics works to develop therapies that could restore neurological function and improve the lives of people with neurological disorders.

PHOTOS: Krish and Amini/contributed

Editor’s Note: Teacher Michael Blueglass’s name was misspelled in the original version of this report. Patch regrets the error.