Hackley’s Independent Science Research Program Students Receive Top Honors at Science Fairs
During Spring Break, twelve Hackley students participated in the state’s largest science and engineering fairs. They did significantly well, with a school record of three students qualifying for the Regeneron International Science Fair held in Atlanta, GA in May, and one student qualifying for the International Genius Olympiad in June. Both fairs represent the world stage for science and engineering students to present their work.
NYSSEF 2022 Summary and Awards
Over 300 student science research projects from the state were submitted to the New York Science and Engineering Fair. Of those, 75 projects (25%) from 30 different schools were invited to present live at the New York Hall of Science in Queens on March 28, 2022. Nine Hackley students submitted projects to NYSSEF. Five advanced to the Finals. Hackley School had the most finalists from a school in Westchester County, and the fourth most finalists from a single school in the state. Each of the students placed within the top three in their respective category.
NYSSEF Awards 2022
- Joey Nadol ‘22 - US Metric Association for a project utilizing metric units
- Noah Nager ’23 - Mu Alpha Theta Award for a project utilizing math
- Noah Nager ’23 - Regeneron Biomedical Science Award
- Dionne Chen ‘22
- Michael Potanin ‘22
- Daniel Zhang ‘22
- Joey Nadol ‘22
- Noah Nager ‘23
WESEF 2022 Summary and Awards
The Westchester Science and Engineering Fair is the single largest science and engineering fair in the country, with over 500 student science research projects submitted. Twelve Hackley students presented virtually over the weekend of March 19-20, 2022.
Ten of our twelve students won awards. Hackley had five second-place and two first-place finishes (representing the largest percentage of first-place and second-place students from a single school). In addition, one student qualified for the International Genius Olympiad, and another student qualified for the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fairs.
WESEF Awards
- Dionne Chen ‘22 - American Psychological Association Award
- Kiran Marfatia ’23 - ASM Materials Education Award
- Vihaan Dheer ‘23 - Mu Alpha Theta (MATH) Award
- Maxwel Lee ’22 - US Stockholm Award
- Advith Sharma ’23 - NOAA “Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award
- Jinlin Cai ‘22
- Vihaan Dheer ‘23
- Aiden McComiskey ‘23
- Joey Nadol ‘22
- Noah Nager ’23
- Maxwel Lee ‘22
- Daniel Zhang ‘22
- Noah Nager ‘23
From the two fairs, the following students won the highest honor, advancing to presenting at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (aka “The Olympics” of science fairs) in Atlanta in May 2022.
- Maxwel Lee ‘22
- Joey Nadol ‘22
- Noah Nager ‘23
About Their Research Projects
Jinlin Cai ‘22 presented his work which contributes to the effort of discovering the Higgs boson, and other beyond standard model particles, in particle accelerators and detectors.
Dionne Chen’s ‘22 research looked at whether behavioral inhibition, shyness, and social anxiety disorder all followed the same trajectory in children aged 2 to 4, as in children aged 4 – 13.
Vihaan Dheer ‘23 developed a novel mathematical model for optimizing operations on a quantum computer.
Maxwel Lee ‘22 investigated the ability of barley straw extract to prevent algae growth in the Tarrytown Lakes, while phragmites were found to promote algae growth.
Kiran Marfatia’s ‘23 work was to write programs in Python to develop aircraft simulations, specifically regarding the aerodynamics of the wings and flaps of a plane.
Aiden McComiskey’s ‘23 research created a model to map ECoG signals to text in order to help patients who have lost the ability to speak.
Joey Nadol's ‘22 work focuses on improving the detection of exoplanets, which are planets orbiting stars beyond our own Solar System.
Noah Nager’s ‘23 work was the development of a model relating West Nile Virus incidence and types of land cover around the Gulf Coast. His model can be applied as an early warning system for public health officials when determining whether or not to undertake land development projects.
Michael Potanin ‘22 created a selection guide for scientists to decide which of the 4 CRISPR technologies should be used when deciding to do gene editing.
Advith Sharma ‘23 used data science to conduct an analysis of water stress and drought in the Southwest US that can be used to manage the devastating risk to communities in the coming years.
Steven Yu ‘23 studied how eyewear protected against transmission of respiratory viral infections, including SARS-CoV-2.
Daniel Zhang ‘22 designed a computational framework to identify genes that are important to Alzheimer's disease. His research found potential novel treatment targets for Alzheimer's, which he is working to validate at various labs.
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