2005 Chemagination Coordinators
Vijaya Korlipara, Ph.D. (St. John’s University)
Christine Iannucci (Ridgefield Park High School)
 

The second annual Chemagination contest was hosted by New York Section of the American Chemical Society at St. John's University on May 16, 2005.  Chemagination is a science essay and poster contest for high school chemistry students, grades 9-12, that asks them to address the question, “What innovation or breakthrough in the field of chemistry will be important in the lives of teenagers 25 years from now?”  Students choose one of four categories:  Biotechnology, Medicine/Healthcare, New Materials, or Transportation/Environment, and their entries are written as articles of 1000 words or less that might appear in a future issue of ChemMatters, a science publication for high school students.  Students make a poster presentation of their articles on the day of the contest.

 Approximately forty students participated in presenting 15 posters this year which are listed below.  A panel consisting of three judges interviewed each group of students and selected the top two posters in each category.  Judging criteria included scientific thought, creativity, clarity, thoroughness, and teamwork.
 

BIOTECHNOLOGY

1.  DNA Computers: A New Approach to Contraception and STD Prevention (Collegiate School)
***2.  Somebody Call the Internal Doctor (Collegiate School)

NEW MATERIALS

***3.  Suntax: A new Type of Contact Lens (Collegiate School)
4.  It Really “Keeps Going and Going and Going” (Collegiate School)
5.  The Superglue for Bones (Locust Valley High School)
6.  Dude, Where Are My Cones? (Ridgefield Park High School)

MEDICINE/HEALTHCARE

7.  VitaLens: Daily Vitamins with your daily contacts (Collegiate School)
8.  Quick Skin (Collegiate School)
9.  The Precise Gamma Knife: A Surgical Solution (Locust Valley High School)
***10.  The Transdermal Nutrient System: One Square Patch for Those Who Can't Have Three Square Meals (Ridgefield Park High School)

ENVIRONMENT/TRANSPORTATION

11.  Fuel Cells for the Future (Collegiate School)
12. Hydrogen to Cell Better in Future (Collegiate School)
13.  The Alchemy of Water (Locust Valley High School)
***14.  Man of the Moon (Locust Valley High School)
15. A Stampede of White Horses (Ridgefield Park High School)
 

***Went on to the regional competition (MARM, May 22nd at Rutgers).  Our Medicine/Healthcare entry “The Transdermal Nutrient System: One Square Patch for Those Who Can't Have Three Square Meals” was selected to compete at the National level.

Congratulations to all the students who participated in Chemagination 2005 with great enthusiasm.  Special thanks are in order for Drs. Stephen Goldberg, Richard Rosso, and Ralph Stephani who served as the judges, and to Dr. Goldberg for preparing the certificates of participation that were distributed to all Chemagination 2005 participants.