Students from Williamsville, Commack, Lawrence & Jericho win top honors at New York science fair

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Winners of the New York State Science Congress hail from three Long Island communities and Williamsville, a suburb of Buffalo.

The event, held June 4 at the University at Buffalo, featured 60 students from throughout the state in grades 7-12. The following students received the Highest Honor award, signifying a first place finish in their respective categories.

High School

• Physical sciences – Natale Mancuso, a senior at Williamsville South High School, for a project titled “Implementation of Independent Verification for Quality Assurance of Leksell Gamma Plan.”
• Biological sciences – Justin Kim, a junior at Jericho Senior High School, for a project titled “Enhancement of B-Lactum Antibiotic Susceptibility by Tannic Acid through B-Lactamase Inhibition.”

Middle School

• Physical sciences – Rohan Surana, a seventh grade student at Commack Middle School, investigated the influence architectural design has on minimizing damage from tsunamis.
• Biological sciences – Bhawan Sandhu, an eighth grade student at Lawrence Middle School, designed an experiment and conducted research on distracted driving.

To participate in the event, students had to first win their local science fairs. Once selected for the statewide fair, they were judged on poster board presentations of their research by scientists, engineers, doctors and other professionals from the Buffalo Niagara region. Highest Honor recipients received $400, High Honor (or second place) $200 and Honor (third place) $100.

The Science Teachers Association of New York State (STANYS) organized and sponsored the annual event. Co-sponsors of this year’s event included the Western New York Science Congress, Inc. and UB.

Additional support was provided by Visit Buffalo Niagara, the Technical Societies Council of the Niagara Frontier and New York Sea Grant. Siemens provided promotional items.

The tentative date for next year’s STANYS New York State Science Congress is June 3.  Students interested in participating should first participate in their local Science Congress event.  Visit http://www.stanys.org/ for more information.