High-School Students Participate In UB Research Institute

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A future Albert Einstein or a budding Bill Gates could be among the eight local high-school students participating in this summer's Science Research Institute (SRI) at the University at Buffalo.

Chosen for the program based on academic achievement and teacher recommendations, the students conduct research with volunteer UB faculty members working in engineering, chemistry, biology, physics and biosurfaces.

The students also attend sessions on library-research tools, presenting research findings, laboratory safety procedures and using computers in research.

They also visit area facilities to increase their knowledge of scientific careers and opportunities in Western New York.

Students will present oral reports and poster sessions on their research at 11 a.m. on Aug. 14 in the first-floor dining hall of Talbert Hall on the North (Amherst) Campus.

• Adam Fosbury, Williamsville North, Deborah Chung, Ph.D., professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, "Radio Wave Reflectivity of Cement"

• Carla McKinnon, City Honors, Lakis Mountziaris, Ph.D., associate professor, and graduate student John Peck, Department of Chemical Engineering, "Titanium Semiconductors"

• Yun-Sheen Liu, Williamsville North, Joseph Gardella Jr., Ph.D., professor of chemistry, "Seneca Babcock Environmental Air Quality Study"

• Jennifer Kang, Williamsville East, Anne Meyer, Ph.D., principal research scientist with the UB/Industry Center for Biosurfaces, "Pulsating Bubble Sufactometer Measurements"

• Anastasia Kaluzhny, Kenmore West, Satpal Singh, Ph.D., associate professor of biochemical pharmacology, "Drosophilia Heart Anatomy"

• Kirpaul Babar, Williamsville North, Surajit Sen, Ph.D., assistant professor, and Marian Manciu, graduate student, Department of Physics, "Transmission of Sound Waves Through Sand"

• Ricky Mehta, City Honors, Joseph Gardella Jr., Ph.D., professor of chemistry, and S. Bruce Kohrn, adjunct lecturer, interdisciplinary degree programs, "Environmental Audit of Hutchinson Technical High School"

• Thomas Lee, Williamsville North, P.C. Cheng, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering, "Confocal Microscopy of Maize Chromosomes"

SRI is modeled on the statewide, residential New York State Summer Institute for Science and Mathematics (NYSSISM) that previously was funded at UB and other college and university campuses.

Nearly 100 high-school students from across the state participated in NYSSISM during the five years it was funded at UB.

Rodney Doran, Ph.D., SRI director and UB professor of learning and instruction, notes that several of those students returned after graduation to attend UB.

Assisting Doran and Marilyn Matz, research coordinator for SRI, in running SRI were Mark Templin, Ph.D., assistant professor of Learning and Instruction; Stanley Wegrzynowski, director of science for the Buffalo Public Schools, and Nicholas Hejaily, science instructional specialist for the Williamsville Central Schools.