More than 1,550 young scientists from 56 countries and territories gathered in Reno, Nevada on May 10-15 for the 2009 Intel International Science & Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), the world's largest precollegiate science fair. These finalists were 9th- through 12-graders who earned the right to attend by winning a top prize at a local, regional, state or national science fair. The culmination of the week is the Grand Awards Ceremony, where awards valued at nearly $1 million in scholarships, tuition grants, scientific trips, and internships are announced.

The Intel Foundation Young Scientist Award

This award, which includes a $50,000 scholarship, is given to three finalists judged to be the "best of the best" in that year. The 2009 winners of this award were Tara Anjali Adiseshan, 14, of Charlottesville, Virginia; Li Sallou Boynton, 17, of Bellaire, Texas; and Olivia Catherine Schwob, 16, of Boston, Massachusetts.

• Tara Adiseshan identified and classified the evolutionary relationships between sweat bees and the nematodes (microscopic worms) that live inside them. Tara was able to prove that because the two have such ecologically intimate relationships, they also have an evolutionary relationship. That is to say, if one species evolves, the other will follow. (Read Cogito's profile of Tara, written after ISEF 2008, and watch a video interview with Tara filmed the day before she won.)

• Li Boynton developed a biosensor from bioluminescent bacteria (a living organism that gives off light) to detect the presence of contaminants in public water. Li's biosensor is cheaper and easier to use than current biosensors, and she hopes it can be used in developing countries to reduce water toxicity.
• Olivia Schwob isolated a gene that can be used to improve the intelligence of a worm. The results could help us better understand how humans learn and even prevent, treat and cure mental disabilities in the future.

A Trip to the Nobel Prize Ceremonies

The Seaborg SIYSS Award is other most coveted award at ISEF — an all expense-paid trip awarded to three senior finalists to attend the Nobel Prize Ceremonies in December. This award is named for the late Glenn T. Seaborg, Nobel Laureate in chemistry and a Science Service trustee. Winners attend the Nobel lectures and press conferences and experience the extravaganza of the Nobel festivities. They also attend the Stockholm International Youth Science Seminar (SIYSS), a multi-disciplinary seminar highlighting some of the most remarkable achievements by young scientists from around the world. The 2009 winners of the Seaborg SIYSS Award are:

Read and see more at:

• Cogito's ISEF09 blog
• Geek Dad's videos
• Intel Press Room videos
• InspiredByEducation.com
• IntelISEF09 on Flickr
• IntelISEF09 on Twitter

• Preya Shah, 17, East Setauket, New York.
  Project: "Combating Cancer: Design and Synthesis of Dual-Warhead Tumor-Targeting Drug Conjugates"
  (Watch a video interview with Preya.)
• Eric Kerner Larson, 17, Eugene, Oregon.
  Project: "The Classification of Certain Fusion Categories"

Best of Category Winners

Students who were awarded "Best of Category" in each of the 19 categories each receive a $5,000 Intel scholarship and and a new laptop powered by the Intel® Core™2 Duo processor. The Best in Category winners are:

• Animal Sciences:
  Tara Anjali Adiseshan, 14, Ramana Academy, Charlottesville, Virginia
  "Identifying and Classifying Evolutionary Interactions between Sweat Bees and Nematodes"
• Behavioral & Social Sciences:
  Olivia Catherine Schwob, 16, Boston Latin School, Boston, Massachusetts
  "How Worms Learn, Part III: Mammalian Gene Expression and Associative Conditioning in Caenorhabditis elegans"

This year, Intel let you help choose the first Intel ISEF People's Choice Award winners from among the Best of Category winners. And the winners were:

1st: I-Ching Tseng
2nd: Bakshi & Massey
3rd: Anartya Mandal


• Biochemistry:
  Anartya Mandal, 18, Boston Latin School, Boston, MA
  "Curcumin Induces Apoptosis in Cancer Cells by Inhibiting NF-kB"
• Cellular and Molecular Biology:
  Ronit Batya Roth Abramson, 17, Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego, California
  "Cell Wall Formation from Marine Diatom Protoplasts: Implications for Novel Transformation and Nanotechnology Techniques"
• Chemistry:
  Preya Shah, 17, Ward Melville High School, East Setauket, New York
  "Combating Cancer: Design and Synthesis of Dual-Warhead Tumor-Targeting Drug Conjugates"
• Computer Science:
  Kevin Michael Ellis, 17, Catlin Gabel School, Beaverton, Oregon
  "System S: Describing State in Functional Languages"
• Earth & Planetary Sciences:
  Marley Elizabeth Iredale, 16, Sequim High School, Sequim, Washington
  "Evaluating Tsunami Risk in Discovery Bay, Washington"
• Electrical & Mechanical Engineering:
  Alexander Kent Kendrick, 16, Los Alamos High School, Los Alamos, New Mexico
  "The Underground Radio II"
• Engineering: Materials & Bioengineering:
  Scott Alexander Skirlo, 18, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia
  "A Study of the Degradation of the Two-way Effect in NiTi"
• Energy & Transportation:
  Ryan Cherian Alexander, 16, R. C. Clark High School, Plano, Texas
  "Gone with the Windmills: An Analysis of the Effectiveness of an Oscillating Wind Energy Generator"
• Environmental Management:
  Eliza Helen McNitt, 17, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, Connecticut
  "Shedding Light on Imidacloprid's Role in Colony Collapse Disorder"
• Environmental Sciences:
  Li Sallou Boynton, 17, Bellaire High School, Bellaire, Texas
  "The Use of Bioluminescent Bacteria to Detect Environmental Contaminants"
• Mathematical Sciences:
  Eric Kerner Larson, 17, South Eugene High School, Eugene, Oregon
  "The Classification of Certain Fusion Categories"
• Medicine & Health Sciences:
  Ashoka Sanjaya Rajendra, 17, Loudoun County Academy of Science, Sterling, Virginia
  "Down-regulation of hTERT Sensitizes Chemotherapeutic Effects of Docetaxel in Human Prostate Cancer Cells"
• Microbiology:
  I-Ching Tseng, 16, National Taichung Girl's Senior High School, Taichung, Taiwan, Chinese Taipei
  "A Styrofoam-Decomposing Bacterium from Mealworms"
• Physics & Astronomy:
  Nilesh Tripuraneni, 18, Clovis West High School, Fresno, California
  "A Relativistic Generalization of the Navier-Stokes Equations to Quark-Gluon Plasmas"
• Plant Sciences:
  Mark Adrian Chonofsky, 17, Lexington High School, Lexington, Massachusetts
  "Phylogeny of the Taxaceae Inferred from Phytochrome Sequences"





• Best Team Project in Life Sciences:
  Shaunak Krishan Bakshi, 15, Manhasset High School, Manhasset, New York
  Peter Hans Massey, 16, Manhasset High School, Manhasset, New York
  "Alpha-Lipoic Acid: Towards a Novel Neuroprotective Treatment for Alzheimer's Associated Cognitive Dysfunction in a Drosophila Model"
• Best Team Project in Physical Sciences:
  Erika Alden DeBenedictis, 17, Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  Haochen Hong, 16, La Cueva High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  Duanni Huang, 18, La Cueva High School, Albuquerque, New Mexico
  "A Novel Approach to Asteroid Identification Using Image Processing of Existing Data"

Finalists awarded Best, First, or Second in their category will also have a special honor: an asteroid will be named for them. MIT's Lincoln Laboratory has partnered with the Society for Science and the Public in a program called the CERES Connection, which names asteroids after students in Science Service competitions, including the Intel ISEF. All asteroids named in the CERES Connection program have been discovered by the Lincoln Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) program, operated by the Lincoln Laboratory.

In all, more than 500 Intel ISEF participants received scholarships and prizes for their work. "These winners — and indeed, all 1,500 Intel ISEF participants — represent some of the most innovative thinking around the world," said Craig Barrett, Intel chairman. "Intel ISEF is part of our company's commitment to foster young innovators like these who will one day transform the world in ways we can hardly imagine. I want to congratulate them on their very meaningful scientific accomplishments."

For a complete list of award winners, see www.societyforscience.org/isef/Press/