Los Angeles—Winners of the 2001 50th California State Science Fair were announced among a cheering audience of students, parents, and teachers during the awards ceremony held at the California Science Center on May 22nd. The fair drew over 900 students from counties all over the state, with finalists selected by a volunteer pool of 300 scientists and engineers from private industry and higher education.

Dylan J. Mefford, a senior at Arcata High School in Arcata (Humboldt County), was named California State Science Fair Student of the Year and was presented with a $1,000 award. His project entry in the category of Fluid Mechanics/Aerodynamics/Thermophysics was titled "Blow It Out Your Wind Tunnel: The Effect of Temperature Modification on Drag Force." Timothy A. Dong, an 11th grade student at Alhambra High School in Alhambra (Los Angeles County) was awarded $2,000 for Science Fair Project of the Year/Senior Division and also received the $15,000 Dr. Arnold and Mabel Beckman Award. His project category was Chemistry and the title of his project was, "Rate Constants of the Oxidation of Substituted Phosphines with Singlet Oxygen." Kyle S.F. Boots, a 6th grader from Crossroads School for Arts and Sciences located in Santa Monica (Los Angeles County), was also named for two awards. His entry was selected for the Project of the Year/Junior Division, for which he received $1,000. Boots was also a recipient of the Silicon Boule award, which gave him a choice between two prizes, a laptop computer or a silicon boule. His project category was Electricity & Electronics and his project was titled "Pro C.E.S.S. Robot (Collects, Evaluates, Sorts, Stores.)"

Bill Miller, a science teacher at Lewis Middle School in San Diego was named Junior Division Science Fair Teacher of the Year, and Millie Hackworth, an instructor at Redwood High School in Larkspur (Marin County) was named Senior Division Science Fair Teacher of the Year. Each received $2,000 for their student-nominated award.

Jeffrey N. Rudolph, executive director of the California Science Center stated "The fair helps students learn that they can be scientists and that it can be fun and satisfying to exercise their creativity, intellect and curiosity." The Science Center's involvement with the annual event dates back more than 40 years and is part of its mission to stimulate and nurture public interest in science, math and technology.

Special Awards
A number of special awards were also presented:

For more information on the California State Science Fair, please visit www.casciencectr.org/CSSF. The names of the award winners are posted on this site. Reporters may also contact the Communications Department at (213) 744-7446 for information on winners from their area.

Editor's Note:
The California Science Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Admission to the exhibits is free. For recorded information on IMAX show times, phone (213) 744-7400. For advance ticket purchases, group rates, or to make free reservations for any visiting group of 15 or more (required), call (213) 744-2019. Parking is available in the guest lot at Figueroa and 39th Street for $6 per car. Both the Science Center and IMAX Theater are wheelchair accessible. For general information, phone (323) SCIENCE.