Texas' Top Science Students Receive Honors at the 2005 ExxonMobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair; Grand Prizes, Scholarships and Other Awards Given to Winning Students.

SAN ANTONIO -- Nearly 200 Texas students were awarded top honors for their science and engineering projects at the 2005 ExxonMobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair held March 31 - April 2, 2005 at the at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. The statewide competition, presented annually by the Texas Science Careers Consortium and hosted by The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), drew more than 1,200 students from across Texas.

Students competed in two divisions -- junior division (grades 6-8) and senior division (grades 9-12). The 19th annual competition recognized all students placing 1st, 2nd and 3rd place or receiving an honorable mention in the fair's sixteen competitive categories. Students qualified for the state competition by placing 1st, 2nd or 3rd in ISEF-sanctioned regional Fairs. A complete list of winners is attached.

"ExxonMobil congratulates each science fair participant for the hardwork, dedication and creative approach to science and mathematics that led them to participate in this state-wide competition," said Gerald McElvy President of ExxonMobil Foundation. "We are proud to continue our support and encouragement of talented young minds through programs like the ExxonMobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair."

Two grand prize winners in the senior division received all-expense paid trips that will allow them to compete in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), which will be held May 8 through May 13, 2005 in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition, in the junior division, 1st-3rd place winners were nominated for competition in the Discovery Channel Young Scientists Challenge to be held in Washington, D.C. in October.

ExxonMobil Foundation, which provided a $60,000 gift to support student prizes, has been the title sponsor of the Fair for five years. "Thanks to the enduring support and generosity of ExxonMobil, this fair continues to provide Texas' most talented science and mathematics students with a forum to showcase their outstanding projects, and the opportunity to win scholarships and awards of academic achievement," said Clyde Phelix, Ph.D., College of Sciences Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Texas at San Antonio and chairperson for this year's ExxonMobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair.

The Texas Science Careers Consortium, which represents the science programs of 17 public universities around the state, is the official Texas affiliate for the International Science and Engineering Fair. Operating the state level science competition since 2001, the consortium rotates the Fair location between member universities. The University of Texas at San Antonio will host the Fair through 2007.

In addition to the lead gift of $60,000 from ExxonMobil, the Texas Science Careers Consortium has also secured $60,000 in other private and public support for the event. Other top contributors to the Fair include: Texas Work Force Commission and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

ExxonMobil Foundation is the primary philanthropic arm of the Exxon Mobil Corporation in the United States. The Foundation engages in a broad range of philanthropic activities focusing on the communities where Exxon Mobil Corporation has significant operations. In 2004, ExxonMobil Foundation, Exxon Mobil Corporation, and its divisions and affiliates provided $106.5 million in contributions worldwide, with $40 million dedicated to education.

Additional information on the 2005 ExxonMobil Texas State Science and Engineering Fair is available at http://www.statesciencefair.ttu.edu/.

2005 ExxonMobil Texas Science and Engineering Fair Results

Best Overall Fair Winner
Best of Fair
Senior Grand Prize Physical Sciences
Senior Division
Yang Yhou (San Antonio)
Mechanical Properties of Isobornyl Methacrylate Modified Liquid
 Crystal

Senior Grand Prize Life Sciences
Senior Division
Annick Michelle McIntosh (Houston)
Toxic Nanoparticles

                        All Winners by Category
      Hometowns are shown in parenthesis following winner's name

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Senior Division
Second Place
Lane Cryar (Salado)
Finders Keepers: Losing it in a Large High School

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Senior Division
Third Place
Kerry Wang (Plano)
Pure Pwnage: Only Virtual? A Study on Human Spatial Awareness

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Fredrick Rojas (El Paso)
Turn Off The Lights

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Hubert Montoya (Andrews)
We Got the Beat

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Junior Division
First Place
Julie Fortuna (Houston)
Let's Face It: How Do Humans Recognize Facial Features?

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Junior Division
Second Place
Victor Caballero, Jr. (Brownsville)
The Effects of Color Stimuli on Brain Interference

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Junior Division
Third Place
Andrea Bernal (El Paso)
What's that smell? Oh it's me!

Behavioral & Social Sciences
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Madelyn Morgan (Richardson)
Does the color of food affect if people will eat it?

Biochemistry
Senior Division
First Place
Nancy Satsangi (San Antonio)
A Novel Regeneration Device for Enhanced Biomimetic Response of Bone
 Stem-cells - A Second Year Study

Biochemistry
Senior Division
Second Place
Karthik Prasad (Houston)
Diabetes: What Can Garlic Do For You?

Biochemistry
Senior Division
Third Place
Stephen Li (Friendswood)
Effect of Green Tea and Garlic on Cancer Formaion in a Mouse Model

Biochemistry
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Deng Madut (Dallas)
Identification and Isolation of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia
 Biomarkers

Biochemistry
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Elizabeth Haro (San Antonio)
HPLC Chromatofocusing With Weak Base-Conjugate Acid Buffer Pairs

Biochemistry
Junior Division
First Place
Cyanna Skye Edwards (San Antonio)
Of Mice and Supermen: Increasing the Lifespan of Nerves After Trauma
 Cuts Off Nerve Growth Factor by Placing Nerves from Mice in
 Different Mediums

Biochemistry
Junior Division
Second Place
Amanda Lu (Plano)
Got Milk? Get Fruit: The Effect of Fruit on Hydrolyzing Lactose in
 Milk

Biochemistry
Junior Division
Third Place
David Lehman (Plano)
Dog-On-It! My Lawn's Brown

Biochemistry
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Karen Ayma (Brownsville)
Squeeze it, Cool it, Freeze it

Botany
Senior Division
First Place
Srikanth Kodali (Austin)
Survival Capacity of R. leguminosarum bv. phaseoli and R. tropici
 under High Thermal Stress and Interspecific Competition

Botany
Senior Division
Second Place
Chris Lim (Austin)
Minimization of Suppression Variability through Multi-species
 Biocontrol

Botany
Senior Division
Third Place
Michael Montelongo (El Paso)
The Lint Factor: Save Water and Money

Botany
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Ashley Kahn (San Antonio)
The Effect of Rutin Hydrate on Tomato Plants that have been Exposed to
 Tobacco Mosaic Virus and Crown Gall Bacteria

Botany
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Javier Stell-Fresquez (El Paso)
Carbon Dioxide and Plants

Botany
Junior Division
First Place
Neela Thangada (San Antonio)
The Effects of Various Nutrient Concentrations on the Cloning of the
 Eye of the Solanum tuberosum at Multiple Stages

Botany
Junior Division
Second Place
Rajeev Kinra (College Station)
Effect of Magnetic Field on Seed Germination

Botany
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Kimberly Mendez (San Antonio)
The Effects of Various Amounts of Gibberellic Acid on the Growth of
 Geraniums

Botany
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Nicole Kidd (Brownsville)
Aloe Vera: "A Healing Gift From Nature"

Chemistry
Senior Division
First Place
Yang Zhou (San Antonio)
Mechanical Properties of Isobornyl Methacrylate Modified Liquid
 Crystal Blends

Chemistry
Senior Division
Second Place
Amelia Lin (Plano)
Size Doesn't Matter: A Study on Nanotube Locational Trends and
 Creation of Artificial Nanotubes

Chemistry
Senior Division
Third Place
Lomotey Tanihu (Dallas)
The PEM Fuel Cell System Project!!!

Chemistry
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Jessica Lindsey Svrcek (Austin)
The Effect of Common Kitchen Substances on Grease Fires

Chemistry
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Brad Kaufman (San Antonio)
Separation of Azeotropic Mixtures Using Fractional Distillation and
 Salts to Weaken Intramolecular Forces

Chemistry
Junior Division
First Place
Patrick Ramirez (San Antonio)
Activity of Metals

Chemistry
Junior Division
Third Place
Megan Kockx (San Angelo)
Electric Salt

Chemistry
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Amanda Adams (Coppell)
Viscosity and Boiling Point

Chemistry
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Clair McMahon (San Antonio)
"Yes We Have No Banana's" Or Strawberries!

Computer Science
Senior Division
First Place
Nam Nguyen (San Antonio)
The Use of Random Numbers in Programming Strategic Difficulty

Computer Science
Senior Division
Second Place
Kristopher Micinski (Decatur)
Sorting Algorithms

Computer Science
Senior Division
Third Place
Michael Wham (Woodlands)
"Getting Alarmed About Wireless Security"

Computer Science
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Dustin Ho (Plano)
The Password Problem: A Study of Methods of Password Selection

Computer Science
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Rupak Chakraborty (Missouri City)
3D Digitization Using Structured Light Patterns

Computer Science
Junior Division
Second Place
Rebekah Scheuerle (Austin)
Does the Huffman Algorithm or an Extended Huffman Algorithm Compress
 Files the Most Effectively

Computer Science
Junior Division
Third Place
Qiongqiong Yang (Plano)
Computer Simulation on How Temperature Affects Snowflake Growth

Computer Science
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Steven Yan (Plano)
Scramble and Solve - Computer Modeling of Puzzle Solving Algorithms

Computer Science
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Anthony Freitas (Brownsville)
Houston, We Have a Problem

Earth Science
Senior Division
First Place
Gabriel Ha (Plano)
Color That Tornado - An Innovative Application of Infrared Technology

Earth Science
Senior Division
Second Place
Jessica Guest (Austin)
The Perfect Mud Pie (Soil Plasticity)

Earth Science
Senior Division
Third Place
Kimberly Potter (Spring)
Storm Reform: Creating an Atmospheric Chamber to Develop New Hurricane
 Modification Techniques

Earth Science
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Daniel Betten (Richardson)
The Role of Inflow-Perpendicular Shear in Supercell Storms and Tornado
 Formation

Earth Science
Junior Division
First Place
Katherine James (The Woodlands)
Motion in the Ocean

Earth Science
Junior Division
Second Place
Cody Eberhart (Granbury)
You Can't Get Blood Out Of A Turnip (But Can You Get Salt Out Of Your
 Dirt?)

Earth Science
Junior Division
Third Place
Jacque Wakim (Austin)
Which Bearing is More Efficient in Withstanding the Force of an
 Earthquake?

Earth Science
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Audrey Raney (Junction)
The Effects of Latitude and Climate on Tornado Formation

Earth Science
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Ethan Goerdel (Justin)
GPS vs. Topographical Maps

Engineering
Senior Division
First Place
Steven Mo (Bellaire)
Development of Smart Structures

Engineering
Senior Division
Second Place
Ethan Williams (Bryan)
Polarimetry of Sugar Solutions

Engineering
Senior Division
Third Place
Kirby Haugland (El Paso)
Application of Simple Concert Hall Principles to a Grain Silo

Engineering
Junior Division
First Place
Tim Jenks (The Woodlands)
Pendulum Pandemonium

Engineering
Junior Division
Second Place
Spencer Conn (San Antonio)
Winging It

Engineering
Junior Division
Third Place
Robert Paul Hartland (Waco)
The Need for Speed

Engineering
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Colin Liff (San Marcos)
Insulating Factors of Natural Building Materials

Engineering
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Travis Carr (Plantersville)
Sounds Cool!

Engineering
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Tyler Panozzo (San Antonio)
Breaking the "I"

Environmental Sciences
Senior Division
First Place
Aron Trevino (San Antonio)
Estrogen Mimicking Effects of Cadmium on the Mosquito Ochlerotatus
 atropalpus - Year 2

Environmental Sciences
Senior Division
Second Place
Caren Collins (Garland)
The Effects of Road Deicer, MgCl, on Plant Germination and Mitosis

Environmental Sciences
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Tara Gloyna (Salado)
Ammonia Emissions from Agricultural Waste

Environmental Sciences
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Anna Panning (Denton)
Sediment and Nutrient Pollution in N. Texas: Sampling, Analysis, and
 Public Awareness

Environmental Sciences
Junior Division
First Place
Ricky Scheuerle (Austin)
Survivability, Morphology, Life Cycle and Growth Rate of Mono Lake's
 Brine Shrimp: A Predictive Model

Environmental Sciences
Junior Division
Second Place
Kalyn Irvin (Rhome)
From Plants to Fish-2-O

Environmental Sciences
Junior Division
Third Place
Lisa Newman (El Paso)
Purifying Water- The Solor Way

Environmental Sciences
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Kara Zwart (San Antonio)
Fluo-Riding-The Wave

Environmental Sciences
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Ali Muhammad-Ali (Houston)
Fastest Bioremediation

Mathematics
Senior Division
First Place
Thomas Pardue (Houston)
Riemann's Zeta Function: Distribution of the Nontrivial Zeros

Mathematics
Senior Division
Third Place
Sushant Sabnis (Fort Worth)
The Performance of the Nation's Economy Over the Years

Mathematics
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Marianna Sofman (Plano)
Physics CAN Prove Mathematics

Mathematics
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Jeffrey Lin (Dallas)
Fickle Fractals - A Study on the Effects of Angles on Fractal
 Dimension in Lindenmayer Systems

Mathematics
Junior Division
First Place
Abhishek Jain (San Antonio)
Can Computer language Provide a Reasonable Test for Fermat's Last
 Theorem

Mathematics
Junior Division
Second Place
Luis Garcia (Austin)
Area Of Lattice Polygon

Mathematics
Junior Division
Third Place
Ebony Enabulele (Cypress)
EFFECTS OF SELF-EFFICACY AND ANXIETY ON MATH PERFORMANCE

Mathematics
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Katherine Adams (Dripping Springs)
Another Simple Learning Machine

Mathematics
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Eduardo Barriga (El Paso)
How much towel ability

Medicine & Health
Senior Division
Second Place
Triparna Ghosh-Choudhury (San Antonio)
The Beneficial Effects of Fish Oil on Breast Cancer: A Fourth Year
 Study

Medicine & Health
Senior Division
Third Place
Benjamin Tubbs (Hearne)
Potty Mouth

Medicine & Health
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Amanda Gregory (Plano)
Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Whitest of Them All? A Fifth Year
 Study

Medicine & Health
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Taylor Robison (Austin)
The Effect of Coke, 7up, Milk and Water on Bone Mass

Medicine & Health
Junior Division
First Place
Craig Thomas (San Antonio)
Influence of the Contour Line on Heidelberg Retina Tomgraph II
 Measurements

Medicine & Health
Junior Division
Second Place
Israel Bernal (San Antonio)
The Effect of Light on Energy Level: A Second-Year Study

Medicine & Health
Junior Division
Third Place
Grace McLane (San Antonio)
The Effects of Repeated Treatment of Antibiotics on Streptoccocus
 salivarius

Medicine & Health
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Carlos Lira (Brownsville)
A Disease From The Future

Microbiology
Senior Division
First Place
Amanda Hartman (China Spring)
Prevalence of Salmonella Organisms in Turtle Habitats

Microbiology
Senior Division
Second Place

Richard Romeo (San Antonio)
Advancing Apitherapy
Microbiology
Senior Division
Third Place
Shawn Hughey (Navasota)
What's in your wallet? An Analysis of Bacteria on Denominations of
 U.S. currency

Microbiology
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Elise Miller (Fort Worth)
Plasmid Mediated Antibiotic Resistance in E. coli

Microbiology
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Kyle Wallace (San Antonio)
The 1102phi3-1 Host Takeover Mechanism: A Phage I'm Going Through

Microbiology
Junior Division
First Place
Manpreet Kaur (Houston)
How Long to Cook, or not to Cook

Microbiology
Junior Division
Second Place
Camden Miller (Fairview)
Bee Smart: The Effects of Ethanol Extracts of Propolis on
 Gram-positive and Gram-negative Bacteria

Microbiology
Junior Division
Third Place
Julia Fanning (San Antonio)
To Kill or Not To Kill...That is the Question: A Study on Echinacea
 and Antibiotics against Staphylococcus aureus

Microbiology
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Prasad Raman (Austin)
A Bugs Life - Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria

Physics
Senior Division
First Place
Arun Venkatraman (Plano)
Wireless Blockers: A Study of Wireless Transmissions

Physics
Senior Division
Second Place
Micah Ellowitz (El Paso)
Windmills and Electricity

Physics
Senior Division
Third Place
Priya Patel (Fort Worth)
Bye Bye Turbulence!!

Physics
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Christina Harding (El Paso)
Blow by Blow, What's Protecting You?

Physics
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Varun Koyyalagunta (Houston)
Wedge Diffraction in the Far-Field Region

Physics
Junior Division
First Place
Victoria Baldwin (The Woodlands)
Sound Advice

Physics
Junior Division
Second Place
Monica Tamil (Plano)
Solar Cells Vs. Fuel Cells

Physics
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Nethika Ariyasinghe (Hewitt)
The Penetration of Red Light and Green Light in Clear Liquids

Physics
Junior Division
Fifth Place
James Monaco (Austin)
The Physics of The Trebuchet

Space Science
Senior Division
First Place
Yan Hui Lye (Houston)
Tree Growth and Sunspot Activity

Space Science
Senior Division
Second Place
Emilia Stepinski (Friendswood)
Meanders on Mars

Space Science
Senior Division
Third Place
Sasha Rohret (San Antonio)
Phaseolus lunatus Growth Patterns in a Simulated Mars Environment

Space Science
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Humberto Mendoza (Brownsville)
Determining the Factors of the Aurora Systems Using the System of
 Elimination: Phase Three

Space Science
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Rachel Epperly (San Antonio)
Dark Side of the Sun 2: Solar Latitudes

Space Science
Junior Division
First Place
Alexandra Black (Midland)
Analemma

Space Science
Junior Division
Third Place
Cara Hayward (Trophy Club)
Is Your Cell Phone Having A Bad Flare Day?

Space Science
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Ayssa Mendez (Brownsville)
Impact Craters

Space Science
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Steely Ingham (Sonora)
What Grows Down Under

Zoology
Senior Division
First Place
Russell Burrows (San Antonio)
The Buzz on Bees: The Effects of Alcohol and Nicotine on Protein
 Expression in the Brain of the Apis mellifera

Zoology
Senior Division
Second Place
Annick McIntosh (The Woodlands)
Toxic Nanoparticles?

Zoology
Senior Division
Third Place
Fleur Leussink (The Woodlands)
Looking a Toad in the Eye

Zoology
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Emily Hsu (Carrollton)
Math1/nGFP: A Novel Tool for Neurogenesis

Zoology
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Rahil Shah (San Antonio)
Mosquitoes at Mitchell Lake

Zoology
Junior Division
Second Place
Eric Flores (Palmview)
Power of Lab Lab

Zoology
Junior Division
Third Place
Alison Miller (Boerne)
Tachiniid Flies--Butterfly Termiators

Zoology
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Hannah Owen (Houston)
Snap To It

Zoology
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Braden Buchanan (San Antonio)
Nutritional effects of Cholesterol in rats

Team - Life Science
Senior Division
First Place
Elizabeth Monier (Boerne), Marilynn Tedja (San Antonio), Elise
 Adcock (San Antonio)
The Effects of Suppressing Genes on Lysosomal Production in Wild Type
 and cup-5 Mutant C. elegans as a Model for the Human Disease
 Mucolipidosis

Team - Life Science
Senior Division
Second Place
Priscilla Mendoza (El Paso)
Potential for Vertical Transmission of West Nile Virus and Western
 Equine Encephalitis in Culex tarsalis and Culex quinquefascitus

Team - Life Science
Senior Division
Third Place
Neha Jangeti (Plano), Jyothy Punnoose (Plano)
Secret Lives Of RBCs: The Impact of Glucocorticoids on Sickled Red
 Blood Cells

Team - Life Science
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Basil Shadfan (Boerne), Khannan Athreya (San Antonio)
The Effect of Supplemental Plant Signaling Compounds on Stress
 Response in Oryza sativa

Team - Life Science
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Melissa Pina (El Paso), Francisco Chagolla (El Paso), Clarissa
 Enriquez (El Paso)
Efficacy of Apitherapy in the Treatment and Elimination of Bacteria

Team - Life Science
Junior Division
First Place
Anushri Kushwaha (The Woodlands)
Big Achievements In A Little World

Team - Life Science
Junior Division
Second Place
Sunny Patel (San Antonio), Paul Guzman (San Antonio)
Remember Me???

Team - Life Science
Junior Division
Second Place
Daniel Gutierrez (San Antonio)
Rosemarie Mayhan

Team - Life Science
Junior Division
Third Place
Alianna Whiteaker-Chudecke (Cedar Hill), Alexa Hanks (Desoto)
"Coo" Key

Team - Life Science
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Kathy Yi (Brownsville), Silvia Sanchez (Brownsville)
To Kill or Not To Kill

Team - Life Science
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Drew Johnson (Marion)
"Humdinger" - Hummingbird Migration

Team - Physical Science
Senior Division
First Place
Rachel Preston (San Antonio), Elizabeth Roberts (San Antonio),
 Thomas Meyer (San Antonio)
The Effect on Greenhouse Gas Levels by the Modification of
 Photosynthetic Marine Organisms

Team - Physical Science
Senior Division
Second Place
Summer Sink (Wichita Falls), Crystal Wong (Burkburnett)
On Golden Pond: The Study of Micronutrient Deficiency in Golden Alga,
 Prymnesium parvum

Team - Physical Science
Senior Division
Third Place
Jose Castrellon (El Paso), Alvaro Navarro (El Paso)
Methane Fueled Lawn Mower

Team - Physical Science
Senior Division
Fourth Place
Nicole Gonzales (Clint)
Viscosity 3

Team - Physical Science
Senior Division
Fifth Place
Chris Harrel (Andrews), Derek Sugg (Andrews), David Cagle (Andrews)
The All Seeing Spy

Team - Physical Science
Junior Division
First Place
Alex Abuadas (Houston), Christian Bionat (Houston)
Wood Twister

Team - Physical Science
Junior Division
Second Place
Brynn Umbach (The Woodlands), Kevin Lambert (The Woodlands), Cameron
 Strong (The Woodlands)
The Perfect Greenhouse

Team - Physical Science
Junior Division
Third Place
Elliot Yun (Austin)
In What Kind of Organic Materials Does the Transformation from Solar
 Energy to Electrical Energy Occur Best?

Team - Physical Science
Junior Division
Fourth Place
Joseph Kyle (El Paso), James Kyle (El Paso)
Disturbance Waves vs. Shoreline

Team - Physical Science
Junior Division
Fifth Place
Kasi McWha (Tyler), Casey Davis (Tyler)
Now You See it, Now You Don't