CHEMAGINATION
Chemagination is a competition for high school students that encourages creativity and entrepreneurship. For this event, high school students are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. Students are also asked to design the magazine cover. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry (and/or its applications) that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” The article must be written to fit in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Health, or New Materials.
First Place category winners from ACS Local Sections’ Chemagination competitions are eligible to compete on the regional level. If this team cannot participate for any reason, the Second Place category winner or other team can serve as alternate. In addition, in lieu of holding their own formal Chemagination competition, a Local Section can choose to submit one team per category directly to the MARM competition using an alternate selection process.
Chemagination History
The Chemagination Competition was launched in 2004 by the ACS Committee on Community Activities. Competitions were organized by ACS Local Sections and the first place winners were eligible to compete on the regional level. In the case of MARM, these regional competitions were sponsored by the individual MARM Regional Meetings.
In 2007 the ACS Committee on Community Activities discontinued their support of Chemagination but encouraged local sections and Regional Meeting organizers to sponsor them on their own. MARM made the decision to do so. The regional competitions were supported financially by the individual MARM Regional Meetings from 2004 to 2008. In 2010 the MARM Executive Board assumed the financial support for the regional competitions. In order to provide consistency and continuity it later assumed the overall administration of the competition.
Contact for MARM Chemagination: Louise Lawter, [email protected]
CONTEST OVERVIEW
For this event, high school students are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry (and/or its applications) that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” To view a sample ChemMatters magazine visit acs.org, and look under Education:
In addition to the article, students are asked to design a cover for the magazine. The article must be written as if the student is living in the year 2044, looking back at innovations that have occurred since (Year). The innovation must fall into one of the following categories:
• Alternative Energy
• Medicine/Health
• Environment
• New Materials
A few examples of areas where development is expected are: nanotechnology, energy efficiency, pollution prevention, green chemistry, sustainability, intelligent devices for sensing, proteomics, climate models, biopharmaceutical therapies, medical devices and/or implants and new energy sources.
Evaluation of the entry is based upon:
(1) the written article which is submitted in advance,
(2) the presentation of the innovation on a self-standing display and
(3) knowledge of and soundness of the science as demonstrated in interviews with judges (much like science fair judging).
RULES
ARTICLES must:
• be written by a team of two or three students; each student may be on only one team.
• be about 1000 words (figure captions are not included in the limit).
• present the chemistry/scientific concepts/ideas/principles behind the innovation.
• describe the innovation and indicate how it has improved people’s lives.
• present a “history” of the changes that had to occur over the prior 25 years to develop this innovation.
• include drawings, diagrams, illustrations and descriptions of the chemistry and any technology involved in all key aspects of the innovation.
• cite a minimum of three technical references.
• include a cover design for the magazine. The cover design can be an original computer graphic or a free-hand drawing.
DISPLAYS must:
• be 24” deep, 40” wide and 48” tall or less, and be able to sit on a table, much like at a science fair display.
• include the cover of the magazine.
• be a visual representation of the article’s content with a minimum of text.
• include a list of references cited.
ATTENDANCE:
• At least one member of the team must attend the competition to present the display and interview with the judges to be eligible for prizes.
SCORING:
• Winners are selected by the judges based on the quality of the article and display, and the quality and understanding of the science of the innovation.
• Criteria for scoring include scientific thought, creativity, clarity, thoroughness and teamwork.
ELIGIBILITY/REQUIREMENTS:
• Each local section can submit up to four entries (1 per category).
• All students must be currently enrolled in an accredited high school or home school and be taking or have recently completed a grades 9-12 science class.
• Students and their parents are responsible for transportation to and from the meeting site.
• All entries become the property of the ACS and will not be acknowledged or returned.
• The ACS, its agents and contractors, are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, or postage-due entries.
• Acceptance of the prize constitutes consent to use the winners’ names, likeness and entries for editorial, advertising, and publicity purposes.
• Prizes are not transferable.
• Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner.
• Participants will be asked to provide a Photo Release Form signed by a parent or guardian prior to attending the contest.
KEY DEADLINES
| Approximate Date | Action | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months prior to competition | Local sections notify the (year) MARM Chemagination competition co-chairs of their intent to participate in the (year) MARM Chemagination Competition. | |||
| 1 month prior to competition | Local Sections submit their estimate of the number of teams they will be sending to the (year) MARM Chemagination Competition | |||
| 2 weeks prior to competition | Local sections confirm the number of participating teams and submit article titles and contact information on each student. (Submission process will be announced at a later date.) | |||
| 10 days prior to competition | Teams submit their articles for pre-judging. | |||
| Competition date | The XXXX MARM Chemagination competition takes place during MARM (year) at (location) | |||
CONTEST OVERVIEW
For this event, high school students are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry (and/or its applications) that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” To view a sample ChemMatters magazine visit acs.org, and look under Education:
In addition to the article, students are asked to design a cover for the magazine. The article must be written as if the student is living in the year 2044, looking back at innovations that have occurred since (Year). The innovation must fall into one of the following categories:
• Alternative Energy
• Medicine/Health
• Environment
• New Materials
A few examples of areas where development is expected are: nanotechnology, energy efficiency, pollution prevention, green chemistry, sustainability, intelligent devices for sensing, proteomics, climate models, biopharmaceutical therapies, medical devices and/or implants and new energy sources.
Evaluation of the entry is based upon:
(1) the written article which is submitted in advance,
(2) the presentation of the innovation on a self-standing display and
(3) knowledge of and soundness of the science as demonstrated in interviews with judges (much like science fair judging).
RULES
ARTICLES must:
• be written by a team of two or three students; each student may be on only one team.
• be about 1000 words (figure captions are not included in the limit).
• present the chemistry/scientific concepts/ideas/principles behind the innovation.
• describe the innovation and indicate how it has improved people’s lives.
• present a “history” of the changes that had to occur over the prior 25 years to develop this innovation.
• include drawings, diagrams, illustrations and descriptions of the chemistry and any technology involved in all key aspects of the innovation.
• cite a minimum of three technical references.
• include a cover design for the magazine. The cover design can be an original computer graphic or a free-hand drawing.
DISPLAYS must:
• be 24” deep, 40” wide and 48” tall or less, and be able to sit on a table, much like at a science fair display.
• include the cover of the magazine.
• be a visual representation of the article’s content with a minimum of text.
• include a list of references cited.
ATTENDANCE:
• At least one member of the team must attend the competition to present the display and interview with the judges to be eligible for prizes.
SCORING:
• Winners are selected by the judges based on the quality of the article and display, and the quality and understanding of the science of the innovation.
• Criteria for scoring include scientific thought, creativity, clarity, thoroughness and teamwork.
ELIGIBILITY/REQUIREMENTS:
• Each local section can submit up to four entries (1 per category).
• All students must be currently enrolled in an accredited high school or home school and be taking or have recently completed a grades 9-12 science class.
• Students and their parents are responsible for transportation to and from the meeting site.
• All entries become the property of the ACS and will not be acknowledged or returned.
• The ACS, its agents and contractors, are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, or postage-due entries.
• Acceptance of the prize constitutes consent to use the winners’ names, likeness and entries for editorial, advertising, and publicity purposes.
• Prizes are not transferable.
• Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner.
• Participants will be asked to provide a Photo Release Form signed by a parent or guardian prior to attending the contest.
KEY DEADLINES
| Approximate Date | Action | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 months prior to competition | Local sections notify the (year) MARM Chemagination competition co-chairs of their intent to participate in the (year) MARM Chemagination Competition. | |||
| 1 month prior to competition | Local Sections submit their estimate of the number of teams they will be sending to the (year) MARM Chemagination Competition | |||
| 2 weeks prior to competition | Local sections confirm the number of participating teams and submit article titles and contact information on each student. (Submission process will be announced at a later date.) | |||
| 10 days prior to competition | Teams submit their articles for pre-judging. | |||
| Competition date | The XXXX MARM Chemagination competition takes place during MARM (year) at (location) | |||
Chemagination at MARM 2024
Chemagination at MARM 2024
The Regional Chemagination competition took place on Saturday, June 8 at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, in conjunction with the 52nd Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Section of the ACS and the MARM Board.
For this competition students must imagine that they are scientists living 25 years in the future and have made a discovery that has had a positive impact on people’s lives. They must write an article describing the science and present that article on a poster and in interviews with judges. The articles are in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Health or New Materials.
This year a total of 15 teams competed, representing the Central PA, Lehigh Valley, Maryland, New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections. Each team was interviewed by two or three judges and First and Second Place winners were chosen in each category. Two Honorable Mention Awards (non-category specific) were also given. And the winners were:
Alternative Energy Category
First Place – “The Secret Behind the Sparkle”, Manan Patel and Jagan Rajeev, Hillsborough High School, Trenton ACS Section
Second Place – “Harvesting Hurricanes: The Endless Energy of Natural Disasters”, Eric Kim and Max Trigub, Bergen County Academies, North Jersey Section
Environment Category
First Place – “Hydro Harvest”, Alexandra D'Alessio, Eliana Eisenberg and Malika Salehmohamed, Half Hollow Hills High School West, New York Section
Second Place – “Making Forever Chemicals Temporary”, Adalinda Guarcax, Samantha Liu and Bridget Liu, Bergen County Academies, North Jersey Section
Medicine/ Health Category
First Place – “One Print Away: The Future of Osteoarthritis”, Aristha Dey and Princie Shah, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Princeton Section
Second Place –“Kalirouna - The Future of Pain”, Rachel Braverman, Benson W. Huang and Eryk Kaczocha, Half Hollow Hills High School West, New York Section
New Materials Category
First Place – “Sticky Situation; A New Alternative To Traditional Adhesives”, Owen Beckerman and Inseo Kang, Fort Lee High School, North Jersey Section
Second Place – “An Electric Innovation”, Evan Deutsch, Rahim Sheikh and Alan Yu, Half Hollow Hills High School West, New York Section
Honorable Mention
“Bamboo Made Toys”, Olivia Lisa, Sophia Luigard and Autumn Mease, Muhlenberg High School, Lehigh Valley Section
“What Can you Discover from Analyzing Brainwaves?”, Lucy Buchanan and Rebecca Lucy, The Grier School, Central PA Section
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to the students, parents, teachers, judges, contest organizers, Penn State University graduate students and other volunteers who helped make Chemagination at MARM 2024 a success!
Previous CHEMAGINATION Competitions
Chemagination at MARM 2023
The Regional Chemagination competition took place on Saturday, June 10 at St. John’s University in conjunction with MARM 2023. For this competition students must imagine that they are scientists living 25 years in the future and have made a discovery that has had a positive impact on people’s lives. They must write an article describing the science and present that article on a poster and in interviews with judges. The articles are in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Health or New Materials.
This year a total of 16 teams competed, representing the Lehigh Valley, New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections. Each team was interviewed by two or three judges and First and Second Place winners were chosen in each category. And the winners were:
Alternative Energy Category
First Place – "Nuclear Fusion: Limitless Applications of Limitless Energy”, Ajay Desai, Atharva Katkar and Vinay Panchal, Hillsborough High School
Second Place - “Seawater Powers the World: How thermonuclear energy helped replace fossil fuels with seawater”, Paolo Arcuri, Gianna Conte and Abigail Fearon, Fort Lee High School County Academies
Environment Category
First Place - “Novel Black Carbon Filtration with Sonic Agglomeration and Nanofibers”, Sumedha Jayaraman and Leo Li, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Second Place – “Harnessing Earth’s Natural Processes to Encourage Carbon Sequestration”, Noah Feigenbaum, Sergio Rosa and Avery Testa, South Side High School
Medicine/ Health Category
First Place – “Ataraxia; the Solution to 'Space Insomnia”, Rayan Afzal, Jacob Park and Dylan Stone, Half Hollow Hills High School West, Christine Tjersland, teacher, New York Section
Second Place – “Bee Cancer Free (Curing 1 Illness at a Time with Melittin)”, Eugene Hwang, Joseph Kim and Chaemin Yeo, Fort Lee High School
New Materials Category
First Place – “GemGuard Necklace”, Allyssa Rhianna Aquino, Meaghan Campbell and Catherine Purirojejananon, General Douglas MacArthur High School
Second Place – “PneumoPatch: A Revolutionary Nano-technology Approach to Reducing Pulmonary Fibrosis”. Michelle Cheon, Jiho Choi and Elizabeth Kam, Fort Lee High School
Congratulations to our winners and thank you to the students, parents, teachers, judges, contest organizers, St. John’s University graduate students and other volunteers who helped make Chemagination at MARM 2023 a success!
First & Second Place Winners at MARM Chemagination 2023
Regional Chemagination Takes Place at MARM 2022
The Chemagination regional competition took place on Saturday June 4, 2022 at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), Ewing, NJ, in conjunction with MARM 2022. It was our first in-person competition since 2019, because the 2020 and 2021 competitions were held virtually due to the Covid-19 restrictions.
For this competition, students work in teams and must imagine they are scientists living 25 years in the future and have made scientific discoveries that have impacted people’s lives in a positive manner. These discoveries can be in one of four categories: Alternate Energy, Environment, Medicine / Health or New Materials. They must describe their work in an article and displayed it on a poster.
The day’s program consisted of a poster session, judging and a tour of TCNJ by graduated senior, and junior (rising senior) chemistry majors from TCNJ. Teams from Lehigh Valley, New York and the Princeton Local Sections competed. Following the tour, winners were presented their prizes during the separate Award Ceremony for Chemagination and other Trenton and Princeton Section awards.
The awards went to:
Alternate Energy Category
First Place – “Wave Toward Clean Energy and Water”, Omar Alghondakly, Marta Rzeszutko and Paula Wasik, Wallington High School
Second Place - “Mushroom Turbines”, Sophia Castiglioni and Kayla Yoder, Muhlenberg High School
Environment Category
First Place – “The O-Fish-Ally Perfect Nanotechnological Fishing Line”, Matthew LaSusa and Natalia Pszeniczny, General Douglas MacArthur High School
Second Place - “Artificialis Florae”, Jairo Alcaraz, Samson Evans and Nathan Ramkissoon, Muhlenberg High School
Medicine / Health Category
First Place – “CROCDROPS”, Stephen Jones and Anushka Pandya, Half Hollow Hills High School West
Second Place – “The NeuroPen”, Yahfrelyn Alvarado, Dalhendji Henly and Jeslee Ruiz, Muhlenberg High School
New Materials Category
First Place - “Glasphene: The Future of Glass”, Matthias Maftei, Muhlenberg High School
Thank you to teachers Christine Tjersland, Lauren Austen, David Friedman, Matthew Zausin, Barbara Safira, Audrey Smeltzer-Schwab and Chris Evans, our judges Deborah Cook and Lisa Veliath, and all the other volunteers who made this event possible.
2021 MARM Chemagination Competition
The 2021 MARM Chemagination Competition took place on Saturday, June 12, in conjunction with MARM 2021. The competition was virtual and consisted of a brief introduction followed by virtual interviews by the judges. Each team was interviewed by two different judges. Theses were done on Zoom, in breakout rooms.
For the competition the students had to submit an article and cover art about their discovery 25 years in the future for ChemMatters. They also had to provide answers to three specific questions about their research. This was evaluated by the judges prior to the interviews and winners were selected based on this material and the interview itself.
Twenty teams total, from the Lehigh Valley, New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, and Princeton/Trenton Local Section competitions competed. First and Second Place awards in each category were given. We are pleased to announce our winners:
First Place
Alternative Energy - “Harnessing the Untapped Potential of Thorium”, Rahul Chauhan, Pradyun Kamaraju and Tejas Khare, Hillsborough High School
Environment - “Pedaling to a Greener Future, One Gem at a Time”, Christian Homa, Malgorzata Kielska and Melanie Reyes, Wallington High School
Medicine/Health - “No More Forget Me Nots”, Mariam Hassan and Seohyun Lee, Half Hollow Hills High School West
New Materials - “A Sense of Security for Plants”, Sophia Colacino, Ava Mania and Yastika Singh, Passaic Valley High School
Second Place
Alternative Energy - “Scorption Strategies to Fight Global Warming”, Sylvia Diaz and Erin Gately, Garden City High School
Environment - “Brackish Water Desalination by Compact and Cost-Effective Shock Electrodialysis System, Oliwia Lidwin and Lindsey Wiessner, Bergen County Academies
Medicine/Health - “Echolocation and its Impact on the Visually Impaired”, Haley Hong and Hailey Junk, Upper Dublin High School
New Materials - “Aerogel Composites and their Invaluable Properties”, Kabir Nagpal, Sennet Senadheera and Derek Wang, Hillsborough High School
Congratulations to all the winners and thank you to all the students who participated. We also wish to thank the teachers who supported their students throughout competition process, our judges for their hard work and the Local Section Chemagination Competition organizers who helped to make this all possible!
Shara Compton and Louise Lawter,
2021 MARM Chemagination Co-Chairs
2020 VIRTUAL MARM CHEMAGINATION DESCRIPTION AND RULES
CONTEST OVERVIEW
For this event, high school students are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry (and/or its applications) that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” To view a sample ChemMatters magazine visit acs.org, and look under Education: http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters.html.
In addition to the article, students are asked to design a cover for the magazine. The article must be written as if the student is living in the year 2045, looking back at innovations that have occurred since 2020. The innovation must fall into one of the following categories:
- Alternative Energy
- Medicine/Health
- Environment
- New Materials
A few examples of areas where development is expected are: nanotechnology, energy efficiency, pollution prevention, green chemistry, sustainability, intelligent devices for sensing, proteomics, climate models, biopharmaceutical therapies, medical devices and/or implants and new energy sources.
In place of a poster which is part of the entry for an onsite competition, teams are asked to supply answers in writing (200 words or less) to the following questions about the discovery/innovation:
- How did this research begin? What prompted or catalyzed the idea?
- How did this research evolve from the initial research idea to the final innovation 25 years later? What were some of the key breakthroughs?
- How did your research team work together and collaborate over the years?
Evaluation of the entry is based upon:
(1) the written article which is submitted in advance,
(2) the knowledge of and soundness of the science as demonstrated in the article and in the answers to the required questions above.
RULES
ARTICLES must:
- be written by a team of two or three students; each student may be on only one team.
- be about 1000 words (figure captions are not included in the limit).
- present the chemistry/scientific concepts/ideas/principles behind the innovation.
- describe the innovation and indicate how it has improved people’s lives.
- present a “history” of the changes that had to occur over the “past” 25 years (starting from 2045) to develop this innovation.
- include drawings, diagrams, illustrations and descriptions of the chemistry and any technology involved in all key aspects of the innovation.
- cite a minimum of three technical references.
- include a cover design for the magazine. The cover design can be an original computer graphic or a free-hand drawing.
SCORING:
- Winners are selected by the judges based on the quality of the article and the quality and understanding of the science of the innovation.
- Criteria for scoring include scientific thought, creativity, clarity, thoroughness and teamwork.
ELIGIBILITY/REQUIREMENTS:
- Each local section can submit up to four entries (1 per category).
- All students must be currently enrolled in an accredited high school or home school and be taking or have recently completed a grades 9-12 science class.
- All entries become the property of the ACS and will not be acknowledged or returned.
- The ACS, its agents and contractors, are not responsible for lost, late, misdirected, or postage-due entries.
- Acceptance of the prize constitutes consent to use the winners’ names, likeness and entries for editorial, advertising, and publicity purposes.
- Prizes are not transferable.
- Taxes, if any, are the sole responsibility of the winner.
KEY DEADLINES:
May 1 Local sections confirm their intent to participate in Virtual 2020 MARM Chemagination
and submit the number of teams that will be participating from their Sections.
May 15 Local sections submit the completed entry forms, which include the article titles, Chemagination category and contact information on each student, by email to Louise Lawter at [email protected].
May 30 Teams submit their entries (article, cover art and answer to questions) for evaluation by the judges. These are emailed to [email protected].
June 10 Winners are selected and all participants notified. Prizes are then mailed to the winners.
Louise Lawter, Aaron Muth and Sabesan Yoganathan,
2020 MARM Chemagination Co-Chairs
2020 MARM Chemagination
2020 MARM Chemagination took place in early June. Because of the termination of MARM 2020 due to Covid-19, an in-person competition was not possible and Chemagination was held virtually. Event organizers were Louise Lawter, Aaron Muth and Sabesan Yoganathan. Twenty-two teams total from the Lehigh Valley, New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Princeton, Trenton and Southeastern Pennsylvania Local Sections competed.
Competing teams were asked to submit their articles, cover art and responses to 3 specific questions related to their “research.”
Each entry was evaluated by two or three judges and winners were selected on June 10.
The winners in each category were:
Medicine/Health
First Place - “Fusion Proteins: A New Wave of Cancer Treatment”, Jason Bruckner and Roslyn Paul, Half Hollow Hills High School West
Second Place - “The Exciting Field of Epigenetics”, Emily Pan and Grace Zhang, Hillsborough High School
Second Place - “How to Help Without Harm”, Jillian Briggs and Lauren Lembo, Toms River High School North
Environment
First Place - “The Reflective Revolution: How Long-Lasting Aerosols Put an End to Global Warming”, James Chen, Stephen Cheng and Mark Hubertus, Millburn High School
Second Place - “Do You Sea What I Sea?”, Megan Dignam and Josephine Nguyen, Nazareth Academy High School
New Materials
First Place - “Robotic Limbs and Extensions”, Manuel (Manny) Barragan, Jared Eaton and Griffin Love, Pope John Paul II High School
Second Place - “Nanobots: Doctors of the Future”, Jin Li, Sumbul Mukhtarzada and Rachid Pierre Louis Seraphin, Muhlenberg High School
Honorable Mention - “Aerogel Composites: Structural Superinsulators”, Michael Chen, Aravind Krishnan and Yash Parikh , Hillsborough High School
Alternative Energy
First Place - “A Bright Future with Perovskite Solar Cells”, Jack Cox and Ethan Eisenberg, South Side High School
Second Place - “The Need for Green: Changing the World One Battery at a Time”, Roxsonna Janiszewski and Srigouri Oruganty, Muhlenberg High School
Thank you to teachers Christine Tjersland, Hebert Weiss, Mrs. Erin K. Gauntner, Amy McDonald, Carmel Meyer, Loreen Holstein, John Yi, Petra van't Slot, Heather Schoeneberg and Shannon Puglesi for supporting their students. Special thanks to our judges Saurabh Agarwal, Leonard Barasa, Carlos Chavez, Tejashri Chavan, Deborah Cook, Peter deRege, Neil Jespersen, Dipti Kanabarand and Celia Williams who had the difficult task of selecting the winners from a pool of excellent entries!
2019 MARM Chemagination
The regional MARM Chemagination competition took place on Saturday, June 1 from 12:00 noon to 5:00 pm at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) in conjunction with the Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting 2019 sponsored by the ACS Maryland Section.
Thirteen teams representing six ACS Local Sections competed. The teams presented, in article and poster formats, innovations and scientific breakthroughs that improved people's lives in the "current" year of 2044! These discoveries were in one of four categories: alternative energy, the environment, medicine and health, or new materials.
Each team was interviewed by three judges from academia or industry. While the judges deliberated, graduate students Alex Sestok (a bioinorganic chemist), Christoper Cooper (a physical chemist), and Denise Williams (a materials chemist) shared their research with the Chemagination students. The judges’ final decisions were:
Medicine/Health
First Place - “Bridging the Gap - Combating Retinal Detachment”, Betul Duzgun and Raima A. Islam, Passaic Valley High School (North Jersey ACS Section)
Second Place - “Ending Alzheimer's”, Andreas Kaimis, Kyra Ramonetti and McKenzie Young, Half Hollow Hills High School West (New York ACS Section)
Environment
First Place - “The Lean, Green Olivine Machine”, Nicole DeOrzio and Tatyana Lozada, Cardinal O'Hara High School (Philadelphia ACS Section)
Second Place - "Can Bacteria Save the Sea?", Felicia Filippini and Rachael Miller, Muhlenberg High School (Lehigh Valley ACS Section)
New Materials
Tie, First Place - "The Better Bandage", Marly Fass and Hannah Stein, Half Hollow Hills High School West, (New York ACS Section)
Tie, First Place - “Carbon - Our Nation's Best Defender", Shashank Amarnath, Akindu Dasanayake and Akash Sureshkumar, Hillsborough High School, (Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections)
Alternate Energy
First Place - "Revolutionizing Solar Energy", Eduardo Torres-Garcia and Brooke Weister, Muhlenberg High School, (Lehigh Valley ACS Section)
Second Place - “Hydrogen Power: Fuel Cells Replacing Oil Wells”, Alan Ji and Christopher Ji, Hillsborough High School, (Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections)
Thank you to judges David Bagwell, Dr. Deborah Cook, Steve Good, Dr. Martha Hollomon, Kelcie Kramer and Chandra Lowrance. Thank you also to the teachers who supported their students, Ms Mercedes Bauman, Cardinal O'Hara High School; Mrs. Margaret Goldschmidt, John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls' High; Dr. Susanne Iobst, Passaic Valley High School; Dr. Deok-Yang Kim, Bergen County Academies; Mrs. Carmel Meyers, Hillsborough High School; Ms Barbara Safira, Wallington High School; Dr. Audrey Smeltzer-Schwab, Muhlenberg High School; Mrs Christine Tjersland, Half Hollow Hills High School West, to the parents and to the other volunteers who contributed to this innovative experience for the students!
First Place Winners
(from left) Akesh Sureshkumar, Shashank Amarnath, Akindu Dasanayake, Raima A. Islam, Marly Fass, Hanna Stein, Broole Weister, Eduardo Torres-Garcia, Tatyana Lozada, and Nicole DeOrzio
Second Place Winners
(from left) Christopher Ji, Alan Ji, Kyra Ramonetti and Felicia Filippini
2018 MARM Chemagination
The 2018 Mid-Atlantic Regional Chemagination competition was held on Sunday, June 3 from 11:00 am to 4:30 pm at Iacocca Hall, Lehigh University Mountain Top Campus, Bethlehem PA during the NanoMARM 2018 "An Iron Past; an Unlimited Future" hosted by the Lehigh Valley ACS Section. Fifteen high school student teams from the New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, and Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections participated.
The teams presented, in article and poster formats, innovative and creative discoveries that improved people's lives in the "current" year of 2043! These discoveries were in the categories of Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Health, or New Materials, as well as a new trial category of Protein & Protein Engineering.
Following the judging, the students attending a video presentation from the Science History Institute titled "The Instrumental Chemist: The Incredible Imagination of Arnold Beckman.
Our judges, Becky Klimas and Kelcie Kramer from Intertek Allentown, Pamela Wright from ExxonMobil and Deborah Cook from Rider University had the difficult task of selecting the winners.
And the winners are!
First Place
Medicine/Health: "Out of the Blue: Battling Alzheimer's Disease with Methylene Blue", Joseph Bisulca, Chidera Ejikeme and Omar Khan, Half Hollow Hills High School West
New Material: "Humanitent: The Tent that Does it All", Casey Chan, Yerin Kim and Yena Woo, Bergen County Academies
Environment: "Waste to Watts", Regina Campion and Allison Lowell, Saint Basil Academy
Alternate Energy: "Energy Generator Through Thermoregulation", Nahyeon (Lisa) Kim and Lauren Szeto, Bergen County Academies
Second Place
Medicine/Health: “The Captivating Chemistry Behind CRISPR", Ishita Agarwal, Gabrielle Bogut and Melissa Sun, Hillsborough High School
New Material: “The Grasp of Graphene", Curtis Chen, Roman Trevino, and Elias Winters, Hillsborough High School
Environment: “Algae to the Rescue!", Ayobami Adeola, Miles Kim and Poojan Pandya, Half Hollow Hills igh School West
Alternate Energy: "Pressure Building Up", Ashley Clark and Josephine Nguyen, Nazareth Academy High School
Protein & Protein Engineering Category Special Award
"Memory Loading...", Luke Botta and Samantha Ying, South Side High School
Thank you to teachers Sookying Chang, Saint Basil Academy, Katherine Gallen, Nazareth Academy High School, Steven Gordon, Garden City High School, Susanne Iobst, Passaic Valley Regional High School, Deok-Yang Kim, Bergen County Academies, Carmel Meyers, Hillsborough High School, Christine Tjersland, Half Hollow Hills High School West and Herb Weiss, South Side High School for supporting their students and to the MARM Executive Board and 2018 MARM organizers, our judges and other volunteers who made this event possible.
Alternate Energy (from left, Lauren Szeto, Lisa Kim)
Environment (Allison Lowell)
New Materials (from left, Yerin Kim, Casey Chan, Yena Woo)
Medicine/Health (from left, Chidera Ejikeme, Joseph Bisulca and Omar Khan)
Special Award - Protein and Protein Engineering
Luke Botta and Samantha Ying
2017 Mid Atlantic Regional Chemagination Competition took place on Sunday, June 4 from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, PA during the 2017 MARM sponsored by the Lehigh Valley and Susquehanna Valley Sections. Teams from the Lehigh Valley, New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, and Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections competed.
The winners were selected based on the results prior evaluation of the articles and interviews during the competition by our judges.
And the winners are:
Medicine/Health Category
First Place:
“Memory Loading...", Samantha Ying, South Side High School
Tie for Second Place:
- “Neurobots: Never be Nervous About Nerve Damage Again!", Bushra Choudhury, Catherine Fergesen and Raisa Islam, Passaic Valley High School
- “Cryogenics", Ruixu (Rachel) Huang and Kayla Neary, The Agnes Irwin School
Alternative Energy Category
First Place:
"Solar H2 – The Clean Energy Powerhouse", Joshua Forrest and Jon Yuan, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Second Place:
“Star in a Jar", Nabil Chowdhury, Michal Lewkowicz and Asghar Shah, Hicksville Senior High School
New Materials Category:
First Place:
"Stanene: Superconductor of the Future",
Rahul Patel, Eshaan Soman and Lokraj Srinivasan, Hillsborough High School
Second Place:
"Graphene: a Wonder Material", Alice DesRoches and James Smith, Pennsbury High School
Environment Category:
Tie for First Place:
- “Supercharged Photosynthesis", Katherine Edell, Tyler Ramcharan and Alexander Valenti, South Side High School
- “Plastic Bags: A Dissolvable Problem", Julia King and Dunya Markovic, Conestoga High School
Thank you to the teachers who supported the students, our judges, the 2017 MARM organizers, and other volunteers who contributed in making 2017 MARM Chemagination a great experience for the students.
2016 MARM Chemagination
Have you ever speculated about the future outcome of an emerging or proposed technology? Will that great new idea turn out to be a dead end, or will it become a successful reality 25 years from now?
Recently, high school chemistry students in the ACS Mid-Atlantic Region were challenged to do just that. They had to imagine that they were living in the year 2041 and write an article on a recent innovation in chemistry that had improved the quality of people’s lives.
The students presented their visions of the future at the 2016 MARM Chemagination competition on Saturday, June 11 during the 44th ACS MARM at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale, New York.
Students from the New York, North Jersey, Princeton, Trenton and Philadelphia ACS Local Sections participated. Alison Hyslop, Diane Krone, Barbara Ameer and William Smith, respectively, coordinated their local section's Chemagination efforts and sent the top entries to the MARM competition.
The teams were evaluated based on the quality of their article, the poster presentation of the innovation, and knowledge of and soundness of the science as demonstrated in interviews with judges Dr. Daniel Amarante, Dr. Deborah Cook, Mr. Frank Romano, Dr. Steve Samuel, Dr. David Sarno and Dr. Joseph Serafin.
Following the interviews, Dr. Alfredo Mellace, professor of Chemistry at Nassau County Community College fascinated students and guests with his presentation on ancient science and technology and how it was used by ancient Romans for their military panoplies. The subject came to life as he described the technology using actual armour and weapons - either historic items or in some cases accurate reproductions he had fabricated himself! Students eagerly examined the artifacts following the presentation.
The day culminated in the presentation of First and Second Place prizes in each of four categories.
And the winners were:
New Materials Category
First Place: “Cephaid: The Groundbreaking Bandage", Casey Chan, Yerin Kim and Yena Woo, Bergen County Academies
Second Place: "Spider Silk: The Fiber of the Future", Gautam Kalluri and Tharun Karipireddy, Hillsborough High School
Medicine/Health Category
First Place: “Illuminations: Shedding Light on Pancreatic Cancer", Karen Wilson, Andre Papasavas and Shafali Pradhan, Passaic Valley High School
Second Place: “Supercharged Photosynthesis", Alexander Valenti, and Preston Rakovsky, South Side High School
Alternative Energy Category
First Place: “Revving to Recharge", Eileen Hu, Nithilam Subbaian and Priyanka Tiwari, West Windsor -Plainsboro High School South
Second Place: "Bioluminescent Trees", Min Ji Angela Hong and Kevin Hyun Seok Lee, River Dell High School
Environment Category
First Place: “Quitting the Plastic Habit", Joyce Lu, Konstantin Rezchikov and Vivek Verghese, Hillsborough High School
Second Place: “Obtaining Methanol: Ridding the Air of CO2", Nahyeon Kim and Lauren Szeto, Bergen County Academies
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the students, organizers, judges and parents who helped to make the MARM Chemagination possible.
Special thank you to the teachers who supported the students throughout this process: Dr. Steven Gordon, Garden City High School; Dr. Susanne Iobst, Passaic Valley Regional High School; Mrs. Cindy Jaworsky, West-Windsor Plainsboro High School; Dr. Deok-Yang Kim, Bergen County Academies; Mrs Carmel Meyer, Hillsborough High School; Dr. William Smith, Bristol High School and Mr. Herb Weiss, South Side High School.
Barbara Hillery and Louise Lawter
2016 MARM Chemagination Co-Chairs
2015 MARM Chemagination Competition
by Louise Lawter, 2015 Chair
The 2015 Mid-Atlantic Regional (MARM) Chemagination competition was held on Saturday, May 16 at Princeton University. This year the competition was part of a combined 2015 MARM Chemagination Competition & Awards Ceremony. Teams from North Jersey, New York and South Jersey ACS Local Sections competed in this regional contest.
For this event, high school students are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry and/or its applications that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” The article is written to fit in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Healthcare, or New Materials. In addition to the article, students are asked to design the issue cover as well.
The day's program consisted of the Chemagination poster session and judging followed by a keynote address, the Chemagination and MARM Awards presentations and dinner.
Our keynote speaker, Professor Michael Hecht, Departments of Chemistry and Molecular Biology, Princeton University, described his research on "Reinventing Life with Genes and Proteins Designed from Scratch" to the Chemagination participants, MARM Awardees and their families and friends.
A total of nine teams competed for 1st Place, 2nd Place, 3rd Place and Honorable Mention. Winning team members of each award received $100, $75. $50 or $30 received Amazon gift cards respectively.
Contest judges Dr. Deborah Cook, Rider University; Dr. Eliza Fung, Bristol Myers Squibb; Dr. Khalid Mahmood, Johnson & Johnson; Dr. Gregory Smith, ScienceSmith Consulting and Mr. Martin Zorde, FMC Corporation had the very difficult task of selecting the winners from this well qualified field of entries!
Faculty advisors Mrs. Linda Davidson, Half Hollow Hills High School West; Ms Carrie Jacobus, River Dell High School; Dr. Doug Kim, Bergen County Academies; Mr. Gregory Rouen, Cherry Hill High School East and Mr. Herbert Weiss, South Side High School supported their students throughout the process.
Special thanks to all the educators, students and volunteers that made this event possible!
And the winners were!
First Place: “Electrastim Technology," Alexis D'Alessandro and Tiffany Kim, Half Hollow Hills High School West
Second Place: “Got Oil?, ” Christian Skroce and Yuval Timen, River Dell High School
Third Place: “Solar Power: The 'Clear' Choice of Energy,” Anna Molotkova and Patricia Perfect, Bergen County Academies
Honorable Mention: "No More Debris: Space is Now Clean and Free. Using Electrodynamic Tethers to Redirect Orbiting Space Junk," Sean Donnelly, Morley Hawriluk and Zach Ryan, South Side High School
First Place: from left
Alexis D'Alessandro and Tiffany Kim
Second Place: from left
Yuval Timen and Christian Skroce
Third Place: from left
Anna Molotkova and Patricia Perfect (not present)
Honorable Mention: from left
Morley Hawriluk, Zack Ryan and Sean Donnell
2014 MARM Chemagination Competition,
by Louise Lawter, 2014 Chair
The 2014 MARM Chemagination Competition was held on Saturday, May 17, 2014 at the Frick Chemistry Laboratory, Princeton University.
For this event, high school students are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry and/or its applications that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” The article is written to fit in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Healthcare, or New Materials. In addition to the article, students are asked to design the issue cover as well.
First Place winning teams from ACS local section Chemagination competitions qualify to compete in the regional contest.
We had participation from the North Jersey ACS section (Diane Krone, local competition chair), Princeton & Trenton ACS Sections (Barbara Ameer, local section competition chair) and the New York ACS section (Victor Cesare, local competition chair).
The judges were Ms Eliza Fung, Bristol Myers Squibb; Dr. Allen Jones, Alliance Technologies; Dr. Deborah Cook, Science Education Consultant; Mrs. Kristin Rea, High School Chemistry Teacher and Ms Elizabeth Wolff, FMC Corporation.
A total of 12 teams competed for First and Second Place in each category. Each First Place team member received a $75 Amazon gift card and Second Place team members a $40 gift card.
During the deliberation of the judges, several Princeton University graduate students conducted a tour of the Frick Chemistry Building and gave short presentations on their research to the high school students.
The winners were:
Alternate Energy Category:
First - “The Future of Medicine: Fueling the Integration between Man and Machine ”, Andrew Jhingoor and Irene Chang, Bergen County Academies (from the Princeton & Trenton ACS Sections)
Second - “"Going Green" One Watt at a Time”, Sagar Shah and Alex Jiang, Passaic Valley High School (from the North Jersey ACS Section)
New Material Category:
First - “Nanotube Revolution: How Nanotubes are Revolutionizing Mobile Phones ”, Anthony Hou and Yash Balaji, Hopewell Valley Central High School (from the Princeton & Trenton ACS Sections)
Second - “The Energy Dri-Fit”, Yasmine Ashour and Ellen Ren, Parsippany Hills High School (from the North Jersey ACS Section)
Environment Category:
First - “Turning Over a New Leaf”, Joon Seo and ChangWon Lee, River Dell Regional High School (from the North Jersey ACS Section)
Second - “Preventing the TurmOIL: Innovation along the Keystone XL Pipeline ”, Megan Heimbach, Kyla Chasalow and Sam Martorana, Hopewell Valley Central High School (from the Princeton & Trenton ACS Sections)
Medicine/Health Category:
First -: “Carba Compositione Brings Forth the End of Dialysis”, Edward Bae, Justin Cho and Andrew DeLuca, Half Hollow Hills High School West (from the New York ACS Section)
Second - “Pharmacy on Microchips: Goodbye to Pills", Ohyoon Kwon, Catherine Lee, Katrina Luo, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South (from the Princeton & Trenton ACS Sections)
By Louise Lawter, 2013 MARM Chemagination Chair
Imagine the scene - it is the year 2038 and chemists are presenting their cutting edge research to fellow scientists. What science fiction movie is this from? None; it’s MARM Chemagination! The 11th Annual American Chemical Society’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) Chemagination Competition was held at Princeton University on Saturday, May 18 and forty-six students representing the Maryland, New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Princeton and Trenton ACS local sections participated.
These students qualified to compete on the regional level by placing First in their category at their local Chemagination contests earlier this spring.
Chemagination is an event in which high school students, working in teams of two or three, are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, an ACS magazine for high school students. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry and/or its applications that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” The article is written to be in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Health or New Materials. In addition to the article, students must also design the cover of the magazine.
Chemagination is a great learning experience for students. It fosters creativity, innovation and teamwork. It helps students improve their communication skills and gain knowledge of and appreciation for chemistry.
In this MARM competition, teams were evaluated and winners selected based on the quality of their article, their poster display and their ability to defend the science behind their innovation during interviews with judges.
Each member of the first and second place teams in each category received $75 and $40 gift cards, respectively. In addition, each first place team member received a subscription to “ChemMatters” magazine complements of the ChemMatters staff.
During the deliberation of the judges, the students toured the Frick Chemistry Laboratory and listened to presentations about ongoing research by Dr. Istvan Peltzer, Director of the NMR Facility and Princeton University graduate students Kevin Arendt, Kristen Baroudi and Nyssa Crompton.
MARM Chemagination 2013 was sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting Executive Board of the American Chemical Society.
I wish to thank the judges, Dr. Rick Ewing, Ms Eliza Fung, Miss Heather Hattori, Dr. Allen Jones, Dr. Bharat Patel and Dr. James Saunders.
I also would like to acknowledge the students’ faculty advisors, Dr. Lesley Arensberg, Garnet Valley High School, Mrs. Carol Ann Blair, Garnet Valley High School, Mrs. Linda Davidson, Half Hollow Hills High School West, Dr. Susanne Iobst, Passaic Valley High School, Mrs. Cindy Jaworsky, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, Dr. Deok-Yang Kim, Bergen County Academies, Dr. Andrea Knorr, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North, Ms Sarah LaBonte, Division Avenue High School, Mr. Gerard Marzigliano, Division Avenue High School, Dr. Carol Lee, Princeton High School, Mr. Lee Shang, McDonogh School, and Mr. Herb Weiss, South Side High School
And the Winners Are!
First Place
Alternative Energy - Jim Han, Catherine Lee and Angela Mao, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South - “Thermoelectricity: A New Wave of Energy Efficiency”
Environment - Matthew Avallone, Jordan Brodsky and Brandon Nomberg, Half Hollow Hills High School West - “Microbial Fuel Cells: A Powerful Bacteria”
Medicine/Health - Isabella Grabski, Kellie Heom and Rachel Yang, Bergen County Academies - “The Blood Brain Barrier Gun: Controlled Drug Delivery Through Ultrasonic-Mediated Microfluidics”
New Materials (Tie for First) - Jack Chen and Sara Sinno, McDonogh School - “Microfire Technology”
New Materials (Tie for First) Nehal Gupta, Jhillika Patel and Jayati Verma, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North - “Superomniphobic Surfaces: Omnipresent Superheroes”
Second Place
Alternative Energy - Geoffrey Krug, Lexie Savarese and Patrick Washington, Garnet Valley High School -“CO2 Crisis Solved?”
Environment - Vineeth Sedda, Ram Seshadri Muthukumar and Zachary Singer, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South - “How Did We Grow-zone More Ozone?”
Medicine/Health - Ananya Chandra, Catherine Yang and Amy Zhou, Garnet Valley High School - “Breathalyzers: Changing the Lives of Diabetics”
By Louise Lawter, 2012 MARM Chemagination Co-Chair
On Saturday June 2, students, teachers, family and friends traveled from New York and New Jersey to compete in the 10th Annual American Chemical Society’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting (MARM) Chemagination contest at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. These students qualified to compete on the regional level by placing First in their category at their local 2012 Chemagination contests earlier this spring.
Chemagination is an event in which high school students, working in teams of two or three, are asked to imagine that they are living 25 years in the future and have been invited to write an article for ChemMatters, a magazine for high school students that focuses on the role of chemistry in everyday life. The subject of the article is: “Describe a recent breakthrough or innovation in chemistry and/or its applications that has improved the quality of people’s lives today.” The article is written to fit in one of four categories: Alternative Energy, Environment, Medicine/Healthcare, or New Materials. In addition to the article, students must also design the cover of the magazine.
In this MARM competition, teams were evaluated and winners selected based on the quality of their article, their poster display and their ability to defend the science behind their innovation during interviews with judges.
Eight teams vyied for one of the four prizes: First Place Overall, Second Place Overall, Third Place Overall, and Honorable Mention. The prizes consisted of $125 (per team member) for First, $100 for Second, $75 for Third and $50 for Honorable Mention. In addition, each prizewinner received a subscription to “ChemMatters” magazine complements of the ChemMatters staff. Also, “Chemagination” caps were distributed to students, teachers and judges to commemorate the event.
Between the various interviews, the students had the chance to mingle with their fellow competitors from Windsor-Plainsboro High School North. West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South and Bergen County Academies in New Jersey, and Hunter College High School and Division Avenue High School in New York.
During the deliberation of the judges, the students attended a Chemistry Demonstration by Dr. Stephen Mang of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
MARM Chemagination 2012 was sponsored by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting Executive Board of the American Chemical Society and organized by Mrs. Louise Lawter and Dr. Shirish Shah. We wish to thank MARM General Co-Chairs Paul Smith and Stephanie Watson, Dr. Stephen Mang, and our judges Dr. Holly Cymet, Stevenson College; Dr. Louise Hellwig, Morgan State University; Dr. Sara Narayan, Stevenson University, and Dr. James Saunders, Towson University for their service. We also thank the students’ faculty advisors Ms May Chiu, Hunter College High School; Ms Cindy Jaworski, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS South; Mr. Troy W. Joseph, Division Avenue High School; Dr. Deok-Yang Kim, Bergen County Academies; Mrs. Julia Norato, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS North and Mr. Thomas Scott, Hunter College High School for supporting and encouraging their students.
It was apparent from the quality of the submissions that the students worked very hard to prepare for the competition. The judges did not have an easy task in selecting the winners!
And the Winners Are!
First Place Overall
“Lightening Farms:
Electrical Agriculture”
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Team members, from left: MacCallum Robertson, Daniel Echeverri, and Mark Khusidman
Second Place Overall
“Energy Exploding Enzymes:
Power of the Protein”,
West Windsor-Plainsboro High
School North
Team members, from left: Aastha Choksh, Saavanth Velury and Anup Regunathan
Third Place Overall
"The ProPancreas: How it Lead a Diabetic Revolution”
Bergen County Academies
Team members, from left: Kellie Heom and Rachel Yang. Isabella Grabski (not present)
Honorable Mention
“MemNotes - A Revolutionary Way to Make Information Stick”
West Windsor-Plainsboro High
School South
Team Members Brandon Chu (in photo) and Aayush Visaria (not present)
First Place Overall
“Lightening Farms:
Electrical Agriculture”
West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Team members, from left: MacCallum Robertson, Daniel Echeverri, and Mark Khusidman
Second Place Overall
“Energy Exploding Enzymes:
Power of the Protein”,
West Windsor-Plainsboro High
School North
Team members, from left: Aastha Choksh, Saavanth Velury and Anup Regunathan
Third Place Overall
"The ProPancreas: How it Lead a Diabetic Revolution”
Bergen County Academies
Team members, from left: Kellie Heom and Rachel Yang. Isabella Grabski (not present)
Honorable Mention
“MemNotes - A Revolutionary Way to Make Information Stick”
West Windsor-Plainsboro High
School South
Team Members Brandon Chu (in photo) and Aayush Visaria (not present)
The Mid-Atlantic Regional Chemagination competition, sponsored by the MARM Executive Board of the American Chemical Society, was held on Saturday, April 10th. It took place at the 41st Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, Hotel du Pont, Wilmington, DE. Contest Coordinators were Vijaya Korlipara, New York Section and Louise Lawter, Princeton Section. This contest for high school students is designed to stimulate students’ creativity and interest in chemistry. It helps them develop their skills in team building and public speaking, strengths that will serve them well in the future. Teams of 2-3 students are asked to imagine an innovation 25 years in the future that help people’s lives. They must write and article about the innovation in the categories of Alternate Energy, Environment, Medicine/Healthcare or New Materials and explain the innovation science to the judges.
Princeton, Trenton and New York ACS local sections participated, sending a total of 8 teams from 8 high schools. The faculty advisors and schools were Ms Linda Davidson, Half Hollow Hills High School West, Ms Karen Galley, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS South, Ms Annette Kuruc, North Babylon High School, Mr. Gerard Marzigliano, Division Avenue High School, Ms Courtney McKay, Locust Valley High School, Ms Julie Norato, West Windsor-Plainsboro HS North and Dr. Lillian Rankel, Hopewell Valley Central High School.
Dr. Donald Mencer, Wilkes University, and Ms Tiffany Hoerter, AstraZeneca served as judges. First, Second, and Third Place Overall and Honorable Mention Prizes were awarded. First Place team members received $125 checks, Second Place, $100 checks, Third Place $75 checks and Honorable Mention $50 checks.
The participating teams were (alphabetically by school):
“The Bactery: The Device That Powers Our Society”, Garret Leotta and Evan Rosati, Division Avenue High School
“The History of the Modern Tyrosine Toothpaste”, Malini Desai, Tanya Jain and Samantha Lustig, Half Hollow Hills High School West
“An End to Kidney Stones: Sustulero, The New Miracle”, Carey Glenn, Sophie Guenin and Hannah Hirsh, Hopewell Valley Regional High School
“Light Sandwich for Healthy Living”, Nicole Conover and Tara Raj, Hunterdon Central Regional High School
“The Ozone Copter”, Zachary Rowe and Sean Rudowsky, Locust Valley High School
“Terminator Vision”, Cameron Billings, Allison Nguyen and Evan Skoller, North Babylon High School
“Below the Dirt: of Bacteria and Toxins”, Alica Feng, Renuka Reddy and Felix Xiao, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North
“Thirst for Energy: Quantum Dots Hit the Spot”, Shawn Carrick, Alex Huang and Samir Koppolu, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Congratulations to the Contest Winners:
First Place: Shawn Carrick, Alex Huang and Samir Koppolu, West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South
Second Place: Nicole Conover and Tara Raj, Hunterdon Central Regional High School
Third Place: Malini Desai, Tanya Jain and Samantha Lustig, Half Hollow Hills High School West
Honorable Mention: Carey Glenn, Sophie Guenin and Hannah Hirsh, Hopewell Valley Regional High School
The MARM Executive Board and the Executive Committees of the New York, Princeton and Trenton Sections of the ACS wish to thank all of the students, teachers, judges, parents and volunteers that made this contest a success. A special thank you goes to Martha Holloman, MARM General Chair for her support and assistance.
MARM held in June 2023 . . .
The New York ACS Section along with its partners at the The Graduate Center of the City University of New York (CUNY) and St. John’s University proudly presented the 2023 Middle Atlantic Regional Meeting on June 9-10, 2023. This mini-MARM had the theme of 'Chemistry Refocused' and included technical sessions, poster sessions, an exposition, employment programming including a resume review workshop, a graduate study fair, a social media social, a Women's Chemists Committee workshop on Promotion to Full Professor, a 50/60/70-year member luncheon, and an awards banquet.
For more information or to contact us, please email the MARM Secretary by clicking here.