Congratulations to all WESEF 2012 participants!

The Westchester Science & Engineering Fair was held on Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at Sleepy Hollow High School.  In total, a record number of 330 student presenters showcased their research achievements in this highly competitive high school science competition.  Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, WESEF was able to award over 150 category awards for projects placing 1^st – 4^th in their cateogies as well as an additional 120 special awards prizes. 

•  A complete list of category awards (1^st – 4^th) is available as a PDF download here.
• A complete list of special awards is available as a PDF download here.
• Photos from the event will be posted shortly, so be sure to check back soon for some of the highlights of the day.

Thanks to a generous donation from Progenics Pharmaceuticals, the primary sponsor of the Westchester Science & Engineering Fair, the top 9 individual projects and top 4 team projects earned an all expenses paid trip to compete in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair held this year in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania!  Those student winners are:

Category	School	Name of winner(s)
Behavior	Ossining	Catie Conte & Adam Illowsky
Animal Science	Ossining	Pamela Brigleb & Amanda Bernstein
Medicine & Health	Yorktown	Frank Cao & Lily Cao
Biochemistry	Briarcliff	Jenny Yang & Jessica Li
Plant Science	Ossining	Amelia Clements
Behavior	Ossining	Katharine Mangialardi
Cell Biology	Fox Lane	Matthew Bruck
Biochemistry	Yorktown	Priya Mohindra
Behavior	Yorktown	Laura Anderson
Biochemistry	Ossining	Maite Antola
Engineering	Somers	Bayley Meichner
Medicine & Health	Hastings	Hannah Street
Behavior	Yorktown	Kathleen Mavrommatis

Additionally, a second major award, sponsored by Entergy, supports the three top student projects in Environmental Science and/or engineering to attend the ISWEEEP competition held in Houston, Texas later this year.  The winners of this competition were:

Category	School	Name of Winner(s)
Environment	Briarcliff	Steven Kalayam
Environment	Yorktown	Miwa Wenzel
Environment	Sleepy Hollow	Christian Zhinin & Alex Mendonca

Congratulations to all student presenters. The enthusiasm, passion for science and quality of research you presented was applauded by the judges and serves as an inspiration for all.  Thanks for your participation and we look forward to seeing you next year at WESEF 2013!

PREPARING FOR THE DAY OF THE FAIR

WESEF will be held SATURDAY, March 10th, 2012 at Sleepy Hollow High School in Sleepy Hollow New York. 

Directions are available on the Sleepy Hollow High School webpage and via the this link: DIRECTIONS TO WESEF 2011 at Sleepy Hollow High School

JUDGES:
If you need any further information as the day of the fair approaches, please contact Mrs. Janet Longo-Abinanti at wesefjudges@gmail.com. 

Judge Registration/ Complimentary Light Breakfast          8:00 - 8:15am
Initial Screening of Posters                                                8:15 - 8:45am
Judge Briefing                                                                   9:00 - 9:30am
Judging Sessions                                                               10:00 - 2:00pm
Complimentary Lunch                                                       2:00 -3:00pm

STUDENTS & TEACHERS:

Board/ Drop Off:  **MANDATORY** ALL students must drop off their complete boards and any supporting materials on Friday, March 9th, 2012 between 4:30pm and 8:00pm. This includes the Official Abstracts (standing upright on the table), data books and or anything else you would like displayed in your booth. You may have someone else (parent, teacher, friend) drop off and set up your board for you, in the event that you cannot be there to do it yourself.

You will check in by the Gym in the High School. Posters are inspected for possible violations (no names/ graphic images) and then you will be instructed where to set up your board. No additional materials can be brought into the judging floor during the fair. 

Come prepared to work. Bring any tools that you might need to set up your poster... tacks, tape, hammer, etc.... The drop off process usually takes 30min to an hour depending on the nature of what you have to set up. Parents are welcome to help their son/daughter with this part.

Schedule for the Day of the Fair:

1.      9:00am - Doors open for Student Registration.  Please plan to arrive 15-20 minutes early.****  All students must be registered by 9:30 on Saturday.  Failure to do so will result in not being allowed to participate in the fair****     Students must report directly to their boards and remain at their boards during the entire judging period (there are opporunities for brief bathroom breaks). Parking is limited, please plan on carpooling if at all possible. Unfortunately parents, siblings or student observers are NOT PERMITTED until the public viewing session in the afternoon. 

2.      10:00am - 3:00pm - Judging Sessions.
 Students will each be judged a minimum of 6 times and each judging session is 12 minutes long.  Students will be permitted to present their research for 7 minutes uninterrupted, the remaining 5 minutes are intended for judges' questions.  Between sessions, there will be a 5 minute passing time to allow judges time to locate their next project. 

3.      LUNCH - will be provided.  
Between judging sessions, students will be called to pick up their lunches.  Vending machines are also available.  Water will be provided, but it is STRONGLY recommended that you bring an extra bottle of water.  Teachers must indicate ahead of time which students require vegetarian lunches, please contact Angelo Piccirillo directly with this info by March 1st, 2012.

4.      3:00 - 4:00pm - Public Viewing Session. 
Students MUST remain at their posters during this time.  It is an excellent photo opportunity for family.  Friends and family are encouraged to attend during this time! 

5.      4:00pm - 4:30pm - Posterboard Takedown.
 Students must remove all posterboards and any other materials during this time. Your poster and all materials must be removed from the gym but you may be able to leave your poster in the lobby of the school near the doors until after the awards ceremony if you are not able to remove it from Sleepy Hollow HS until after the awards ceremony. Any materials that are left at Sleepy Hollow HS overnight will be disposed of.

6.      4:30 - 6:45pm - Treat yourself to dinner . There are numerous restaurants in the area that you can visit to eat out or place a take-out order.  WESEF does not cover dinner.

7.      7:00 - 9:00pm - WESEF Awards Ceremony in the Sleepy Hollow HS Auditorium.
 Parents, siblings, and community members are invited to join us.  While the awards ceremony is fun and suspense filled, featuring a giveaway session and many exciting awards, students do not have to be at the awards ceremony in order to receive their awards. A complete list of the awards for WESEF 2012 are available here.

8.      9:00 - 9:30pm - FINALIST meeting.  
Students selected to represent WESEF at the International Science & Engineering Fair as well as ISWEEEP Finalists will be required to attend a short informational session regarding preparation items for the week in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania or Houston, TX respectively.

Additional essential information/ rules for WESEF 2012:

1. Please remember that all posterboards and official WESEF abstracts MUST be dropped off at Sleepy Hollow High School on FRIDAY, MARCH 9th between 4pm and 8pm.
   
   
2. Familiarize yourself with the rubrics that will be used by the judges

• • WESEF MAIN RUBRIC
  • WESEF ENGINEERING RUBRIC
  • WESEF TEAM PROJECTS RUBRIC

3. Please review the rules for project display at the fair:

General Rules for Project Displays:
Not Allowed for Display at Project or in Booth:

1. Living organisms, including plants
2. Taxidermy specimens or parts
3. Preserved vertebrate or invertebrate animals
4. Human or animal food
5. Human/animal parts or body fluids (for example,
blood, urine)
6. Plant materials (living, dead, or preserved) that are in
their raw, unprocessed, or non-manufactured state
(Exception: manufactured construction materials used
in building the project or display)
7. All chemicals including water (Exceptions: water
integral to an enclosed apparatus or water supplied by
the Display and Safety Committee)
8. All hazardous substances or devices [for example,
poisons, drugs, firearms, weapons, ammunition,
reloading devices, and lasers (as indicated in item 5 in
the section of these rules entitled “Allowed at Project
or in Booth BUT with the Restrictions Indicated”)]
9. Dry ice or other sublimating solids
10. Sharp items (for example, syringes, needles, pipettes,
knives)
11. Flames or highly flammable materials
12. Batteries with open-top cells
13. Photographs or other visual presentations depicting
vertebrate animals in surgical techniques, dissections,
necropsies, or other lab procedures
14. Active Internet or e-mail connections as part of
displaying or operating the project at the Intel ISEF
15. Prior years’ written material or visual depictions on
the vertical display board. [Exception: the project title
displayed in the Finalist’s booth may mention years or
which year the project is (for example, “Year Two of
an Ongoing Study”)]. Continuation projects must have
the Continuation Project Form (7) vertically displayed.
16. Glass or glass objects unless deemed by the Display
and Safety Committee to be an integral and necessary
part of the project (Exception: glass that is an integral
part of a commercial product such as a computer
screen)

For more information about rules/ specifications see the official Intel ISEF Display and Safety Regulations

If you have a specific question regarding your project please contact the WESEF SRC Angelo Piccirillo.

WESEF 2012 to be held Saturday March 10th - save the date!

We hope that your school year is off to a great start and that you are already busy with your current research projects;  WESEF online registration is now open and accepting applicants for the WESEF 2012 fair. To register student projects, teachers must input student information at www.wesefreg.org.  Please read the directions very carefully!  Here are some key points to remember when registering for your students:

*** Only teachers can set a school account and register students (deadline Nov. 21^st 2011).
*** All schools must register online, no paper registration materials will be accepted.
*** All schools must print final submission of online registration; send hard copy to:

             Angelo Piccirillo; WESEF  SRC  Chair
              Ossining High School
              29 South Highland Avenue
              Ossining, NY 10562
 
***Following the online registration, the following materials must be postmarked to Angelo Piccirillo (address above) by November 29^th, 2011:  School registrations must include the following materials for each student project included in your school's entry: Please submit forms for only those students you firmly believe will be ready to present at WESEF 2012.

• Printed School Registration Form (generated from your online registration account) listing all student projects from your school that will be participating in WESEF 2012

• Forms 1,1A, 1B and detailed research plan typed with all required signatures. Make sure all signature dates are prior to beginning of research as reported in form 1A.

• A check(s) made out to WESEF; $25 dollars per student (Team projects must submit $25 per student)

• Research plan in future tense and make sure that you identify mentor role versus student role when possible (I.e.- mentor did liver extraction and provided hepatic tissue to student)

Teachers will be contacted with revisions/ additional forms required for each project. However it is important to note that it is vital that each student/teacher/mentor pro-actively seek to determine the necessary forms to qualify for WESEF 2012. These additional forms and the RESEARCH PAPER must be submitted By February 2^nd, 2012.  Late materials will not be accepted and will result in disqualification of student projects.



WESEF 2012 will be held on Saturday, March 10th, 2012!

The Westchester Science & Engineering Fair will be held this year on Saturday, March 10th, 2012 at Sleepy Hollow High School. 

We encourage all students interested in participating in the 2012 Westchester Science & Engineering Fair to speak with their school science research teacher for registration info.  Only teachers are able to registration students for the fair.

Teachers!  The WESEF registration forms will be provided shortly, meanwhile all students will need to provide forms 1, 1A with a research plan, and 1B. These forms are required for ALL PROJECTS.  Please ensure that information is TYPED into the form fields, handwritten student forms will not be accepted.  Also, please check that the research plan is written in future tense. 

WESEF Finalists Win Top Awards at Intel ISEF in Los Angeles, CA

THE STUDENT-RESEARCHER FINALISTS FROM THE 
11^TH ANNUAL PROGENICS - REGENERON – ACORDA: WESTCHESTER/PUTNAM SCIENCE & ENGINEERING FAIR
COMPETE AND WIN TOP AWARDS AT THE INTEL INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAIR

THE TOP 1,500 STUDENTS FROM OVER 50 COUNTRIES

On Saturday, March 13, 2010 in the Sleepy Hollow High School Gymnasium over 250 students from 30 area high schools in Westchester and Putnam Counties gathered to present their extensive research projects at the 10th annual Progenics - Regeneron – Acorda Westchester Science and Engineering Fair.  Students showcased their accomplishments in a competitive venue featuring individual and team poster/interview style presentations and were judged by local experts in the fields of science, math, environmental studies, psychology and engineering. 

Thanks to generous donations by Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Acorda Therapeutics, the top 8 individual projects and 4 team projects from WESEF, won an all expense paid trip to compete in Los Angeles, California at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the “superbowl” of science fairs, (http://www.societyforscience.org/isef).  This is the larger and more global of the two Intel sponsored events (the other being the Intel Science Talent Search). At the Intel ISEF, more than 1,500 high school student, science fair winners, from over 50 countries competed for $4 million in prizes and scholarships. 

The WESEF finalists (listed below) won more than $50,000 in cash and scholarships at ISEF….

Liza Strauss of Mamaroneck High School won 1^st place American Psychological Association Award ($1250.00) and the 1^st place US Air Force Award of $3000.00 for her study of cognitive neuroscience on arithmetic combinatorial processing using MEG.

Jayanth Krishnan of Mahopac High School placed 3^rd in Engineering ($1000.00) and won the National Antivivisection Society Award and the European Organization for Nuclear Research-CERN Award including a trip to CERN Switzerland for his research on regulatory signatures of cancer cell lines inferred from gene expression data.

Joy Li of Briarcliff High School took 3^rd place in Medicine and Health ($1000.00) for her study on predicting outcomes of heart failure patients after mechanical circulatory support device implantation.

Tyler St. Dennis of John Jay High School took 3^rd place in Microbiology ($1000.00), won the 1^st place U.S. Air Force Award ($2000.00), National Collegiate Inventers and Innovators Alliance Award ($1000.00)  and the Patent and Trademark Office Society Award ($150.00) for his research on bacterial heat shock response to photodynamic therapy.

Kyle Bardwell of Ossining High School took 1^st place in Animal Science ($3000.00) for studying the human impact on screech owl populations.

Evan Olin and Catherine Conte of Ossining High School won 2^nd place in Behavioral Science ($1500.00) for their work on tibial shock as one transitions from shod to barefoot running.

Katherine Mangialardi of Ossining High School won 3^rd place in Behavioral Science ($1000.00) and a $60,000.00 Scholarship to the Florida Institute of Technology for her work studying altruism in adolescents.

Matthew McIntyre of Yorktown High School won 2^nd place in Microbiology ($1500.00) and the U.S. Army Award including a $4000.00 scholarship and a trip to London, England for his work on a possible solution to the worldwide malaria epidemic by  identifying the genetics of the parasite that causes malaria like diseases that could be targeted by future pharmaceuticals

Michael Cerabona of Yorktown High School won 4^th place in Engineering ($500.00) and the GE Energy Award ($1000.00) for his work in creating a solar cell tracking device that uses a shape memory alloy known as “Muscle Wire” to guide a solar panel to follow the path of the sun.

Gabriel Weissman of Horace Greeley High School and Priya Mohindra of Yorktown High School won 4^th place in Biochemistry ($500.00) for their project on early detection of breast cancer by finding a better way to bind a cancer detection chemical to early stage breast cancer cells.

Sara Albala of John Jay High School won the American Statistical Association Award and the IIT College of Psychology Award ($40,000.00) for her study on the effect of living arrangements and social support on hypertension.

Official Intel ISEF Press Releases

http://www.societyforscience.org/isef/press

For more information contact:

Michael Blueglass
WESEF President / Yorktown High School Science Research Director
(W) 914-243-0561

(C)914-447-3568
(Fax) 914-248-9658