NHSEE Expo 2018 was held on March 15, 2018. We had amazing projects and an enthusiastic crowd. Congratulations to everyone for a great fair!
Special thanks to NHTI for their usual amazing job at supporting the fair, Shaws and Jacques Flowers for their generous donations, Harry Umen for still imagery, and Bobby Strong and Michael Mulligan from NHTI for shooting video! And the judges! Thank you judges for taking time out of your day to spend time with the students and help us sort out the projects. Without you this wouldn’t be possible.
2018 NHSEE overall winners (L to R): Meghana Avvaru (2nd), Amy Cotter (1st), Avery Clowes, William Menken (3rd)
Open Competition by Category
Behavioral Science
1st Place; Sahil Mahendrakar, Sahith Kaki, and Anish Kammila; Nashua High School South for Observing the Hawthorne Effect on Computational Ability across Various Age Groups
2nd Place; Shreya Nagri; Nashua High School South for False Features: A Study in Cognitive Perception with Relation to Age and Familiarity
Biochemistry
1st Place; Marisa Morin; Alvirne High School for The Effects of Cleaning Agents on the Presence of Peanut Proteins on Surfaces
2nd Place; Kavim Bhatnagar; Nashua High School North for Metal Madness: Bioremediation of Metal Contamination
Biology
1st Place; Amy Cotter; Kennett High School for The Effect of Black Carbon on Antibiotic Resistance
2nd Place; Chantal Oujaimi; Nashua High School North for Trouble for Turtles
Chemistry
1st Place;Jacqueline Desrosiers; Nashua High School North for Fruity Fermentation
2nd Place; Andrew Reed and Jacob Cartier; Goffstown High School for Extracting Aluminum From Granite
Computers
1st Place; Vinjai Vale; Phillips Exeter Academy for A new paradigm for computer vision based on compositional representation
Engineering
1st Place; Tejas Sathyamurthi; Nashua High School South for Development Of Durable Flame Retardant Fabrics Via Surface Chemical Functionalization
2nd Place; Jacob Weaver; Franklin High School for The Effects of Rocket Designs on Aerodynamic Forces
Environmental Science
1st Place; Meghana Avvaru; Nashua High School South for An Economical Approach for Detecting Water Contamination at Homes, Preventing a Public Drinking Water Crisis
2nd Place; Erika Stemska and Hannah Tate; Goffstown High School for Pesticide Homicide: Premature Eggshell Dissolution
Mathematics
1st Place; Jacqueline Cho; Phillips Exeter Academy for An Improved Upper Bound for the Fermat-Torricelli Ratio
2nd Place; Evan Vogelbaum; Phillips Exeter Academy for Application of computational game theory to the investigation of the impact of topology on fixation time of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria
Physics and Electronics
1st Place; Avery Clowes and William Menken; Phillips Exeter Academy for Investigating the Effects of Propellant Mass Flow Rate and a Swirl Ring on the Efficiency of a Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster
2nd Place; Adyant Shankar; Nashua High School South for Integrated Smart Eye (i-SEE)
Challenge Competition: Yeast Growth
1st Place; Jason Rhines; Farmington High School for Optimizing the Growth of Yeast Cells Using a Liquid Culture
Overall Fair Winners
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1st place for the fair went to Amy Cotter from Kennett High School for “The Effect of Black Carbon on Antibiotic Resistance” | |
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2nd place for the fair went to Meghana Avvaru from Nashua High School South for “An Economical Approach for Detecting Water Contamination at Homes, Preventing a Public Drinking Water Crisis” | |
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3rd place for the fair went to Avery Clowes and William Menken from Phillips Exeter Academy for “Investigating the Effects of Propellant Mass Flow Rate and a Swirl Ring on the Efficiency of a Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster” |
Special Awards
In addition to competing for trophies, bragging rights and a chance to move on to international competition, students also may also win Special Awards. Specific companies and organizations will provide prizes and recognition for students that excel with projects that meet certain criteria.
This year, the NHSEE recognized 22 student teams for Special Awards.
| Award | Student team | |
| MITRE Corporation Award
$200 cash award |
Amy Cotter from Kennett High School won in Biology for “The Effect of Black Carbon on Antibiotic Resistance” | |
| NH Society of Professional Engineers
$100 cash award |
Meghana Avvaru from Nashua High School South won in Environmental Science for “An Economical Approach for Detecting Water Contamination at Homes, Preventing a Public Drinking Water Crisis” | |
| Avery Clowes and William Menken from Phillips Exeter Academy won in Physics and Electronics for “Investigating the Effects of Propellant Mass Flow Rate and a Swirl Ring on the Efficiency of a Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster” | ||
| Intel Excellence in Computer Science | Vinjai Vale from Phillips Exeter Academy won in Computers for “A new paradigm for computer vision based on compositional representation” | |
| American Psychological Association | Sahil Mahendrakar, Sahith Kaki, Anish Kammila from Nashua High School South won in Behavioral Science for “Observing the Hawthorne Effect on Computational Ability across Various Age Groups” | |
| Arizona State University Walton Sustainability Solutions | Kavim Bhatnagar from Nashua High School North won in Biochemistry for “Metal Madness: Bioremediation of Metal Contamination” | |
| William Peterson and Eric Ciarla from Goffstown High School won in Biochemistry for “Biodegradability of Varying Bioplastics” | ||
| Mu Alpha Theta Award (Mathematics Award) | Jacqueline Cho from Phillips Exeter Academy won in Mathematics for “An Improved Upper Bound for the Fermat-Torricelli Ratio” | |
| NASA Earth System Science Award | Andrew Reed and Jacob Cartier from Goffstown High School won in Chemistry for “Extracting Aluminum From Granite” | |
| NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award | Elizabeth Saucier from Goffstown High School won in Environmental Science for “The Effect of Excess Carbon Dioxide on Poa Pratensis” | |
| Office of Naval Research Award (Support of STEM research) | Suhaas Katikaneni from Nashua High School South won in Mathematics for “Analysis of Graph Search Algorithms and Optimized Heuristics for a Real Time Strategy Game” | |
| Michael Holby Martland from Salem High School won in Biology for “Testing The Effectiveness of Ethanol And Citric Acid as Disinfectants on Gram Positive And Negative Bacteria” | ||
| RICOH Sustainable Development | Kylie Braunius from Nashua High School North won in Environmental Science for “Leave No Trash” | |
| Society for In Vitro Biology | Amy Cotter from Kennett High School won in Biology for “The Effect of Black Carbon on Antibiotic Resistance” | |
| Stockholm Junior Water Prize | Meghana Avvaru from Nashua High School South won in Environmental Science for “An Economical Approach for Detecting Water Contamination at Homes, Preventing a Public Drinking Water Crisis” | |
| Anushka Ray from Nashua High School South won in Environmental Science for “A Faster Approach to Detecting Fecal Indicators in the Water Using Nanomaterials and Machine Learning” | ||
| US Air Force Research Lab (Support of STEM research) | Erika Stemska and Hannah Tate from Goffstown High School won in Biology for “Pesticide Homicide: Premature Eggshell Dissolution” | |
| Evan Vogelbaum from Phillips Exeter Academy won in Mathematics for “Application of computational game theory to the investigation of the impact of topology on fixation time of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria” | ||
| Chantal Oujaimi from Nashua High School North won in Biology for “Trouble for Turtles” | ||
| Danielle Vermette and Allyson Vermette from Goffstown High School won in Biology for “Smoothing Out the Rough Spots: Reducing the Appearance of Keratosis Pilaris” | ||
| U.S. Metric Association Award | Anushka Ray from Nashua High School South won in Environmental Science for “A Faster Approach to Detecting Fecal Indicators in the Water Using Nanomaterials and Machine Learning “ | |
| Yale Science and Engineering Association | Tejas K Sathyamurthi from Nashua High School South won in Engineering for “Development Of Durable Flame Retardant Fabrics Via Surface Chemical Functionalization” |
New Hampshire Academy of Science scholarships
The New Hampshire Academy of Science, NHAS, provides middle and high school students technical and educational training and mentorship for careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforce. This year they provided 8 students with $2,000 each in scholarships to pursue their projects at NHAS’s laboratory in Hanover, NH.
Congratulations to:
Megan Avvaru – Nashua
Jacqueline Cho – Exeter
Amy Cotter – Kennett
Emily Gaw – Exeter
Patrick Mannion – Goffstown
Michael Martland – Salem
Shreya Nagri – Nashua
Kaitlin Young – Goffstown
