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Awards and Honors for Academy Students
Congratulations!
2007-2008
What to titanic black holes, abandoned railways, home wireless networks, the effect of lightning on humidity and growing weeds from seeds that have literally been in space have in common? These are among the topics presented by Deer Valley High School students at the annual Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair at Heald College in Concord. The fair was held last Saturday, April 5, and approximately 100 students from area schools competed.
Among other winners at the fair were Alekzandir Morton and Thomas Travagli, who did research analyzing the spectra and energy from a distant blazar, or giant black hole, called S5 0716+714. Morton and Travagli were the first high school students to ever write their own proposal for using NASA’s Spitzer infrared space telescope to complete a project. They won first place in the senior physical science category and have been invited to compete in the California State Science fair later this spring.
Nearly three times as many Deer Valley High School students (a total of 13) entered this year's Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair as ever have before. Project ranged from NASA space probe data analysis to studies about the efficiency of hybrid cars to biochemical assays. DVHS students won a number of awards including over $2700 in cash prizes and scholarships.
DVHS Science fair entrants are supported by the DVHS ESPACE academy, which sponsors original research and outreach in earth and space sciences and operates the school's digital planetarium. The ESPACE academy also performs workshops and programs for teachers, students, and the general public interested in the world of astronomy and space sciences.
Students listed below were sponsored and mentored by Jeff Adkins, Dirk Sikkema, Raymond Kuntz and Liz Ritchie.
The DVHS award winners were:
Thomas Travagli and Alekzandir Morton - "A Galaxy Ablaze from Afar: Infrared Spectrometry of S50716+714, a second year study." 1st place in 12th grade physical science; first high school students to use the Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope using a proposal of their own devising; $1000 Chevron Innovation Award Scholarship (each) and $100 from Mirant Corporation (shared).
Michelle Symmons - "Expansion Rates of Nebulas" 2nd Place 12th grade Physical Science and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Russell Peck - "Mapping the Empire Mine Railroad" 2nd Place 12th grade Physical Science, $500 Chevron Innovation Award, $100 American Vacuum Society award, and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Alejandro Solano - "Where's my Wireless? The Effect of Router Location on Signal Strength." 3rd place 12th grade Physical Science, and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Amy Lin - "Composition and Structure of Cell Walls in Lactuca serriola leaves and stems." 4th place 11th grade Biological, first DVHS student to enter biology category, and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Sponsored by Dirk Sikkema.
Ronnisha Jordan - "Deep Space." 4th place 11th grade Physical Science, and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Karla Flores - "Observations of the Mercury transit," 4th place 12th grade Physical Science, and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
John Michael Santiago - "WZ Sge," 4th place 12th grade Physical Science, and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Faisal Rehman - "Create Your Own Spark," 4th place 12th grade Physical Science, Certificate from American Meteorlogical Association, and a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Also recognized as a good engineering project, plus $100 award. Also a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Sponsored by Raymond Kuntz.
Doug Bahr, "Rovering Robot," first engineering project ever entered from DVHS, a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Ryan Divito, "Seeds from Space," a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers plus 100% on his 200-point major project for astronomy class.
Jessica Chaing, "Prius: Is It Worth Your Money?", first 9th grader from DVHS to enter the fair, 4th place 9th grade Physical Science, a book and certificate from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers. Sponsored by Liz Ritchie.2006-2007
Press Release about the Science Fair Winners!
When faced with a challenge like attempting to determine the lift of a wing he designed, high school student Justin Spahn wasn’t deterred by the fact that the school’s wind tunnel was available, but broken: he immediately decided to build his own wind tunnel, using homemade parts and a fan used to inflate his school’s portable planetarium. Spahn completed his wind tunnel and data collection just in time for the 2007 Contra Costa Science and Engineering Fair, held at Heald College in Concord, California on Saturday, March 24. Spahn won a first-place rating for 12th grade at the fair, a rating which is based on the number of points he earned for his display and his interview by a panel of judges. He also won the Grand Prize at the fair, and, along with a student from DeLaSalle High School, will represent Contra Costa County at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in May 2007.
“ My teacher listed a bunch of characteristics of wings such as chord length, camber ratio, and so on,” Spahn said in response to a query about how he started his project. “I picked the one I knew least about and began reading about it.” Soon he settled on camber ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the thickness of a wing to its length from leading to trailing edge. Using a force sensor from the school’s physics lab, a wind speed meter left over from a previous project, and hand-sculpted aircraft wings, Spahn assembled a functional wind tunnel and measured the lifting force of several wings using a computer in a little-used storeroom near the school library. Spahn’s results showed that thinner wings tend to produce better lift, all other factors being equal. He was surprised to discover that exceptionally thick wings not only did not provide lift, they actually deflected air upward and provided downward force on his sensor rather than upward force. “It’s like trying to fly a brick wall,” he said. “The air flow is not smooth and no lift is generated.”
Spahn also received a 2nd place award from the Northern California Chapter of the American Vacuum Society and a check for $50. In addition to his other awards he also received the Herbert Hoover Young Engineer’s award.
Other students at Deer Valley’s ESPACE Academy (Earth, Space, and Astronomy Center for Education) fared well at the fair as well. Joseph Smith, also at senior at Deer Valley High School, won a 2nd place prize for his project called “The Game of Life in Java,” which showed the evolution of cells in a virtual Petri dish, programmed in the Java programming language. Smith will be releasing his source code on the academy web site as soon as he prepares an open-source license for it. Smith also received an award certificate from Intel for Excellence in Computer Science.
The lone team entry from the school won the 11th grade first place prize. Juniors Alekzandir Morton, Thomas Travagli, and senior Manutej Mulaveesala won with their project “A Galaxy Ablaze from Afar,” which detailed their use of data collected from both ground-based telescopes and the Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope to determine what kind of radiation is emitted from a distant blazar, or a galaxy which is being torn apart by a titanic black hole at its center.
The astronomy project was sponsored by the Spitzer Science Center at Cal Tech, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona. The students used a remote-control telescope in New Mexico and data from the Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope, which orbits the sun millions of miles from the earth, to complete their research. In addition to the 1st place prize in their grade level the young men also received a medallion from the Yale Science and Engineering Association for Most Outstanding 11th Grade Exhibit in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics or Chemistry.
The school’s first-ever earth science entry was completed by junior John Dawson, who won a $150 prize from the Golden Gate Section of the Society of Petrochemical Engineers for his research on the transmission of earthquake energy through the various materials underlying Deer Valley High School. Dawson used an accelerometer to detect the transmission of energy through samples taken from the school’s campus to show that sandstone absorbs the energy of an earthquake better than more rigid materials.
Most of the students are enrolled in Deer Valley’s Physics and Astronomy Research class, a special course offered by the ESPACE academy and supported by the Antioch Unified School District. The teacher of the course and advisor to the students is Jeff Adkins. “These young men put in literally hundreds of hours of work on these projects,” according to Adkins. “The level of work is comparable to what a college student would do as part of an undergraduate research project. I’m very proud of all of them and appreciative of the support from their parents and the district,” he said.2005-2006
Student astronomy researchers from Deer Valley High School’s ESPACE academy presented their results and won several awards at the new Contra Costa County Science and Engineering Fair in Concord on Saturday, April 8, 2006. The fair was held at Heald College in Concord. Award winners from Deer Valley High School included the following 12th graders:
Jennifer Shankey, for her project “Light Pollution in a Developing Suburban City,” won a 3rd place in the 12th grade division at the fair and also received a $200 scholarship from Chevron.
Crystal Ewen, for her project “Microvariability of AGN Target AO 0235+164,” won a 3rd place in the 12th grade division at the fair and also received a $400 scholarship from Chevron. Ewen was awarded a grant by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory’s Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education (TLRBSE) project to use a remotely controlled telescope in New Mexico to collect her data.
Jennifer Becker, for her project “Proof of Standard Stars,” won a 3rd place in the 12th grade division at the fair, won 1st place for Best Astronomy Project from the Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society (along with a $100 cash prize), and a $400 scholarship from Chevron. Becker’s project was a spinoff of a TLRBSE project.
Brielle Hinckley, for her project “Microvariability of 4C 29.45 with the Spitzer Space Telescope and Ground Based Telescopes,” won 3rd place in the 12th grade division at the fair, as well as a 2nd place $75 prize from the Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society, and a $750 scholarship from Chevron. Hinckley used the Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope through a program sponsored by Cal Tech’s Spitzer Science Center in Pasadena and co-sponsored by the TLRBSE project..
Anne Nguyen, for her project “The Glass Ceiling Persists in Astronomy,” won 2nd place in the 12th grade division at the fair, a special award from the American Psychological Society, a $50 gift certificate from JohnMuir Health, a 2nd place $75 prize from the Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society, and a $750 scholarship from Chevron.2005-2006
Brielle Hinckley was selected to use the 0.9 meter telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory by the Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education Program's School Year observing program. She attended in October 2005, all expenses paid to Tucson, Arizona, for two nights of observing.
Crystal Ewen was awarded 7 hours of observing time on the New Mexico Skies observing system by the Teacher Leaders in Research Based Science Education's School Year observing program. She used the time in December 2005 for her project.
Four new students have been selected to use the Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope and to also collect ground-based data and learn how to analyze the images. Thomas Travagli, Alekzandir Morton, John Michael Santiago, and Manutej Mulaveesala have just learned that their new target, known as S5 0716+714, will be observed by the Spitzer Space Telescope on April 8, 2006. The students have applied for and received time on a remote-controlled ground based telescope in New Mexico to take their own images of the target.
2004-2005
Graduating Seniors in the Academy, having completed all requirements of the ESPACE Academy prior to graduation, were given certificates at the last academy meeting of the year:
Andrew Espiritu
Ashley Hall
Daniel Abizeid
Kyle Hornbeck
Barry Parker, Jr.
Alex Payne
Robert Johnson
Renee Mastrolia
Phillip Gilbert
Michael Weber
Jose Munoz
Scott Banker
Tri Nguyen
2005 ESPACE Academy Awards
Best Research Poster for Contra Costa County Fair: Tri Nguyen ($100)
Best Planetarium Show: Robert Johnson and Kyle Hornbeck
Esprit d' Corps: Brielle Hinckley
Best Use of a Space Probe: Alex Payne and Andrew Espiritu
Awards 2004-2005
Tri Nguyen, Ashley Hall, Alex Payne, Kyle Hornbeck, Andrew Espiritu and Robert Johnson earned 1st place blue ribbons at the Contra Costa County Fair in 2005. Scott Banker and Barry Parker, Jr. won 2nd place blue ribbons at the Fair. Contratulations! This is the last exhibit of the year. Winning projects will be on display in the school's planetarium for the rest of the year.
Ashley Hall has been invited to post her paper at the Lawrence Hall of Science as an example of a Hands-On Universe student research project.
Robert Johnson & Kyle Hornbeck, Barry Parker, and Tri Nguyen have written articles which were accepted for publication in the RBSE Journal, a refereed science journal sponsored by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory's Research Based Science Education program. This is the first time any DVHS student has submitted articles for a student science journal, and all three submissions were accepted. The journal is published once a year and past issues are available online. When the issue containing their work is published, a link will be posted here.
Ashley Hall was selected as the first place winner in the 12th grade physical science division of the Bay Area Science Fair on March 19, 2005. In addition, Ashley recieved one of four special Air Force awards for science achievement, and was selected as the physical science representative for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for 2005!. Only two students from the entire Bay Area are selected to attend the Intel fair. Ashley took an all-expense paid trip to Phoenix, Arizona to compete in the international competition. Although she did not place in the competition, just getting to the IISEF when it is the first time anyone from DVHS has competed in the BASF is quite an accomplishment. Ashley represented her school and region very well. In addition Ashley will be competing in the California State Science Fair to be held in Los Angeles later this year.
Ashley Hall was selected as a semi-finalist in the Westinghouse Siemens Science Talent competition earlier this year. Congratulations to our very first science fair entrant ever at Deer Valley High School!
Ashley Hall, for her presentation on the height of sand dunes on Mars at the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Berkeley. Ashley competed in the Regional Finals of the symposium in March and was given the Lawrence Hall of Science Award. She is also travelled to the National JSHS in southern California as a regional delegate.
Tri Nguyen was selected as the second place winner in the 12th grade physical science division at the Bay Area Science Fair in San Francisco, California on March 19, 2005. Tri's project is described below.
Tri Nguyen attended the Northern California Nevada Junior Science and Humanities Symposium in Berkeley, California. Tri was selected as a regional semifinalist. Tri presented his results of measuring the variability of BL Lac, a quasar, photographed from Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona.
Barry Parker Jr. was awarded third place in the 12th grade physical science division of the Bay Area Science Fair in San Francisco, California on March 19, 2005. In addition, Barry recieved a special recognition award from the American Meterological Society for his research on Cepheid variables in the Andrameda Galaxy.Robert Johnson and Tri Nguyen were awarded a chance to use a giant telescope in Arizona through the TLRBSE Teacher Observing Program sponsored by the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. Through a competitive application and interview process, they were selected to use a 0.9 meter telescope at Kitt Peak for three nights. This experience was written up in the January 2005 issue of the Mt. Diablo Astronomical Society Newsletter.
2003-2004
In 2004, Bradford Applin was selected as a NASA intern for the Ames Research Center's Summer High School Research Program (SHARP) and spent the summer working in a lab in Mountain View.
Jeff Adkins, Director
astronomyteacher@mac.com
Cheryl Domenichelli, Assistant Director
cheryldomenichelli@antioch.k12.ca.us
4700 Lone Tree Way
Antioch, CA 94531
The ESPACE Academy is sponsored in part by a grant from the California Department of Education's Specialized Secondary Program.
