A team of 13 Harker students, advised by upper school math teacher Anthony Silk, were among the top 20 teams in the National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC), organized by the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS).
The team’s project was called the Cellular Attachable Rotating Earpiece (CARE), a device that attaches to an electric wheelchair, allowing amputees to speak on their cell phones normally instead of having to speak loudly or yell. A prototype of CARE was tested with Donna Yeager, a good friend of upper school Spanish teacher Diana Moss. Yeager visited the Saratoga campus in December to test the device, which is conveniently located on the headrest and includes an earpiece and microphone.
Yeager brought three of the students along with Moss onto the set of her cable access show “On The Move” to discuss their project and the process of its design and implementation. During the competition, the students produced a video detailing the design and construction of the device.
On the heels of the recent announcement of Harker’s four Intel Science Talent Search (STS) semifinalists, word came Jan. 27 that Namrata Anand, Gr. 12, was named a finalist in the contest. Anand, whose project analyzed the chemical composition of stars in the Andromeda galaxy, received $7,500 and will travel to Washington, D.C. in March to compete for the $100,000 grand prize with 40 other finalists from across the country. She will also have a chance to meet and greet with Nobel laureates and President Barack Obama.
Anand is Harker’s first Intel STS finalist since 2006, when Yi Sun went on to claim second place and won a $75,000 scholarship.
Kate Schafer, upper school biology teacher, credited the mentors involved who assisted the semifinalists, and also recognized the “many students that enter and put in amazing amounts of time” into their projects.
Anand and other students working on Andromeda-related projects received mentoring from Raja Guha Thakurta, professor of astronomy and astrophysics at the University of California at Santa Cruz, as well as UCSC P.h.D students Evan Kirby and Kristen Howley. Karoline Gilbert, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Washington Seattle, also assisted with Thakurta with mentoring the students. The mentors provided everything from custom software to personal guidance to the contestants as they worked on their projects.
Four Harker upper school students were named Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists at a special assembly on Jan. 13. Each student was awarded $1,000 and has a shot at becoming one of the 40 finalists who will compete in Washington, D.C., for the $100,000 grand prize. A total of 300 semifinalists were chosen nationwide from an initial pool of 1,700 contestants.
Of the four semifinalists, all of them seniors, three were selected for projects focusing on the Andromeda galaxy. Namrata Anand’s project analyzed the chemical makeup of stars to learn more about the galaxy’s history, while Andrew Zhou studied the different star types in the galaxy. Kevin Zhang looked at the similarities between Andromeda’s stars and those found in other galaxies. Vishesh Jain was awarded for his project that analyzed heart disease diagnosis techniques.
Last year, Harker produced six semifinalists, the most ever by a West Coast school and the seventh-most in the nation. Harker alumnus Yi Sun ’06 took second place in the 2006 finals, earning $75,000.
A robotics team made up of Harker lower school students had a major success in their most recent competition. Fifth graders Sneha Bhetanabhotla, Aditya Dhar, Rishab Gargeya and Austin Tuan competed in the First Lego League (FLL) qualifying tournament on Nov. 28 at NASA Ames Research Center. Their task was to choose a transportation-related problem, research it and present a solution. They took first place for their presentation on Bay Area traffic congestion and advanced to the next round of competition which will be Dec. 19 in San Jose. The team is coached by two of the students’ fathers, Murthy Bhetanabhotla and SriniGargeya.
The Harker Middle School sponsored six robotics teams this year, five of which entered competitions in the last few weeks. The teams, ranging from three to five competitors, are coached by middle school teacher Michael Schmidt. The first two teams to compete placed sixth and seventh out of 24, and one of them received the award for most well-rounded team in addition to an invitation to compete in the second of three rounds.
On Nov.14 three additional teams competed, placing fifth, 10th and 12th with overall scores that were even higher than the first group’s. Both the fifth and 10th place teams advanced to the next round and the 10th place team was awarded first place for teamwork. These students have shown a high level of commitment given that practices and competitions are on Saturdays. Watch for more from these teams as the next round of competitions is Dec. 19 and the championship will be held on Jan 16. Good luck, robotics teams!
Over the summer, a team of young entrepreneurs led by Michaela Kastelman, Gr. 9, won the Camp Bizsmart competition, sponsored by companies such as Cisco, Better World Books, Revolution Foods and Hara. Kastelman was one of three Harker students in the group, along with fellow freshman Michael Cheng and Sachin Vadodaria,Gr. 8.The team designed an application for the Apple iPhone that tracks energy usage. In September, the team presented its idea to the CEO of Hara, a company that develops Web-based software deployed by businesses to track the use of resources and reduce emissions.
Freshmen Sarina Vij and Piyush Prasad also participated on a team of their own, presenting a business plan to energy supplement seller FRS. Their plan to market the company’s Healthy Energy Line to the teenage demographic was voted “most likely to go to market” by a panel of judges. FRS president and chief executive officer Maigread Eichten said the team’s business plan was better than the one proposed by a group of MBA students who were tasked with creating a similar proposal.
On Nov. 18, the members of the winning team were honored at the finals of the Newpreneur of the Year competition, held in San Francisco. During the event, influential businessman and best-selling author Tom Peters took the time to talk to the young entrepreneurs and pose for a photo. One attendee remarked that the students speaking with Peters “is like young musicians talking with Paul McCartney. Nothing beats meeting a living legend.”
The 2009 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology results are in and Alex Han, Gr. 12, has been named a regional finalist; Harker also has three semifinalists, Namrata Anand, Andrea Lincoln and Andrew Zhou, all Gr. 12.
Han’s project is titled “The Natural Compound Celastrol, a Potent Inducer of the Stress Response Protein Heme Oxygenase-1, Exhibits Cytoprotective and Wound Healing Properties in Cell Culture”; Lincoln’s is “Fault-Tolerance of Node Failures for a Stochastic Localization Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks”; Zhou’s project is “Quantifying the Mix of Stellar Populations in Studies of the Andromeda Galaxy”; and Anand’s is “A Spectral Analysis of the Chemical Enrichment History of Red Giants in the Andromeda Galaxy Field (M31) Versus its Dwarf Spheroidal (dSph) Satellites.”
“Alex being selected as a regional finalist is a BIG deal,” said Kate Schafer, upper school science teacher and contest advisor. “He was one of five finalists in the seven-state Western region and one of the five will be chosen to compete in the national competition. Alex has a lot of work ahead to prepare for the next level, held at Cal Tech. He must give an oral presentation lasting 12 minutes, answer questions by a panel of judges in a private room and present a poster of his work to the judges as well.
“We had an impressive group of projects this year, and I am so proud of all the hours and hard work that they put into their papers,” said Schafer.
Harker’s Nichols Hall, a LEED Gold Certification winner, was runner up at the 2009 Structures Awards held by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. The awards recognize the best in Silicon Valley real estate, construction and development and winners were announced at a dinner and featured in a special publication in late September. Nichols Hall was one of only two finalists in the Green Project of the Year – Private category and over 500 attended the dinner to honor the finalists.
Anand Natarajan, Gr. 12, has been chosen as a member of the team that will represent the United States at the International Physics Olympiad in Mexico this summer. In April, Natarajan and classmate Vikram Nathan, Gr. 12, as well as Andrew Zhou, Gr. 11, were chosen as semifinalists to become a part of the team. Harker’s total of three semifinalists was higher than any other school in the nation.
Scheduling conflicts prevented Natarajan and Nathan from being able to attend both their Harker graduation and the Physics Olympiad training camp. Nathan, the 2009 valedictorian, stayed behind in California to speak to his fellow graduates. Natarajan made the difficult decision to attend the required training camp in Maryland in lieu of his graduation ceremony, and his hard work deservedly paid off. “The AAPT (American Association of Physics Teachers) would not let him miss a single day of the physics camp in Maryland, so he made a choice between two once-in-a-lifetime experiences,” said US physics teacher Eric Nelson.
At a special ceremony in late May, Butch Keller, US division head, presented Natarajan with his high school diploma, with family present.
Three students have qualified for the United States Chemistry Olympiad in late April. Andrew Zhou, Gr. 11, scored 58 points out of 60 on a March 27 exam to earn a spot, while Kevin Xu, Gr. 12, scored 57. Because he moved beyond the national round in last year’s competition, Vikram Nathan, Gr. 12, will also compete for Harker, even though each school is typically allowed to enter only two students.
The yearly Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship, held March 18 in downtown San Jose, was once again a big success for US and MS Harker students.
Denzil Sikka, Gr. 12, was one of two Top Senior High Award winners from Harker, earning a Dr. Paul Callahan Technical Paper Award for having one of the best technical papers shown at the fair dealing with physical and biological sciences. Her paper, titled “Aging is Predictable – Biomarkers of Aging: Age Prediction by Use of Mathematical Models of Biomarkers” also netted her a $100 prize. She also received a $200 cash prize for winning the Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award.
Harker’s second Top Senior High Award winner was Isaac Madan, Gr. 10, for his paper “The Impact of the Planar Cell Polarity Pathway Function on the Structure of the Cerebellum.” Madan took home the Grand Prize Alternate in biological sciences and earned a trip to the state science fair.
Madan and Haran Sivakumar, Gr. 11, who also earned a trip to the state science fair, both placed first in the Medicine/Health/Gerontology category. Rahul Ahuja, Gr. 12, earned a second place award in the Individual Project subcategory and received an honorable mention from the U.S. Army.
Harker also had a number of winners in the competition’s Computers/Mathematics category. Andrew Stanek, Gr. 12, took first place in the Individual Project subcategory, and received second place in the Technical Paper subcategory. Senior Dominique Dabija was given a second place award in both the Technical Paper and Individual Project subcategories.
In the Biochemistry/Microbiology category, Elena Madan, Gr. 12, Alex Han, Gr. 11 and Peter Gao, Gr. 10, were all second place award winners for Individual Project. Madan also received a $200 cash prize from the Palo Alto chapter of the Association for Women in Science. Aaron Lin, Gr. 12, was awarded $100 and an Achievement Certificate from the Santa Clara County Biotech Education Partnership.
Ramya Rangan and Kathryn Siegel, both Gr. 9, won an honorable mention for their team project in the Botany category, while Emily Carr, Gr. 12, was awarded a certificate and a medal from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for her project in the Environmental Sciences category. Senior Anand Natarajan’s paper, “Spatial Control of Gene Expression using CT-guided Collimated X-rays to Modulate Transcription,” earned him a first place award in the Technical Paper category, with fellow senior Baladitya Yellapragada taking a second place award in the same category for the paper “Virtual Worlds for CPR.”
Lastly, but not leastly, Jerry Sun, Gr. 10, earned a first place award for Technical Paper in Zoology for his work, “Cinnamomum Verum Bark Essential Oils Affect on the Movement of Ants.”
On the MS side, students came up big in the Physics category. Vikas Bhetanabhotla, Gr. 7, took home a second place award in Individual Project, and also received a Certificate of Achievement from the NASA Ames Research center, as well as a VIP visit to the NASA Ames facility and an honorable mention from the United States Coast Guard. Fellow seventh graders Allen Cheng and Daniel Pak also hauled in a second place award for their team project, which received an honorable mention from ASM International, formerly known as the American Society for Metals. Another seventh grader, Brian Tuan, received an honorable mention for Individual Project, as did Michaela Kastelman, Gr. 8, who also hauled in a $100 cash prize and earned a $100 donation to the MS science department from Trimble Navigation.
Ashvin Swaminathan, Gr. 8, was the winner of a first place award in the Individual Project area of Biochemistry/Microbiology, while Jennifer Dai, Gr. 7, and Suchita Nety, Gr. 8, received honorable mentions for Individual Project in the same category.
In Engineering, Varun Gudapati, Gr. 8, was the winner of a second place award for Individual Project and received the first place award from ASM International, which included a $100 cash prize. Vikram Sundar, Gr. 7, was another Engineering award recipient, receiving an honorable mention from ASM International and a HP35s scientific calculator from Hewlett-Packard.
Ramakrishnan Menon and Benjamin Yang, both Gr. 8, received the second place award for Team Project in Environmental Sciences, and both also received a certificate of achievement from the American Meteorological Society.
In the Medicine/Health/Gerontology category, eighth grader Jacqueline Wang was a Top Junior High Award Winner, winning an Isabelle Stone Award for Best Biological Science Projects, which included a plaque, a $100 cash prize and a trip to the State Science Fair. Wang also earned a first place award for Individual Project, a certificate from the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge and a Board of Directors Award in the Middle School category from the Santa Clara Valley Science and Engineering Fair Association. Zina Jawadi, Gr. 7, received an honorable mention. Nikhil Baradwaj, Gr. 8, was given a Certificate of Merit from the American Psychological Association.
Elsewhere, Paulomi Bhattacharya, Gr. 8, received a first place award for Individual Project in Earth Space/Sciences. Bhattacharya was also invited to the State Science Fair and the Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge, and received a Special Award for Geoscience Excellence from the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association for Women Geoscientists.
For the school’s performance at the fair, Harker received an Outstanding School Award, and US biology teacher Kate Schafer won an Outstanding Teacher Award. Congratulations, obviously, are due all around!