NMNWSE Awards at the State Science Fair

At the 2014 New Mexico Science and Engineering Fair, held 4-5 April 2014 at New Mexico Tech in Socorro, NM, NMNWSE handed out 10 awards (5 Junior and 5 Senior) consisting of $50 plus a certificate and tote bag with career materials, plus 6 honorable mention awards consisting of a certificate and tote bag with career materials.

Junior Division, $50:

Ruby Selvage, Los Alamos Middle School, Los Alamos, "All Cracked Up: lip balm addiction"
Alicia Rael, Taos Middle School, Ranchos de Taos, "Natural NoFlow"
Lauren Burckel, Jefferson Middle School, Albuquerque, "Degradable Polymers"
Neelima Prasad, Los Alamos Middle School, Los Alamos, "Fractals"
Lien Tang, Eisenhower Middle School, Albuquerque, "Finding the Flying Gene"

Senior Division, $50:

Hiba Muhyi, Arrowhead Park Early College High School, Las Cruces, "Spelling Glove"
Kathryn Harris, Rio Rancho High School, Rio Rancho, "New Generation of Hydrogen Storage"
Kelly Charley, Navajo Preparatory School, Farmington, "Using Water to Heat a Solar Hogan"
Lilly Chiou, Carlsbad High School, Carlsbad, "Characterization of Carrots in Making Fruit/Vegetable...."
Maria Troyer, School of Dreams Academy, Los Lunas, "Effects of Hyper-gravity on Aliivbrio Fischeri"

Honorable Mention:

Lauren Soherr, Jefferson Middle School, Albuquerque, "Dress Your House for Success"
Priyanka Velappan, Los Alamos Middle School, Los Alamos, "Reap the Wild Wind"
Mykala Chavez, Gattis Middle School, Clovis, "Don't Let Swimming be a Drag"
Maria Fanelli, Aspen Elementary School, Los Alamos, "Ice Age: Fur and Blubber to Survive"
Celia Flicker, AIMES@UNM, Albuquerque, "Beta Carotene in NM flowers"
Alyssa Whiterock, Navajo Preparatory School, Farmington, "Predicting Populations"

Congratulations to the NMNWSE Award winners!!
The judges felt it was a hard choice, and wish to also congratulate all the students who participated in the State Science Fair, and their teachers and mentors! We hope these students continue to develope their potential as future leaders in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Medicine) and allied professions!

Judges for the NMNWSE Awards were Yolanda King, Claudia Barreto, Tinka and Juanita Gammel, Karmen Lappo, Clifton Murray, Laurie Marnell, Diane Janni, and Virginia Moradela. Due to the large number of projects well worthy of encouragement, the judges felt next year we should target 10 honorable mention awards.

NMNWSE Awards at the NM Supercomputing Challenge

The NMNWSE Special Award at the 2014 NM Supercomputing Challenge Expo, held April 21-22, 2014 in Los Alamos, NM, went to:

Team 90, Melrose Middle School
Team Members: Maggie Martin, Maryelle Dickerman, Hannah Wofford, Rebecca Rush
Project: It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Super Silage!!!
Sponsor: Alan Daugherty, Mentor: Keith "Taz" McAlister

Congratulations to the team members, as well as their mentor and sponsor!
Team 90's project modeled how silage, fermented feed used for cattle, is made and studied how to optimize quality vs. cost. The final report on their project is available at http://www.challenge.nm.org/archive/13-14/finalreports/90.pdf

Each student on the team received $50 and an NMNWSE tote bag with career materials, and the sponsor and mentor also received a tote bag with career materials. The judge for the NMNWSE Special Award was Eleanor Walther.