Five students earn COF Awards

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WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFPN) --  Five high-school students from across the nation were awarded cash prizes totaling $17,000 during the Century of Flight Awards ceremony July 17 at the 2003 Dayton Air Show.

The students, chosen from 175 competitors, received their awards from Maj. Gen. Paul Nielsen, Air Force Research Laboratory commander. The students also received a free trip to Dayton to attend the Centennial of Flight celebration for both themselves and a parent. The winners were:

-- Ray He from Hempfield High School in Landisville, Pa., who won the grand prize of $6,000 for his paper titled, “Magnetoplasmadynamics: Ionization and Magnetic Field -- Improving the Efficiency of Ion Propulsion.”

-- Laura Wong from the Villa Victoria Academy in Yardley, Pa., who won $4,000 for her paper called, “I See You! Robotic Navigation Using Appearance-Based Obstacle Detection.”

-- Stephen Kennedy of Indianapolis, Ind., who won $3,000 for his research paper, “Creating an Effective and Efficient Cooling Method for Turbine Blades.”

-- Lauren Hansen from Wasatch High School in Midway, Utah, who won $2,000 for her paper titled, “Nanostrands in Hybrid Composites.”

-- Eric Mueller from Acton Middle School in Granbury, Texas, who won $2,000 for a paper titled, “Icing is Such a Drag: Aerodynamic Effects of Ice Accretion on Wings at Multiple Angles of Attack.”

The contest dovetails with Dayton’s Inventing Flight event, which celebrates the 100th anniversary of powered flight and the innovation of the Wright Brothers. The laboratory-sponsored competition was a one-time event conducted in 2003 as part of the centennial of flight celebration.

“What better way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of flight than to encourage tomorrow’s leaders to pursue aerospace science -- and in turn help develop the Air Force’s future technologies,” said program manager Sue Sobieski, of the laboratory’s plans and programs section.

About 800 students competed in regional and state science fairs across the United States. They each submitted a 10-page paper based on their research and its possible aerospace applications. From that group, 175 stepped forward, according to Sobieski.

“One of the key criteria was that students had to demonstrate the potential positive impact of their research on Air Force capabilities,” she said.

Scientists from the laboratory’s technology directorates evaluated the entries, and the winners were picked by the research council and chief technologist, Dr. Barbara Wilson.

“I enjoyed reading the papers -- the quality of the projects was very impressive,” said Wilson. “Some could well have been published as articles in professional journals. The students' excitement about their projects also came through loud and clear, and I hope the experience will encourage them to consider careers in science and engineering. Their projects clearly demonstrate great potential to become members of the next generation of world class scientists and engineers.”