LAHS student Lillian Peterson wins Best in Show in the Senior Division with her project, ‘Predicting Food Shortages in Africa from Satellite Imagery’. Courtesy/LAPS
LAPS News:
Los Alamos Public School students excelled at the Northeastern New Mexico Regional Science and Engineering Fair with 52 students representing the district March 10 and nearly half receiving top marks.
Los Alamos High School student Lillian Peterson won Best in Show for the Senior Division with her project, “Predicting Food Shortages in Africa from Satellite Imagery.”
Students who placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their category are eligible to move on to state, and more than 20 projects from Los Alamos schools will be doing just that. The complete list of LAPS winners, including honorable mentions, is attached.
Eva Abeyta, the school district coordinator for Science Fair, said, “I am very proud of our students who represented LAPS at the Regional Science Fair.”
The competition consisted of schools from northeastern New Mexico such as Taos, Penasco, Santa Fe (Academy of Technology and the Classics, Carlos Gilbert, El Dorado, Desert Academy, and Santo Nino Regional Catholic School), Las Vegas, Roy and Santa Rosa.
“Our students did amazing!” Abeyta said.
The New Mexico State Science and Engineering Fair recognizes and rewards excellence in science, mathematics and engineering projects created by junior high and high school students from throughout the state. These competitions are meant to encourage inquisitive students to explore their environment in a systematic, logical manner.
The next competition, the New Mexico State Science and Engineering Fair, is April 6-7 at New Mexico Tech in Socorro. The best of show winners at the state level will go on to compete at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in May, which will be in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Congratulations 2018 LAPS Winners!
Best in Show for Senior Division
EE-26: Lillian Peterson, Los Alamos High School
“Predicting Food Shortages in Africa from Satellite Imagery”
Sponsor: Katie Tauxe
Animal Science
Junior Division
1st: AS-3: Cohen McKown, Chamisa Elementary, White Rock, “Attracting Birds” Sponsor: Tammy Hinckley
Senior Division
1st: AS-8: Karin Ebey, Los Alamos High School, “Modeling American Alligator Population Dynamics” Sponsor: Katie Tauxe
Behavioral & Social Sciences
Junior Division
2nd: SB-1: Maya Clausen, Los Alamos Middle School, “Eyewitness Accuracy” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
3rd: SB-6: Kaya Loy, Barranca Mesa Elementary, Los Alamos, “How Many Senses Do You Need to Describe Different Objects?” Sponsor: Audrey Juliani
Honorable Mention: SB-7: Sasha Simakov, Mountain Elementary School, Los Alamos, “My mom and I don’t speak the same language” Sponsor: Michele Altherr
Senior Division
1st: SB-11: Nalesh Mukundan, Los Alamos High School, “There’s an App for That” Sponsor: Harshini Mukundan
Biomedical & Health Sciences
Senior Division
1st: BH-15: Ana Abeyta, Los Alamos High School, “Drugs, Genetics, and Cancer” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
Chemistry
Junior Division
1st: CH-11: Jason Pieck, Los Alamos Middle School, “Time to Repaint the House” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
2nd: CH-16: Harrison Coe, Barranca Mesa, Los Alamos, “Molecular Gastronomy: The Chemistry of Making Edible Spheres” Sponsor: Audrey Juliani
Honorable Mention: CH-5: Daniel Kim, Piñon Elementary White Rock, “Polymer Permeability” Sponsor: Katie Steinberg
Earth & Environmental Sciences
Junior Division
2nd: EE-18: Veronica Sofia Parra, Mountain Elementary School, Los Alamos, “Locating the Epicenter for the 2017 Central New Mexico Earthquake” Sponsor: Michele Altherr
Senior Division
1st: EE-26: Lillian Peterson, Los Alamos High School, “Predicting Food Shortages in Africa from Satellite Imagery” Sponsor: Katie Tauxe
Engineering: Mechanics
Junior Division
1st: EM-15: Robert Strauss, Los Alamos Middle School, “Liquid Sand: Buoyancy in a Fluidized bed” Sponsor: Charlie Strauss
3rd: EM-14: Julian Singell, Mountain Elementary, “What Curvature of an Arch Creates the Strongest Bridge” Sponsor: Michele Altherr
Materials Science
Junior Division
2nd: MS-10: Naveen Velappan, Los Alamos Middle School, “Magnetic Transportation” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
Senior Division
1st: MS-13: Declan O’Leary, Los Alamos High School, “Does NM Law Require Enough Insulation for Slab Floors?” Sponsor: Katie Tauxe
Mathematics:
Junior Division
2nd: MA-4: Alexander Livescu, Los Alamos Middle School, “The Not-so-weird world of Quantum Computing: Bits, Quibits, and Really Large Primes” Sponsor: Daniel Livescu
3rd: MA-2: Ruben Goettee, Los Alamos Middle School, “Bet you Can’t Hit Me in the Science of Catapult Statistics” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
Honorable Mention: MA-1: Daniel Borovina, Los Alamos Middle School, “Parabolas and the Perfect Hot Dog” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
Senior Division
1st: MA-6: Samuel Crooks, Los Alamos High School, “Implementing an Artificial Neural Network to Recognize Handwritten Digit” Sponsor: Bill Crooks
2nd: MA-7: Elijah Pelofske, Los Alamos High School, “RSA Based Primality Test” Sponsor: Katie Tauxe
3rd: MA-8: Charles Strauss, Los Alamos High School, “Teaching an AI to teach an AI: Image Completion in Tensorflow” Sponsor: Charlie Strauss
Microbiology
Junior Division
2nd: MB-8: Maximus Posada, Barranca Mesa Elementary, “Eggs with a side of Bacteria?” Sponsor: Audrey Juliani
Physics and Astronomy
Junior Division
1st: PA-10: Phillip Ionkov, Los Alamos Middle School, “Dark Star” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
2nd: PA-2: Anna Batista, Los Alamos Middle School, “Measuring Small Objects with Light Defraction” Sponsor: Eva Abeyta
Senior Division
Honorable Mention: PA-22: Jake Werner, Los Alamos High School, “Can we Stop an Electromagnetic Pulse?” Sponsor: Katie Tauxe
Plant Sciences:
Junior Division
Honorable Mention: PS-5: Tyler Chamberlin, Aspen Elementary, Los Alamos, “Plant Media and Growth” Sponsor: Heather Coy
Senior Division
1st: PS-15: Gabreel Helesinger, Xavier McTeigue, and Uriah Sanchez, Los Alamos High School, “Hydroponic Agriculture: Commercial vs. Individual Growth In NM” Sponsor: Donald Davis
Junior Division:
1st place: Daniel Borovina, Los Alamos Middle School, “Parabolas and the Perfect Hot Dog”
2nd place: Phillip Ionkov, Los Alamos Middle School, “Dark Star”
Honorable Mention: Veronica Sofia Parra, Mountain Elementary, “Locating the Epicenter for the 2017 Central Mexico Earthquake”
Senior Division
1st place: Lillian Peterson, Los Alamos High School, “Predicting good shortages in Africa from Satellite Imagery”
2nd place: Karin Ebey, Los Alamos High School, “Modeling American Alligator Population Dynamics”
Honorable Mention: Elijah Pelafske, Los Alamos High School, “RSA Based Primality Test”
