Hartford, CT — Connecticut’s most talented young scientists and engineers will be honored by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering at its 35th Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner on May 20, 2010 at the Hartford Marriott Downtown, preceded by a reception at the Connecticut Science Center. Winners of this year’s Connecticut Science Fair, Connecticut Science Challenge, Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, and Connecticut Invention Convention will be recognized during the evening ceremonies.

The H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence, established by the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering and presented in partnership with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, will be awarded to the two first place winners of the Connecticut Science Fair and the first place winner of the Connecticut Science Challenge. The medal was created to recognize and honor H. Joseph Gerber’s (1924-1996) technical leadership in inventing, developing and commercializing manufacturing automation systems for a wide variety of industries, making those industries more efficient and cost-effective in a worldwide competitive environment.

Academy member Thomas A. Steitz, co-winner of the 2009 Nobel Prize for Chemistry, will give the keynote address. Steitz is Sterling Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator at Yale University.

Student winners to be honored include:

The H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence:
Amoolya Narayanan, Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, CT
2010 Connecticut Science Fair – 1st Place, Life Sciences-Senior Division
Project: Effect of Trans-cinnamaldehyde on Reducing Attachment and Invasion of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Urinary Epithelial Cells

William C. Newberry, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
2010 Connecticut Science Fair – 1st Place, Physical Sciences-Senior Division
Project: Diatom-CdS Nanostructures as a Method to Enhance the Efficiency of a Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Jason A. Gandelman, Staples High School, Westport, CT
2010 Connecticut Science Challenge – 1st Place
Project: Bioinformatic and Synthetic Approaches to Studying Advanced Glycation End-products in Eukaryotes

2010 Connecticut Science Challenge
1st Place – See H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence award winner

2nd Place: Jenny Lu, Pomperaug High School, Southbury, CT
Project: Determination of the Relationship between Retina-cognin and N-cadherin in the Characterization of a Disulfidedependent Cell Adhesion Complex

Honorable Mention: William C. Newberry, Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
Project: Laser Induced Microfluidic Motion of a Liquid-Liquid Interface

2010 Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium
1st Place: Jenny Liu, Amity Regional High School, Woodbridge, CT
Project: Emotional Models Promote Human-Robot Interaction

2nd Place: Neeharika Krothapalli, Farmington High School, Farmington, CT
Project: Characterization of Jatropha curcas Oil and Glycerol for Biofuel Production

3rd Place: Amoolya Narayanan, Glastonbury High School, Glastonbury, CT
Project: Effect of Trans-cinnamaldehyde on Reducing Attachment and Invasion of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli in Urinary Epithelial Cells

4th Place: Kousanee Chheda, Edwin O. Smith High School, Storrs Mansfield, CT
Project: Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment (HBOT) Induces Cytoprotection and Angiogenesis in Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells (HMEC-1)

5th Place: Caroline W. Bazinet, Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, CT
Project: Effects of PMCA2 Overexpression on Induction of Apoptosis by Docetaxel and Methotrexate in T47D Cells

2010 Connecticut Invention Convention
Bridgeport, CT — St. Ann School: Dominika Baginska and Jack Seperack
Torrington, CT — Torrington Middle School: Richard Bakula, Taryn Canfield, Mitchell Canty, Shannon O’Connor, Whitney Quarles, Molly Serven and Brittany Young
East Hartford, CT—Two Rivers Magnet Middle School: Jordon Alexandre
Fairfield, CT —Assumption School: Kathleen Gardella
Moodus, CT — Nathan Hale Ray Middle School: Caley Luna Millen
Hartford, CT — Independent Study Entrant: Cole Reavill
Westport, CT— Coleytown Middle School: Alec Solder
Avon, CT— Talcott Mountain Academy: Benjamin Suski

Twenty-eight newly elected members of the Academy will also be recognized during the evening.