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Twelve Southern Arizona students are participating this week in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Indianapolis.

Chosen for creating the top projects from the Southern Arizona Science and Engineering Fair, held at the Tucson Convention Center in March, these teenagers are experiencing exactly why students do science fair projects and continue to pursue their interest in math and science into college and careers; that is, to do something fascinating and work with people who are equally interested in it.

The fun part is to win a few prizes along the way!

What is the Intel ISEF? The 57th Intel ISEF brings together more than 1,400 high school projects from 40 countries and territories in 15 scientific categories. The students compete for more than 600 awards of $500-$3,000 each, as well as Sponsored Awards worth more than $1.5 million in university scholarships, research internships, laboratory equipment and travel opportunities. The top three projects win $50,000 scholarships.

The fair itself is similar to the regional competition, SARSEF. Students set up displays of their research, discuss what they did with judges and attend awards ceremonies. But with students from all over the world at ISEF, there are opportunities to make new friends interested in the same or very different things, fun tours to go on, presentations by Nobel Prize winners and other amazing activities after the judging is over.

Who are the Southern Arizona ISEF participants? The Intel ISEF finalists from Southern Arizona include four individuals and two teams, some of whom we interviewed via e-mail:

Liz Baker (University High School, senior) is participating in ISEF for the fifth time. She went as an eighth grade observer and as a finalist annually through high school, this year earning her place without benefit of a mentor or research class. Her project, "The Wishing Tree: A Six-Year Sociological Analysis of Human Desire," sparks curiosity considering what people wish for and why. Although she has won numerous prizes for her research projects, including both first- and second-place awards at previous ISEFs, she notes that the judging will be intense. "I'm curious to see how the judges respond to my project. . . . It's hard to predict," she said.

Ahmed Badran (Tucson High Magnet School, senior), attending his first ISEF, is presenting his project, "Design and Synthesis of a GFP-Based Molecular Switch for the Detection of Protein-Protein Interactions." While working on his project through the research class offered by Margaret Wilch, Tucson High Magnet School, Ahmed worked with mentor Jason Porter, a University of Arizona graduate student.

Ahmed said Jason "played a major role in my understanding of this project and my overcoming problems that faced me in the process . . . including how to work out research problems on my own."

Tyler Clark (Salpointe Catholic High School, senior), also a first-time participant, is looking forward to the experience with his project, "Adaptive Airfoils: Better Than Existing Technology." His participation in science fairs has evolved since he was in the fifth grade, working with his first mentor, his father, Richard. He began by working on "generic" projects until he was able to come up with ideas on his own.

"It was great fun, and I found out that I really loved aerodynamics and that I wanted to learn more about it," he said.

Emily Hartley (Academy of Math and Science, junior) looks forward to meeting others who are as excited about mathematics as she is. Her project, "Hexaflexagons: Are You in the Group? Or Out?" strengthened her interest in math, and "it has given me a greater level of confidence in my own abilities." She hopes that interest and the ISEF experience will help when she applies to colleges, too.

Ariel Potter and Christine Pak (Rio Rico High School, sophomore and junior) presented "Insulin Resistance Part II: What Is the Role of p38 MAPK in Insulin Signaling?" This is Ariel's second trip to ISEF (he also competed last year). Their project is a continuation of last year's research and was inspired by the growing population who suffer from Types 1 and 2 diabetes.

Although it was initially a class requirement, Ariel notes that the effort was worth "knowing that a sophomore or junior in high school is capable of performing graduate-level work."

Christine observed that "being from a small town, it's hard to believe you can benefit to anything. But I feel as though I contributed to something."

David Charles and Patrick Brown (Salpointe Catholic High School, freshmen) were presented with new questions as they continued to research their project, "Bioremediation and Degradation of CCA-Treated Wood in Landfills."

David has been in science fairs since kindergarten, including three nominations to the national Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge. He said the work "changes the way you look at life and logic. The best part is when things don't turn out the way you expect and you have to go back and try and understand a completely different way of looking at the results."

They explained that they have continued their research for several years because the answers to their questions kept leading them to ask more questions.

In addition to those competing, four eighth-graders will participate as observers, serving event visitors as ISEF Ambassadors. Observers were chosen as the top middle-school projects at SARSEF. They are Caroline Brown (Emily Gray Junior High School), Lyda Harris (Doolen Middle School), Nicolas Baird and Christian Suyat (both Sonoran Science Academy).

Eighty-five students in grades 5-8 were named Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge nominees at SARSEF. They must submit participation materials no later than June 7.

For more information about SARSEF and ISEF, check out:

www.sarsef.org

www.intelisef2006.org