Three Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned a trip to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May at the West Central Regional Science Fair held Feb. 26-28.
Victoria Hwang of Maumelle won first place overall followed by Catherine Kwon of Little Rock in second, Jason Hoang of Hartman in third place and Roriana Burgess of Blytheville taking fourth place. Hwang, Kwon and Hoang will compete in the Regeneron ISEF in Anaheim, Calif., in May.
Hwang’s project focused on removing a protein from cancer cells that would not allow them to reproduce and die thus providing treatment without harsh chemicals. Kwon researched ways to predict epileptic seizures through machine learning. Hoang studied bacteria in soil that may break down a common ingredient in plastics, allowing the plastic to degrade over time.
Students who placed in first through third in their individual categories are eligible to compete in the Arkansas State and Science and Engineering Fair that will be held April 3-4 at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. ASMSA has won the state overall school title at the state science fair for seven straight years.
Individual category awards included:
Animal Science: Amadeo Scott of West Fork, first; Maria Quintero-Pena of White Hall, second; Kaitlyn Pearson of Berryville, Lilli Hickman of Omaha and Peyton Manry of Melbourne, tied for third; and Chloe Kirk of Eurkea Springs, honorable mention.
Behavioral and Social Science: Team of Max Green of North Little Rock, Reed Karman of Little Rock and Rhiannon Smith of Bismarck, first place and winner of the American Psychological Association award; Abigail Bryan of Huntsville, second place; Michah Vess of Dover, third place; and the team of Benjamin Smith of Mountain Home and Ryan Reynolds of Hampton, honorable mention.
Cellular and Molecular Biology: Victoria Hwang of Maumelle, first place; Tristan Eoff of Little Rock, second place; and Kindall Evans of Dumas, third place.
Chemistry: Blayne Griffin of Conway, first place; Yoo-Jin Ahn of Jonesboro, second place; and Brayden Ireland of Harrison, third place.
Computer Science: Ronan Devlin of De Queen, first place and the recipient of the Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award; Jaden Turner of Sherwood, second place; Trinity Robinson of Fayetteville, third place; and Tyler Kuper of Van Buren, honorable mention.
Systems Software: Karsen Beck of Maumelle, first place; Devin Patel of Blytheville, second place; Isha Patel of White Hall, third place; and Hannah Grimes of Benton, honorable mention.
Earth Science: Team of Howard Orlina of Little Rock and Amanda Carson of Russellville, first place; team of Esther Filipek of Bismarck and Sydney Hazeslip of Cabot, second place; and Paul McDonald of Pine Bluff, third place.
Engineering — Electrical and Mechanical: Roriana Burgess of Blytheville, first place; Haven Whitney of Searcy, second place; Salim Al-Tamimi of Jacksonville, third place; and Cooper North of Conway and Caleb Brown of Harrisburg, honorable mentions.
Engineering — Materials and Bioengineering: Hyunseo Seok of Jonesboro, first place; Joshua Bryant of West Helena, second place; and the team of Luke Stouffer of Fort Smith and Ian Panzer of Hot Springs, third place.
Environmental Science: Jason Hoang of Hartman, first place; Ethan Talley of Conway, second place; team of Emily Smith of Cabot and Minola Lee of Charleston, third place; Tyler Crabtree of Altus and Whitney Hazeslip of Cabot, honorable mentions.
Mathematics: Team of David Huang of Little Rock and Jacob Holmes of Rector, first place and winners of the Mu Alpha Theta Award; Sarah Balenko of Russellville, second place; and Coen Winter of West Memphis, third place.
Medicine and Health Science: Catherine Kwon of Little Rock, first place; team of Nnume Nwankwo of Alexander and Macey Ross of Jonesboro, second place; Madelyn Talbert of Greers Ferry, third place; and Bailey Scoggins of Lepanto, honorable mention.
Microbiology: Team of Katrina Smith of Franklin, Gwyneth Coleman of Clarksville and Sarah Xie of White Hall, first place; Caitlin England of Magnet Cove, second place; team of Aly Navarro of Hot Springs and Laura Hansen of Rogers, third place; team of Lidia Belete of Marion and Aviance Haymon of Osceola, honorable mention; and Rachel Means of Carlisle, honorable mention.
Physics and Astronomy: Nova Ammerman of Cherokee Village, first place; and Kyle Smith of Emerson, second place.
Plant Science: Xander Adams of Arkadelphia, honorable mention.
Several special awards were also announced during Friday’s ceremony. They included:
Regeneron Science Talent Search Awards: Entrants included Ethan Talley of Conway, Blaine Martin of Texarkana and Victoria Hwang of Maumelle, who was chosen as a Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar.
American Fisheries Society Outstanding Aquatic Science Contestant and Advisor: Maria Quintero-Pena of White Hall and ASMSA mathematics instructor Nikki Kennedy.
American Meteorological Society Outstanding Climate or Earth Science Project: Whitney Hazeslip of Cabot and the team of Esther Filipek of Bismarck and Sydney Hazeslip of Cabot.
ASM Materials Education Foundation Outstanding Materials Science Project: Team of Luke Stouffer of Fort Smith and Ian Panzer of Hot Springs.
Association of Women Geoscientists Outstanding Geoscience Project by a Female Student: Team of Emily Smith of Cabot and Minola Lee of Charleston.
NASA Earth Systems Award for Outstanding Earth Science: Team of Howard Orlina of Little Rock and Amanda Carson of Russellville.
NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award for Outstanding project in NOAA-related Science: Team of Esther Filipek of Bismarck and Sydney Hazeslip of Cabot.
Office of Naval Research Award for Outstanding Projects Related to the mission of Navy and Marine Corps: Jason Hoang of Hartman, Rorianna Burgess of Blytheville and Victoria Hwang of Maumelle.
Ricoh Sustainable Development Award for Outstanding SD Project: Salim Al-Tamimi of Jacksonville.
Society for In-Vitro Biology Award for Outstanding 11th-grade Life Science Project: Kindall Evans of Dumas.
Soybean Science Challenge Award for Best Project and Project Advisor: Joshua Bryant of West Helena and ASMSA physics instructor Shane Thompson.
USAF Awards for Best Projects supporting U.S. Air Force Mission: Catherine Kwon of Little Rock, Blayne Griffin of Conway, Hannah Grimes of Benton, Sarah Balenko of Russellville, Bailey Scoggins of Lepanto, Nova Ammerman of Cherokee Village, Karsen Beck of Maumelle and Haven Whitney of Searcy.
U.S. Metric Association Award for Best Use of SI Units: Brayden Ireland of Harrison.
Stockholm Junior Water Prize for Best Aquatic Science Project: Team of Emily Smith of Cabot and Minola Lee of Charleston.
Yale Science and Engineering Association Award for Best 11th-grade exhibit in Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry or Engineering: Hyunseo Seok of Jonesboro.
U.S. Agency for International Development Award: Team of Aishani Singh of Hot Springs and Sara Ali of Little Rock; honorable mention for Ethan Talley of Conway.
Oaklawn Foundation Community Innovation Award, created for the purpose of supporting communities in underserved areas in Arkansas. The award goes to a student or team who has done a project that could better humanity and improve conditions in the local community. The winner was Rorianna Burgess of Blytheville.
Arkansas Environmental Foundation Award: Jason Hoang of Hartman, Victoria Hwang of Maumelle and Catherine Kwon of Little Rock.
To view an album of photos from the awards ceremony, visit https://asmsa.me/2020scifairawardsphotos.