Winners
of 2006 California State Science Fair Announced
Two-Day Event Concludes with Awards Ceremony
Los
Angeles –Winners of the 2006 California
State Science Fair were announced among a cheering audience
of students, parents and teachers during an awards ceremony
hosted by the California Science Center on May 23, 2006
at the Science Center School. The fair drew 960 students
from 35 counties statewide, with finalists selected by
a volunteer pool of over 300 scientists and engineers from
private industry and higher education. Students took home
a combined total of over $50,000 in cash prizes, with major
support for the Fair provided by THE MUSES of the California
Science Center Foundation and Raytheon.
Top Awards
Michael
Viscardi, a 12th grade student at Josan Academy
in San Diego (San Diego County) was selected for the Dr. & Mrs.
Arnold O. Beckman Project of the Year-Senior Division and
received a $10,000 cash prize. His project was titled “The
Solution of the Dirichlet Problem with Rational Boundary
Conditions.” David M. Cohn, III,
a 7th grade student from The Rhoades School in Encinitas
(San Diego County) was chosen for the Dr. & Mrs. Arnold
O. Beckman Project of the Year—Junior Division award
and received a $5,000 cash prize. His project was titled “From
Ashes to Life: Burned Region Plant Regeneration/Soil Transformation”.
Two special committees, one for each division, reviewed
all first-place, winning projects from every subject category
in order to select the best project in each division.
Christine
Haas, a senior at Clovis East High School High
School in Clovis (Fresno County) was named California State
Science Fair Student of the Year and was presented with
a $1,000 cash prize. Her project entry was titled “The
Effects of Aesculus californica on Mosquitoes
and the Characterization of Its Larvicidal Compounds”.
This award is presented to the high school senior who,
in the opinion of the judges, best exemplifies the qualities
necessary for success in science.
Dawn
O’Connor, a teacher at Ascencion Solorsano
Middle School in Gilroy (Santa Clara County) was named
California State Science Fair Teacher of the Year—Junior
Division, and Wayne Garabedian, a teacher
at Clovis West High School in Fresno (Fresno County) was
named California State Science Fair Teacher of the Year-Senior
Division. Each received a $2,000 cash prize.
Jeffrey
N. Rudolph, executive director, California Science Center,
commented, “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
Recognition Awards
Sean Pi of Los Angeles County Silicon
Boule Award. Representative of today’s high
technology, the Silicon Boule Award, which uniquely acknowledges
distinctive performance in the physical sciences, is the end
piece of an ultrapure monocrystalline silicon boule.
Information
on other Special Recognition Awards, as well as the complete
list of subject category award winners, can be viewed at www.californiasciencecenter.org/CSSF/.
Reporters may also call the Science Center’s Communications
Department at (213) 744-7446 for winners from their area.
