Oak Ridge Today

ORHS student wins first place at Tennessee Junior Science & Humanities Symposium

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Oak Ridge High School student Daniel Joy won first place at the Tennessee Junior Science and Humanities Symposium Poster Presentation Competition held virtually in March, the school system said in a press release.

The competition was March 4-5. Daniel, son of Ingrid Busch and Ken Joy, presented his poster, “Using Data Science to Explore Historical Trends and Predict Future Rates of COVID-19”. His research involved analyzing COVID-19 case rates around holidays using regression analysis. Dan worked with Chad Steed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory through the Math Thesis course at Oak Ridge High School, the press release said.

Jessica Williams, co-teacher of Math Thesis at ORHS, said: “We’re thrilled that (the University of Tennessee in Knoxville) was able to provide this opportunity to students this year. TJSHS is a unique opportunity for high school students to present their scientific research in a professional setting. We appreciate the support from our administration and the community to provide this course to our students.”

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Oak Ridge students compete in Southern Appalachian Science, Engineering Fair

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Ryan Armstrong earned second place for his project titled “Quantifying the Evolution of Gas from Li-ion Battery Materials” under the mentorship of Gabriel Veith of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $750 scholarship and trophy, Ryan will travel to Los Angeles, California in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair. (Submitted photo)

Ryan Armstrong earned second place for his project titled “Quantifying the Evolution of Gas from Li-ion Battery Materials” under the mentorship of Gabriel Veith of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $750 scholarship and trophy, Ryan will travel to Los Angeles, California, in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair. (Submitted photo)

 

Seven research students from Oak Ridge High School competed in the 66th Annual Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair hosted at the University of Tennessee. The competition was held March 27-30 with the awards ceremony on Thursday evening. There were 55 Senior Division projects in competition, a press release said.

Five of the students were part of the Math, Science, and Computer Science Thesis course at ORHS that is advised by Tammy Carneim and Jessica Williams. The remaining two did their research independently with the help of teachers Deni Sobek and Sharon Thomas.

Ryan Armstrong earned second place for his project titled “Quantifying the Evolution of Gas from Li-ion Battery Materials” under the mentorship of Gabriel Veith of Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $750 scholarship and trophy, Armstrong will travel to Los Angeles, California, in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

Jasleen Narula earned fourth place and $100 for her project titled “Rapid High-Throughput Toxicity Screening of East Tennessee Water Samples Using Autobioluminescent Yeast Assay” under the mentorship of Steven Ripp. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge students experience success at Southern Appalachian Science, Engineering Fair

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Gabe Vacliuc with Poster and Trophy

Oak Ridge High School student Gabe Vacaliuc earned first place for his project titled “dQCuts: Simplifying Molecular Dynamics Datasets Using Higher Order Statistical Signatures” under the mentorship of Arvind Ramanathan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Vacaliuc is pictured above with his poster and trophy at the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair at the University of Tennessee earlier this month. (Submitted photo)

 

Seventeen research students from Oak Ridge High School competed in the 64th Annual Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair hosted at the University of Tennessee. The competition was held April 4-7 with the awards ceremony on Thursday evening. There were 52 Senior Division projects in competition.

All 17 students are a part of either the Experimental Scientific Research, or ESR, course or Math, Science, and Computer Science Thesis course at ORHS. The ESR course is led by Sharon Thomas and Thesis is led by Tammy Carneim and Jessica Williams.

Gabe Vacaliuc earned first place for his project titled “dQCuts: Simplifying Molecular Dynamics Datasets Using Higher Order Statistical Signatures” under the mentorship of Arvind Ramanathan at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Along with a $1,000 scholarship and trophy, Vacaliuc will travel to Phoenix, Arizona, in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair.

“SASEF was a great experience because I was able to get substantial feedback in a professional setting,” Vacaliuc said. “I’m so grateful to SASEF for the opportunity to represent my school at ISEF in May.” [Read more…]

Colburn, an ORHS senior, named finalist in Intel science competition

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Thomas Colburn

Thomas Colburn

Thomas Colburn, a senior at Oak Ridge High School, has been named a finalist in an Intel science competition after a two-year project conducted with help from an Oak Ridge National Laboratory mentor. Colburn is one of only 40 U.S. high school seniors to be chosen as a finalist and the only one from Tennessee.

He’s also the first finalist from ORHS in the competition, the Intel Science Talent Search, which is described as the nation’s oldest and most prestigious pre-college science and math competition.

Colburn’s two-year project is titled “Enhanced Decomposition of Plastic Waste through Photocatalysis.” It was mentored by Todd Toops from the Fuels, Engines, and Emissions Research Center at ORNL.

The 40 finalists receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., from March 10-16 to compete for more than $1 million in awards provided by the Intel Foundation, including three first-place Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 each that will be presented to students who show exceptional scientific potential in three areas: basic research, global good, and innovation, a press release said. [Read more…]