Ward Melville High School Student Wins First Place in Brookhaven Lab's Science and Society Essay Contest
April 24, 2007
UPTON, NY - Daniel Fourman, a student at Ward Melville High School in East Setauket, won the grand prize of $500 in the annual Science and Society Essay Contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory. Stephen Tuozzolo, a Sayville High School student, won $300 as the second-place winner, and Alicia Chionchio from Smithtown High School West, won $200 in third place. A panel of four independent judges chose the winning essays based on critical thinking, scientific accuracy, creativity and organization. The winners were chosen from 94 entries from 14 Long Island schools.
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Joining Daniel Fourman and Alicia Chionchio (both center), first- and third-place winners of Brookhaven Lab's Science and Society Essay Contest, are honorable mention winners: (from left) Elizabeth D'Arienzo, Justin Chacko, Joan Rosenthal, Erica Cooperberg, Matthew Gelfman, and Dasha Bolotnikov. Not present for the photo were: second-place winner Stephen Tuozzolo and honorable mention awardees Denise Del Gaudio and Rebecca Friedman. (Click image to download hi-res version)
Eight honorable-mention prizes of $50 each were also awarded. They were given to: Dasha Bolotnikov, Ward Melville High School; Justin Chacko, Erica Cooperberg and Elizabeth D'Arienzo, East Meadow High School; Denise Del Gaudio and Rebecca Friedman, Huntington High School; and Matthew Gelfman and Joan Rosenthal, Smithtown High School East.
In celebration of Brookhaven National Laboratory's sixtieth anniversary of scientific discovery this year, students were asked to focus on a technology that has won Brookhaven Lab an R&D Award, given by R&D Magazine annually for the top 100 achievements of the year. Fourman wrote about a smart, high-performance polyphenylenesulfide coating system that is particularly suited for use in geothermal power plants. The technology won an R&D Award in 2002 for Brookhaven Lab through the work of former Brookhaven researcher Toshifumi Sugama, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and industrial partners Curran & Sons, and Ticona Corporation. Both Stephen Tuozzolo and Alicia Chionchio wrote essays on the plasma window, a device invented by Brookhaven Lab physicist Ady Hershcovitch, which has several potential industrial and scientific applications, including electron-beam welding. It won an R&D Award in 1996. The winning students' essays may be read online.
The Laboratory's Office of Educational Programs manages the essay contest, and Brookhaven Science Associates, the company that runs the Laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy, sponsored the contest prizes. Friends of Brookhaven, a Laboratory employee organization, started the essay contest eight years ago.
2007-10623 | INT/EXT | Newsroom
