County Students Earn Honors At State, International Science Fairs

Students from 15 Fairfax County high schools won awards and earned recognition at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) held last week in Pittsburgh and at the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair (VSSEF) held in April in Norfolk.

Yon Kyu (Daniel) Jang of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology  (TJHSST), working as part of a team with two other students from New York and California, took third place in the Energy and Transportation category at the ISEF for the project, “Au- and Pd-Nanoparticle Catalysts in Novel Nafion Composites for PEM Fuel Cell Power Enhancement.” The team also received a special award from United Technologies Corporation of $3,000 in UTC stock.

Finishing in fourth place at the ISEF were:

• Benjamin Cobb and Conor Moran of Chantilly High School in Cellular and Molecular Biology for “Discovery of a Mechanism for the Glucocorticoid Chemotherapy Resistance in Cancer.”
• Arrush Choudhary of Chantilly High School in Energy and Transportation for “A Novel Method to Increase the Lipid Yield of Chlorella vulgaris: An Exploration of the Role of Cofactors on the Inhibition of Starch Synthase (E.C. 2.4.1.21).”
• Yohan Sumathipala of TJHSST in Environmental Management for “A Novel Apparatus for Catalytic Oxidation of Glycerol Produced During Biodiesel Synthesis.” Sumathipala also won a special award from the United States Army of $1,500 and a gold medallion.
• Jason Cui of Langley High School in Medicine and Health for “Improving Cancer Therapy: A Novel Therapeutic Treatment Utilizing Cordycepin Synergy to Decrease Adverse Treatment Effects.”

At the VSSEF, first place winners were:

• Daniel Tavakol of Madison High School in Engineering: Materials and Engineering.
• Gina Li of Langley High School in Environmental Management.

A complete list of FCPS winners at the VSSEF can be found below.

Animal Sciences