Inquiry First.

The top three finalists in this spring's Intel Science Talent Search credit things like parental support, perseverance, a spirit of inquiry, and science fair participation for their successes. For his project, first-place winner Nithin Tumma analyzed the molecular mechanisms in cancer cells and found that by inhibiting certain proteins, it may be possible to slow the growth of cancer cells and decrease their malignancy. A high school senior from Michigan, Nithin suggests that his participation in science fairs earlier in his academic career laid a foundation for his recent success. "I wasn't great at winning, but I had a good time doing it," he said. "My parents always supported me. So I kept on doing it. And it worked out." It worked out in a big way: Nithin received a cash prize of $100,000 as... Read More

Last weekend's Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair owes its success in no small part to UMass Medical School. Twenty-six faculty and staff from UMMS and UMass Memorial Medical Center spent a rainy Saturday at Worcester Technical High School serving in the crucial role as science fair judges.  With every competitor receiving judging from three professionals, the demand for judges is tremendous, and UMass Medical School's contribution to this year's State Middle School Science & Engineering Fair made a big difference.  "No other organization had more volunteers than ours,” said Sandra Mayrand, director of UMMS's Regional Science Resource Center. A big "thank you" from MSSEF to UMMS for this extraordinary and valuable effort! See on... Read More

A fabulous Massachusetts State Middle School Science & Engineering Fair took place on Saturday, June 2nd at Worcester Technical High School.  Students in grades 6-8 from all over the state spent the rainy day making new friends and explaining their projects to the volunteer judges. Two projects emerged as grand prize winners.  From Melican Middle School in Northborough, Yashaswini Makram entered the grand-prize winning, "Accelerometer Apps: Sizing Up Smart Phones to Measure Height and Distance."  Ethan Messier, a student at Swansea's New England Christian Academy, won the other grand prize with "Wave to the Future: The Utilization of Marine Waves Using Wave Buoys to Generate Electricity."  Congratulations to Yashaswini, Ethan, and the... Read More

Oliver Dodd of Needham High School and Rahi Punjabi of Advanced Math and Science Academy Charter School are headed to the 2012 BIO International Convention BioGENEius Challenge! The talented science students won accolades for the projects they entered into the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair in early May. Rahi, a tenth-grader, took first-place honors at the state fair for his biology project, "The Role of Garlic in... Read More