The Academy sponsors, supports, or participates in a number of special activities in response to the mandate of its Charter to: “… promote interest in science and engineering on the part of the public, especially young people.” Each year, the Academy recognizes event winners who participated in the Connecticut Science Challenge, Connecticut Science Fair, Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, the Connecticut Invention Convention, and the National Siemens Westinghouse Competition at the Academy’s Annual Meeting and Awards Dinner in May. Funding for all student and school awards is provided from contributions to the Academy’s Student Awards Fund by the members of the Academy and by Gerber Scientific, Inc., for its sponsorship of the H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence.

Connecticut Science Challenge

The national Intel Science Talent Search, administered by Science Service, is sponsored by the world’s largest chipmaker, Intel Corporation. Formerly known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, the national contest is America’s oldest and most highly regarded science competition for high school seniors that is intended to stimulate student interest in science, math and technology. High school students from around the United States participate in this prestigious annual science project competition. Additionally, the projects of the state’s finalists and semifinalists are subsequently judged for state honors in the Connecticut Science Challenge.

This year, 1,744 entrants from around the United States competed in the Intel Science Talent Search. A total of 40 students won honors as finalists and 300 students were selected as semi-finalist winners, including nine students from Connecticut, eight of whom participated in the Connecticut Science Challenge. Each of Connecticut’s Intel semifinalists and their respective schools received awards of $1,000.

The 2011 Connecticut Science Challenge first place winner was Marina Kaneko of Greenwich High School, for her project, Spectroscopic Modeling of Ergothioneine as a UV Dermal Protectan. She was also a winner of the H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence. (Please see the H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence for a listing of the winners of this award.)

Second place honors, which included a $500 award from the Academy, went to national finalist Joshua M. Greenberg of Staples High School, Westport, CT, for his project An Approach to Treating Sensorineural Hearing Loss through the Identification and Characterization of Mechanosensory Hair Cell Progenitors in the Zebrafish Lateral Line

An honorable mention, which included an award of $250 from the Academy, went to Rachel A. Myers of Staples High School, Westport, CT, for her project Computational Investigation of Astrophysical NuclearReaction Rate Dominance.

Connecticut Science Fair

The 2010 Connecticut Science Fair was held in March at Quinnipiac College in Hamden.

To promote interest in science and engineering, and to recognize those high school students whose science projects are judged to be the best of the senior division in each of the two major categories, Life Sciences and Physical Sciences, the Academy provides special awards each year to the top two winners of the Connecticut Science Fair.

The winners received the H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence, including a solid silver medal and a $1,000 honorarium. The Gerber Medal is presented by the Academy in partnership with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology. In addition, they received a Certificate of Recognition from the Academy and an Official Statement of recognition from Governor M. Jodi Rell. (Please see the H. Joseph Gerber Medal of Excellence for a listing of the winners of this award.)

Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium

The Connecticut Junior Science and Humanities Symposium is sponsored by the University of Connecticut and is part of the national U. S. Army Junior Science and Humanities Symposia Program. The Academy joined with other corporations and institutions in support of this event. 

The 2011 symposium was held in March at the University of Connecticut. The symposium has been effective in enhancing student motivation, stimulating original research and promoting the setting for exciting scientific meetings. It is intended to recognize students who have demonstrated intellectual achievement and promise. This event provides a forum for selected high school students to present a variety of technical papers and posters, meet in small discussion groups with leading scientists from Connecticut industries, and utilize special facilities at the university to explore technical and ethical challenges of current science. The Academy recognizes the top five oral presenters and their respective schools. The winners are as follows:

1st Place, Yiyuan Hu, Hamden High School, Hamden, CT
Topic: Role of MyD88 in DNA Damage Response

2nd Place, Swathi Krishnan, Rye Country Day School, Rye, NY
Topic: Development and Characterization of a Novel Listeria-Caspase-3 DNA Vaccine to Eradicate Metastatic Breast Cancer

3rd Place, Bonnie Hawkins, Hamden High School, Hamden, CT
Topic: Protein Engineering of NPP4 into NPP2

4th Place, John Solder, Staples High School, Westport, CT
Topic: KCNQ Channels in Prefrontal Pyramidal Neurons:
A Novel Target for Cognitive Enhancement

5th Place, Andrew Mauboussin, Darien High School, Darien, CT
Topic: Differentiating Skill and Luck in Financial Markets with Streaks

These students and their schools were recognized at the 2011 Annual Meeting and Dinner of the Academy. The students received Certificates of Recognition and a $250 honorarium. Each high school was also recognized with a Letter of Commendation and a $500 donation to its science department to further science and mathematics education from the Academy. Additionally, Governor Dannel P. Malloy issued an Official Statement to each high school in recognition of this outstanding achievement.

Connecticut Invention Convention

The Connecticut Invention Convention is a program that seeks to provide students in grades K-8 with a meaningful opportunity to develop and encourage creative thinking and invention. The Invention Convention program is designed to integrate all aspects of a student’s educational experience in an effort to solve real-life problems by understanding and using creative skills. The convention provides an opportunity for student inventors to participate in a friendly competition and to share their ideas with each other as well as adult inventors, engineers, patent attorneys and other professionals.

For 2011, the Academy recognized the 15 middle and elementary school student winners of the Invention Convention with Certificates of Recognition and monetary awards ($100 US Savings Bonds).