Junior Division Grand Prizes

Rotem Rusak

First Place went to Rotem Rusak from Shaker Junior High for her project, “Water Quality in NE NY.”  She received $300 from the RPI School of Science. Her science teacher, Debby Jaffe sponsored her research. 

Second Place went to Max Alley, also from Shaker Junior High for his project, “How Does Music Affect Concentration?”  He received $200 from the RPI School of Science.  His sponsor was Debby Jaffe. 

Stephen Maxwell received Third Place for his project, “Comparing Stationary vs Tracking Solar Cells.” 

First Honorable Mention went to Robert Johnson from Shaker Junior High for his project, “The Effect of Temperature on Photovoltaic Cells.”

Junior Division Participants

Second Honorable Mention went to Anjali Puttachi, from Shaker Junior High for her project, “Theoretical Therapeutic Options for Treating Atherosclerosis.”

Third Honorable Mention went to Tracy Jiang for her project, “How are Plants Affected by Air Pollution.”

The top five Grand Prize winners received an invitation to compete in the National Discovery Young Scientist Challenge and the top three winners will also be able to compete in the STANYS State Science Congress junior division.

Senior Division Grand Prizes

Meaghan Figge

Meaghan Figge from Albany Academy for Girls took First Place in the senior division. She was also the recipient of a $20,000 scholarship to Albany college of Pharmacy . Her sponsor is Lynda Blankenship from Albany Academy for Girls. Meaghan’s project is titled, “Evolution of a Breast Cancer-Inhibition Protein, BRCA-1, Over Half a Billion Years.” Meghan is a junior and when she was a freshman she also received an invitation to the Intel International finals. During that competition in Cleveland , Ohio , she received a prize of $1000 from the Endocrine Society. The school of Science from RPI also provides a gift of $500.

Sarah Mousa and Sam Wait, Associate Dean of Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Sarah Mousa from Columbia High School was the recipient of Second Place . The title of her project is “The Good and the Bad: Implications of Nicotine’s Pro-Angiogenesis Activity.” Her advisor is Cindy Taylor from Columbia High School . Sarah also received the RPI $12,000 scholarship and a $300 award from RPI School Science. Both Sarah and Meaghan will be going to Phoenix , AZ with their teachers and registrar, Len Behr to compete in the Intel International finals, May 8-14.

Third Place in the senior division went to Michelle Nguyen McCarty from Academy of the Holy Names for her project titled. “Pharmacological Study of Dopamine Transmission in the Rat Nucleus Accumbens.” Donna Mooney is her advisor and is her science teacher at Holy Names. Michelle will be competing in the STANYS State Science Congress June 3-5 at SUNY Old Westbury.

First Honorable Mention went to Jessie Klapper from Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School.  Jessie is a senior and her project is titled, “Experimental Verification of a Rational Prediction Method for Hammerhead Ribozyme Activity.” Her teacher advisor is Gina Reals, coordinator of Burnt Hills Science Research Program. Jessie was also a recipient of a $20,000 scholarship from Albany College of Pharmacy. Last year, Jessie received a $12,000 scholarship from RPI. Jessie received an invitation to compete in the STANYS State Science Congress.

Second Honorable Mention went to Michelle Kloc also from Academy of Holy Names. The title of Michelle’s project is “The Characterization of mPFC in a Rat Model of Schizophrenia Using the D2 Agonist Quinpirole.” Donna Mooney is her advisor. Michelle will be competing in the STANYS State Science Congress.

Lastly, Third Honorable Mention went to Michael Harty of Columbia High School. Cindy Taylor is his advisor. The title of his project is “Inhibition of Collagen Induced Platelet Aggregation by Natural Products.” Michael also received an invitation to the STANYS State Science Congress.

Special Awards

In addition to the Grand Prize awards noted above, there were many special awards.  The Army, Navy and Air Force provide awards plus awards from many professional organizations.