NYCSEF is the annual New York City Science and Engineering Fair with hundreds of participants from across the five boroughs. Roughly 400 participants are selected from 700–800 entries to participate in the Preliminary Round held at City College. The top 25% of these go on to the Finals Round at the American Museum of Natural History. These students compete against one another for various awards, internships, scholarships, and cash prizes. The top 16 projects go on to represent NYC at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles, California May 14–19.
Midwood Science is proud to congratulate Mahmoud Abouelkheir for receiving the highest award of the competition — the Intel ISEF Award. Lilin Liu received an award from the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, which includes a paid internship. Allan Nosov and Nomon Mohammad also received special awards. Vivian Luu, Minna Zeldin, and Amna Aslam rounded out the list of award winners.
This year's Finalists worked in the Departments of Biology, Physics, and Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College; the offices of NOAA-CREST at City College; and the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at the Hospital for Special Surgery. Special thanks to all the mentors for their dedication and hard work.
NYCSEF First Award and Intel ISEF Award
- Mahmoud Abouelkheir (Microbiology)
"Intra-microcolony spatial positioning affects antibiotic susceptibility in Neisseria gonorrhoeae."
Mahmoud worked under the supervision of Dr. Nicolas Biais in the Department of Biology at Brooklyn College.
NYCSEF Second Award
- Allan Nosov (Earth & Environmental Sciences)
"Lapse rate analysis — model versus observations."
Allan worked under the supervision of Dr. Brian Vant-Hull in the office of NOAA-CREST at City College. Allan also won a NASA Earth System Science Award for a project that offers the greatest insight into the Earth's interconnected systems. - Nomon Mohammad (Engineering)
"Anthraquinone as an effective electrolyte for redox flow batteries."
Nomon worked under the supervision of Mr. Domenec Paterno and Dr. Sophia Suarez in the Department of Physics at Brooklyn College. Nomon also received the ASM Materials Education Foundation Award for outstanding research related to materials science.
NYCSEF Third Award
- Lilin Liu (Earth & Environmental Sciences)
"The effectiveness of x‑ray fluorescence on lead contaminated vegetables."
Lilin worked under the supervision of Dr. Zhongqi (Joshua) Cheng in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Brooklyn College. Lilin also won a Brooklyn Navy Yard Award for an exceptional project that promotes the Navy Yard's commitment to academic excellence and scientific inquiry. - Vivian Luu (Chemistry)
"A variable temperature study of the conductivity and activation energy of aqueous solutions of VOSO4 in 1 M TFSA."
Vivian worked under the supervision of Mr. Domenec Paterno and Dr. Sophia Suarez in the Department of Physics at Brooklyn College. - Minna Zeldin (Medicine & Health Sciences)
"Circuit amplification with DNA strand displacement cascade for the evolution of cell surfaces."
Minna worked under the supervision of Dr. Sergei Rudchenko in the Flow Cytometry Core Facility at the Hospital for Special Surgery. - Amna Aslam (Microbiology)
"Role of nucleolar stress factors in DNA damage response."
Amna worked under the supervision of Dr. Anjana D. Saxena in the Department of Biology at Brooklyn College.