As Seen in Journal
E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Send E-mail
Reprint storyPlay Puzzles and Free Games
Front Page 
paperboy text scitech
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Top Six Science Students Named
By John Fleck
Journal Staff Writer
Erika DeBenedictis' return to Albuquerque for the 50th anniversary of the Central New Mexico Research and Engineering Challenge had a bit of the feel of a victory lap.
Earlier in the week, the Albuquerque Academy senior was in Washington, D.C., where she won the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search, the top award in the country for young science students, which carries a $100,000 prize.
Speaking at the start of Saturday's awards ceremony, DeBenedictis told the young people in the audience that if they follow their curiosity, great things can happen.
"I have just had a blast," she said.
At the end of the ceremony, DeBenedictis returned to the stage as one of the local science competition's six top winners. They will go to San Jose, Calif., in May to represent New Mexico in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.
Other top winners who will go on to San Jose:
• Ujwal Chadha, 15, a Del Norte High School sophomore. Chadha, inspired by an astronaut's clever approach to drinking in zero gravity, studied flow rates in capillary tubing.
• Travis Crockett, 16, a V. Sue Cleveland High School sophomore. Crockett used a backyard telescope to study the variations in emissions from a pulsar in the Crab Nebula.
• Alexander Caldwell, 17, a St. Pius X High School senior. Caldwell worked with University of New Mexico scientists on the use of nano-particles to fight disease.
• Josh Rupley, 17, and Aaron Murphy, 19, both home-schooled, studied ways to combine hydrogen with gasoline to improve auto gas mileage.
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
