2009

On Thursday, Eliza won the top two Life Science prizes–the First Place Pfizer Trophy and the Connecticut Academy of Sciences Award for Research Excellence–at the 2009 Connecticut Science Fair (CFS).

In addition to his success at CSF, Michael was recently accepted at Harvard–and won the Gold Medal in Fencing during the Junior Olympics in Albuquerque, NM.

Joining Eliza and Michael at the INTEL Fair will be yet another of Andrew Bramante’s GHS Honor Science Research students, William Newberry, a GHS junior who finished Second overall in Physical Science.

The INTEL Fair, or ISEF as it is known in science and engineering circles, is the Holy Grail for serious high school science students. For Eliza, it will be her second trip to ISEF. Last year she won a Grand Award in Environmental Management at ISEF in Atlanta, GA, after qualifying by placing second overall in Life Sciences at the CSF.

2009 Connecticut Science Fair at Quinnipiac University during final project judging (photo: Frank LaBanca).

Eliza and her friend Charlie Greene also produced an eight-minute documentary on the potential consequences–i.e. food shortages and political instability–of CDD. The film won First Place in this year’s C-SPAN “Studentcam” Documentary Contest. (Learn more here.)

For Andy Bramante, it was his third consecutive year mentoring students who reached ISEF. But this year’s showing–three out of the top four Connecticut Science Fair winners–almost certainly sets a new record of excellence for a Connecticut secondary-school science teacher.

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UPDATE, MARCH 17:

GHS student Eliana Carmona was awarded the top prize at the “greater Danbury” regional Science Horizons Fair. Since Connecticut’s ISEF contingent consists of the four overall CSF winners, plus the overall Science Horizon winner, Andrew Bramante’s students will fill an unprecedented four out the state’s alloted five slots at ISEF. An amazing feat!

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What are the odds of winning the CSF? Each year about 10,000 students compete in local competitions, of which 500 qualify for CSF. Based on their abstracts and posters, these are narrowed down to 150 CSF Finalists from which four overall winners (1st and 2nd place in Life Science and Physical Science) are selected.

Eliza and Michael Tom, overall winners of the 2009 Connecticut Science Fair

for Life Science (Eliza) and Physical Science (Michael)

Top Winners Announced at 61st Annual Connecticut Science Fair 

HAMDEN, Conn., March 12, 2009 – Nearly 150 finalists competed today for top honors

at the 61st Annual Connecticut Science Fair for middle and senior high school students

held at Quinnipiac University.

The top two finalists from each category selected today in the grade 9-12 Pfizer Life

Sciences and Dominion Physical Sciences categories (indicated by ***) won all-expense-

paid trips to represent Connecticut at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair

being held in Reno, Nevada, in May.  They were:

Grade 9 to 12 Pfizer Life Sciences

*** First Place:  Eliza McNitt, a senior at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, is the top winner of

the fair’s Life Sciences category.  As part of her project, called Shedding Light on Imidacloprid’s Role in

Colony Collapse Disorder, she sought analytical evidence that Imidacloprid, a pesticide that replaced

Diazanon in 2006, plays a role in Colony Collapse Disorder, by tracing the migration of it in the pollination

path of the honeybee.  This research could provide answers to the poorly understood phenomenon called

Colony Collapse Disorder that has caused beehives around the world to lose their workers at an alarming

rate.  This research holds promise given that honeybee pollination is responsible for one in every three bites

of food we eat and it is estimated to account for more than $14 billion in U.S. agriculture business.   

 

*** Second Place: Amoolya Narayanan, a sophomore at Glastonbury High School in Glastonbury,

placed second in the fair’s Life Sciences category.  In a project, called Anti-biofilm Effect of Trans-

Cinnamaldehyde on Uropathogenic Eschrichia coli, Narayanan investigated the efficacy of trans-

cinnamaldehyde, an ingredient in cinnamon oil, for preventing chronic urinary tract infections.  

Grade 9 to 12 Dominion Physical Sciences

*** First Place:  Michael D. Tom, a senior at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, is the top winner

of the fair’s Physical Sciences category.  In his project, called The Creation of an Elastic Integrated Circuit

for Applications in Medicine, Tom designed a tensiometer to measure tissue tension, based on a novel

multi-walled carbon nanotube elastomer.  This technology could be used to measure bladder wall tension in

neurogenic bladder patients, whose ability to sense bladder fullness is impaired by disease. 

 

*** Second Place:  William C. Newberry, a junior at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, won

second place in the fair’s Physical Sciences category.  For his project, called Laser-Induced Microfluidic

Motion of a Liquid-Liquid Interface, he investigated the ability of a colloid particle to move from a

miscible liquid through a soft interface into a liquid of limited/no miscibility at subcritical temperatures. 

The ability to mechanically move picoliter quantities of a fluid may allow scientists to more easily create an

artificial pseudocell as well as introduce nanodoses of medicine or genetic information into a cell. 

Andy Bramante and his three INTEL-bound Honors Science Research students: Michael Tom, William Newberry and Eliza. In Sept., Michael will be attending Harvard, Eliza will be at NYU’s Tisch School of Film and Television Production and William will be returning to GHS for his senior year.

With Sandy Muller, human dynamo and Connecticut Science Fair president.

Receiving the Connecticut Academy of Science/Gerber Scientific 2009 Award for Research Excellence in Life Science. The Academy-sponsored youth science exhibit at the Peabody Museum and annual dinner at the New Haven Lawn Club was one of the highlights of last year’s science competitions.

GHS students dominate science fair

By Debra Friedman

STAFF WRITER

Posted: 03/18/2009 03:07:41 AM EDT

From designing a meter able to measure tissue tension to tracing the migration of pesticide through the path of a honeybee, several award-winning science projects have earned four Greenwich High School students a trip to a prestigious international science competition this May.

The school took home 18 awards at the 2009 Connecticut Science Fair, including first place in the life and physical science categories. While the victory was sweet for all involved, it was particularly meaningful for three seniors and one junior who will now be participating in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, Nev.

The projects were submitted by students enrolled in an honors independent science research course.

"It was a Greenwich day," said science research teacher Andrew Bramante, who teaches the course and supervised the students at the science fair held at Quinnipiac University last week.

Fair contingent: Andy Bramante with CFS Finalists from his Honors Science Research course at GHS

"It's a really big year. I kind of knew we would do well, but I never knew to this extent."

Describing themselves as a "research family" who have grown close through the year-long class, the students discussed their projects, their passion for science and the exhilaration of winning.

"When they announced the winner, I couldn't even believe I won. It was overwhelming," said Eliza McNitt, 17, a senior whose project explored how a certain pesticide affects a disorder that destroys honeybees ability to pollinate. McNitt, who will be attending New York University to study acting [actually it’s not acting, but film and television production], won first place in the life sciences category, earning her a paid trip and $500 to compete in the Intel competition in May.

Below: Connecticut Audubon Special Award

Three of her peers received the same honor, including Michael Tom, William Newberry and Eliana Carmona. Tom and Newberry took home first place and second place in the physical sciences category respectively. Carmona won a first place award in a separate special category, earning her a trip. Carmona's project researches how insulin can be absorbed into the skin without a needle.

Several other students took home awards including Sarah Yee, who won third place in the life sciences category and David Finklestein and Stephen Rubino who won first place in the life sciences team category. Laurence Pevsner, 16, also took home several awards in applied technology and sustained resource categories.

Tom said he is planning to apply for a patent of his "tensiometer," which measures tissue tension and could be used to measure bladder wall tension in patients who are unable to sense bladder fullness due to impairment from a neurogenic disease.

"It felt really good to win. I worked hard on this project and I wanted to do well," said Tom, 16, who will be attending Harvard University next fall.

Newberry said he chose to work with lasers for his project in order to build on an idea a former student had. "My project was to use a laser to induce moisture of a particle through a liquid interface," said Newberry, a junior. "I was thrilled to have my research come together the way it did."

Students said their independent study class was challenging but a lot of fun at the same time. "I loved it. It really gives you the options to do some new things," said Yee, who credited her teacher's dedication to their class success.

Bramante said his students are graded through presentations of their projects and the work they put in through the year. While it is not a requirement, he encourages students to enter science fairs to have their research noticed. "They really get into it and it's very fulfilling," said Bramante.

GHS students and Intel Science Fair Competitors, bottom row, left to right, Eliza McNitt, Laurence Pevsner, Sarah Yee, Eliana Carmona. Top row, left to right, Stephen Rubino, David Finkelstein, science teacher Andrew Bramante, Michael Tom and William Newberry. (Bob Luckey/Greenwich Time Staff photo)

Click here for “Eliza’s Adventures in Science” 2008, including the Intel International Science Fair