The Sixth Annual Chemagination contest of the New York Section of the American Chemical Society was hosted by New York Section of the American Chemical Society at St. John's University on May 9, 2009.  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:  Alternative Energy Resources, Environment, Medicine/Healthcare, or New Materials 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.

The written entries were received through web submission and the electronic entries were made available to the judges prior to the day of the contest.  This year’s event drew thirty five posters contributed by approximately eighty five students from nine high schools.

The Sixth Annual Chemagination contest began with welcoming remarks by Dr. Korlipara, Chemagination Coordinator, Dr. Barbara Hillery, Chair of the New York Section of the American Chemical Society, and Dr. Richard Rosso, Chairman, Department of Chemistry, St. John’s University.  This was followed by the judging of posters.  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.

The first and second place winners in each category were given trophies. All participants were given certificates of participation (prepared by Dr. Goldberg).  Unlike the previous years, there was no regional Chemagination contest this year.  Congratulations to all the students who participated in Chemagination 2009 with great enthusiasm.

Special thanks are in order for Mr. Frank Romano, Drs. Blase Billack, Guofang Chen, Kurt Degenhardt, Stephen Goldberg, Janet Rollins, Tanaji Talele, Luis Vargas and Enju Wang who served as judges and to Dr. Goldberg and Dr. Stephani for serving as the committee members.

ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SOURCES

Division Avenue H.S.        Piezoelectricity: The Energy That Powers our Cities

South Side H.S.               The Secret Behind Microbial Fuel Cells: How They Bring Light to Our Lives

Half Hollow Hills HSW    Power Kicks

South Side H.S.               Cellulosic Ethanol: Could Plant Waste Power the World?

ENVIRONMENT

H.S. for Health Professions & Human Services        Supercritical Water Oxidation: A Revolutionary Waste Treatment Technology for Greener Environment

Division Avenue H.S.        Carbon Monoxide Filter

Division Avenue H.S.        Demeter

South Side H.S.                ChemMatters: A Metal-filtering Polymer

Half Hollow Hills HSW     Liming

General Douglas MacArthur H.S.         The Incredible Ozone-Eater

General Douglas MacArthur H.S.          Mercury Screens: A Solution to Methyl Mercury Contamination

MEDICINE/HEALTHCARE

North Babylon H.S.           Hearing Loss:  The Invention of the Prosthetic Ear Drum and Ear Drum Surgery

North Babylon H.S.           Teenage Depression Diet

North Babylon H.S.           Recent Studies Provide Help for Open Wounds

North Babylon H.S.           Finally, A Cure for AIDS

South Side H.S.                 The Bluetooth D9

Half Hollow Hills HSW     Obesity: A Thing of the Past

Division Avenue H.S.         Cholestobot

South Side H.S.                 Innovations and Cancer Surgery

Division Avenue H.S.         Artificial Blood

Huntington H.S.                Nanotechnology and its Effect on Cancer Cells

Wallington Jr/Sr H.S.       "Slow" Fast Food

Half Hollow Hills HSW     Life Saving Lenses

NEW MATERIALS

Division Avenue H.S.        Active Camouflage

North Babylon H.S.          Have You Ever Wanted to Change Your Past?

North Babylon H.S.          An Educational, Thought-Recognition Tablet PC

Staten Island Technical H.S.       The Blood Battery

Division Avenue H.S.        Future of Commercial Flight: Blended Wing Designed Plane

Half Hollow Hills HSW    The Assist

South Side H.S.                A Combination of Cutting-edge Technology and Practical Application: Microencapsulation

South Side H.S.                Transdermal Patches: The Future of Bone Repair

Huntington H. S.             The Future is Right in Front of Us, It's Just too Small to See

Half Hollow Hills HSW   Green Bottles

Division Avenue H.S.       Voice Analyzing Pen

Huntington H.S.              Polarized Contacts

Alternative Energy - Piezoelectricity: The Energy That Powers our Cities, Division Avenue High School

Environment - Demeter, Division Avenue High School

Medicine/Healthcare - The Bluetooth D9, Southside H.S.

New Materials  - Active Camouflage, Division Avenue High School

Alternative Energy - The secret behind Microbial Fuel Cells: How they bring light to our lives, Southside H.S.

Environment - Supercritical Water Oxidation: A Revolutionary Waste Treatment Technology for Greener Environment, H.S. for Health Professions & Human Services

Medicine/Healthcare - Life Saving Lenses, Half Hollow Hills HS West

New Materials - Transdermal Patches: The Future of Bone Repair, Southside H.S.