Maharishi School students won top awards at the state science fair which is affiliated with the world's premier pre-collegiate science fair, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Maharishi School students win top awards at State Science Fair
by Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA, The Review
27 April 2011

A number of Maharishi School students won top awards at the State Science and Technology Fair (SSTFI) of Iowa earlier this month.

Their successes included three first place awards, as well as the selection of Atreya Dey and Raph Burne to present at six of the world's premier pre-collegiate science fairs.

Atreya Dey placed first in the chemistry category and received 13 additional top awards (such as a 3rd in the Senior Individual Physical Seminar and the Stockholm Junior Water Prize). His research is about new ways to clean polluted water using biobased ferrite nanoparticles.

Raph Burne placed first in the senior physical seminar and received nine top awards (such as a 2nd in the Engineering category, Senior High Semi-Finalist, and an Iowa Energy Center award) for his project on using honeycomb cardboard as building insulation.

Pearl and Surya Sawhney were honored as Overall Senior High Team Reserve Champions, as well as winning three additional top awards. Their research studied consumption of animal protein vs. plant protein and its relationship to obesity and sustainability.

Sam Arsanjani placed second in the computer science category, received the Intel Excellence in Computer Science award, and was a Senior High Semifinalist for his project entitled RoboRescue: Using AI and Bayesian Networks in Swarms of Robots to Simulate and Increase Efficiency in Search and Rescue Operations. He also won a most outstanding exhibit award at the regional science fair.

Dominic Borg placed third in the engineering category for his research on the effects of acoustic damping on the bass response of loudspeakers.

And freshman Vinit Suganur placed second in the plant sciences category, and third in the Individual Biological Seminar for his research on the comparative effects of caffeine and coffee grounds on soybean growth and metabolism.

The students are judged on creativity, scientific thought, thoroughness, technical skill, clarity, and oral presentation.

At a regional science fair Middle School students winning top awards included Heilani Muehlman, Alex Hoffmann, David Wadsworth, Keefe Lashway, Marcus Schoenfeld, Nathaniel Zhu, and Doga Ozesmi.

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