Lucent Technologies Honors Local Minority and Female High School Students in Young Science Achievers Program.

Business Editors

MURRAY HILL, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 2003

New Jersey and New York high school students who completed innovative research projects under the guidance of scientists from Bell Labs, the research and development arm of Lucent Technologies (NYSE: LU), will be honored this evening at a ceremony held at 5:30 p.m. at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J. Prize-winning projects include a functioning supercomputer and a study that investigated whether chemical compounds in citrus fruits may be helpful in the fight against cancer.

The students participated in the 15th annual Young Science Achievers Program (formerly known as the Bell Labs Science Grant Program), which awards grants to African-American, Hispanic, Native-American and female high school students for physics, computer science, chemistry, biology and electrical engineering projects.

"The Young Science Achievers Program provides minority and female students with the resources, technical support, and mentoring they need to realize their potential for scientific and technological achievements," said Jorge Valdes, co-chair of the program. "It's our hope that this program will continue to attract students to science and technology and help nurture the next generation of innovators."

More than 175 students from 20 schools participated in the program. Projects were judged based on completeness, creativity, effort and originality.

This year's winners are:

First prize (winners receive a $1000 cash prize):

-- Miguel Mota, Jr., of Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden,

N.J., who used a cluster of ordinary computers to build a

massively parallel supercomputer.

-- Lynna Bermudez and Emil Navarette of Woodbridge High School in

Woodbridge, N.J., who investigated whether certain chemical

compounds present in citrus fruits may be important in the

battle against cancer.

Second prize (winners receive a $750 cash prize):

-- Christine Alcobendas of Woodbridge High School in Woodbridge,

N.J., who investigated the susceptibility of bacterial

contamination in different brands of bottled water.

-- Ashley Podkowka and Lorraine Stagg of Sussex County Technical

School in Sparta, N.J., who invented a key attachment that

makes it easier for elderly people to turn a house or

automobile key.

-- Kristine Savadge and Ashley Stec of Sussex County Technical

School in Sparta, N.J., who invented a ski pole holder that

would prevent skis from falling off a lift.

Third prize (winners receive a $500 cash prize):

-- Rosa Allison, Charmaine McKee, Jasmine Parker, Oraliz De

Jesus, Jossy Villa and Jennifer Torres of Woodrow Wilson High

School in Camden, N.J., who undertook a chemical analysis of

breast cancer proteins.

-- Allison Ambrosio, Vivian Bratone, Eva Cantenaccio, Sophie

Gandler, Reilly Kiernan and Kelly Schramm of Pelham Memorial

High School in Pelham, N.Y., who developed a solar-powered

grill.

-- Abdullah Abdul-Hakeem, Desiree Thomas, Jayvonna Winn and Ryan

Cornwall of Westside High School in Newark, N.J., who

investigated the physics of shooting a basketball.

Teacher of the Year

Dr. David Purdon of Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden, N.J., received a $1000 prize for his commitment to science and technology education.

Honorable Mentions:

The judges also commended the research projects of Christopher T. Dibble, Konstantinos Skantriaros, Ameya Paradkar, Douglas Beck and Chris Fleming of Somerville High School, Somerville, N.J.; Sajaa Ahmed of Washington Township High School, Sewell, N.J.; and Lori Bermudez, Julie Dworak, Michael Allen and Matthew Barringer of Woodbridge High School, Woodbridge, N.J.

The Young Science Achievers Program is held in collaboration with Avaya, AT&T Labs, the National Inventors Hall of Fame and the New Jersey Science Teachers Association, and is supported by the Lucent Technologies Foundation and the AT&T Foundation. Additional information about the program can be found at http://www.young-science-achievers.com/.

Bell Labs is the leading source of new communications technologies. It has generated more than 30,000 patents since 1925 and has played a pivotal role in inventing or perfecting key communications technologies, including transistors, digital networking and signal processing, lasers and fiber-optic communications systems, communications satellites, cellular telephony, electronic switching of calls, touch-tone dialing, and modems. Bell Labs scientists have received six Nobel Prizes in Physics, nine National Medals of Science and seven National Medals of Technology. For more information about Bell Labs, visit its Web site at http://www.bell-labs.com.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers networks for the world's largest communications service providers. Backed by Bell Labs research and development, Lucent relies on its strengths in mobility, optical, data and voice networking technologies as well as software and services to develop next-generation networks. The company's systems, services and software are designed to help customers quickly deploy and better manage their networks and create new, revenue-generating services that help businesses and consumers. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its Web site at http://www.lucent.com.