The Home of Midwood Science Research

No clean sweep at BC Sci Day, but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad

Posted on Tuesday, May 8, 2018 by for Awards, Brooklyn College.

Midwood Science won two of the three awards in the high school division at Brooklyn College's annual Science Research Day on Friday, May 4, 2018 ending a four year long streak of clean sweeps (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017). Kevin Chen and Hafsa Fatima placed first and second, respectively. Both students worked under the supervision of long-time friend of Midwood Science, Dr. Frank Grasso in the Biomimetic and Cognitive Robotics (BCR) lab at Brooklyn College. Third place went to Staten Island Tech student Kemal Aziz, who worked under the supervision of Dr. Karl Sandeman in the Department of Physics at Brooklyn College. Both Dr. Grasso and Dr. Sandeman have mentored projects good enough to attend the Intel International Science and Engineering Festival (ISEF) — Dr. Grasso in 2018 and Dr. Sandeman in 2016.

Brooklyn College Science Research Day is an annual event that showcases the work done by students with research mentors at Brooklyn College and other CUNY schools. This year, around 125 students presented their research across 14 categories in STEM, with over 50 faculty members and students from the college serving as judges. First, second, and third place prizes were awarded in each of the three divisions: high school, undergraduate and graduate.

Four people in a rowGlenn Elert (teacher), Kevin Chen, Hafsa Fatima, Susan Katzoff (teacher) Two people, poster, two peopleGlenn Elert (teacher), Dr. Frank Grasso (professor), Fizza Nayab, Larissa Brijmohan
  1. Kevin Chen, a junior from Midwood, won first place in the high school division for his project "Aggression on the beach: Crowding increases aggression levels in fiddler crab (Uca pugilator) colonies." Kevin worked under the supervision of Dr. Frank Grasso in the Biomimetic and Cognitive Robotics (BCR) lab at Brooklyn College.
  2. Hafsa Fatima, a senior from Midwood, won second place in the high school division for her project "The effect of temperature on the frequency of vocalization of Myiopsitta monachus". Hafsa also worked under the supervision of Dr. Frank Grasso in the Biomimetic and Cognitive Robotics (BCR) lab at Brooklyn College.
  3. Kemal Aziz, a senior from Staten Island Tech, won third place in the high school division for his project "Cooling through quantum mechanics: Magnon-based description of magneto caloric effects in La-Fe-Si, CoMnSi, and gadolinium". Kemal worked under the supervision of Dr. Karl Sandeman in the Department of Physics at Brooklyn College.

Group photo under a flowering tree
Susan Katzoff (teacher), Fizza Nayab, Glenn Elert (teacher), Hafsa Fatima, Soanne Saint Victor, Joyce Chow, Aushna Saleem, Naila Mirza, Ivy Li, Kevin Chen, Beien Lin, Kathy Mania, Larissa Brijmohan, Annable Xie, Nursat Jahan