ILLINOIS:
IJAS Science Fair held May 6, 2011 in Champaign/Urbana Illinois
Many Thanks go to the assistance of past Illinois State Director, Mary Ann Schlacks as an additional Judge. Exceptional year for high quality work!
1st Place Certificate of Merit $100
Two 12th grade students
Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora IL
'Characterization of MRSA Clinical Isolates from Newborn Infants'
Focus Category: Microbiological Technique
Originality: Examined 57 MRSA organisms taken from infants at Children's Memorial Hospital (under supervision) to determine if community acquired or hospital acquired. Utilized 3 different methodologies: Kirby Bauer disc diffusion, Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), and PCR to find the best means to differentiate organism origins.
Knowledge: Work was very well researched, from bacterial cultivation, to media requirements, disc method (used eight antimicrobics), to PFGE (understood USA 300 pattern) to PCR
(looked for mecA, pvl genes). Found PFGE to be clearest indicator. Tests performed in triplicate. Further studies would look for organisms on mother, suggesting that
pre-screening for MRSA at the same time as Group B streptococcus could assist in preventative treatment.
Oral Presentation: Clear concise presentation, well understood. Great eye contact and gestures.
Visual Presentation: Arranged in very logical manner, with excellent clarity.
2nd Place Certificate of Merit $50
Male student, 11th grade
Niles West, Niles IL
'The Effects of Homoserine Lactone Octadecanoyl-L on Quorum Sensing in Vibrio harveyi'
Focus Category: Bacterial Quorum Sensing
Originality: Examination of new area of quorum sensing with the intent of decreased growth of organism mass by HLO-L interruption. Utilization of Vibrio strain that was
chemi-luminescent to determine levels of growth. Preparation of BHI, agarose peptide NaCl agar.
Knowledge: Had great understanding of media requirements, organism history and cultivation, and background on natural selection. Great understanding of molecular principles
and of A1 analogs implicated in quorum sensing. Study direction would be further work for catheter/hub use and incorporation of unique proteins in tubing to prevent growth.
Oral Presentation: Good eye contact, comfortable with material and his work.
Visual Presentation: Utilized power point presentation on laptop in addition to well prepared physical poster. Had clear photos with hourly growth displayed. He showed
excellent clarity in his work by this organized poster.
3d Place Certificate of Merit $25
Male student, 10th grade
Payton College Prep, Chicago, IL
'Mechanism of 5FC Resistance in Candida albicans'
Focus Category: Mechanisms of Resistance
Originality: Utilized micro broth dilution, agar dilution, PCR and chromatographic methods to investigate FUR1 mutation to see how it affected resistance to Flucytosine with C.
albicans. Prepared media (RPMI), micro broth dilution plates.
Knowledge: His work was well researched, with exhibited knowledge on the bacterial organism, techniques used and media included in his study. He also researched the
antimicrobial, understanding its method of action. He performed a rigorous study, standardizing his work by repeating in duplicate with exact replication of results.
Oral Presentation: Student was very excited about his work, and communicated this very well.
Visual Presentation: Well organized. Clear interpretation was achieved by graphs and charts.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Regional Science and Engineering Fair 2011
Marian University, Indianapolis
1st Place:
11th grade Female student
Bishop Chatard High School
Indianapolis, IN
"Hand Sanitizer: Really 99.9% Effective?"
The student evaluated the efficacy of hand sanitizer in her experiment. She tested the efficacy on 40 volunteers. She used Purell hand sanitizer vs. her own homemade hand sanitizer on her volunteers, and then made them stick their fingers on agar plates. She made her own agar! She found that there was really no difference between the 2 hand sanitizers and also that neither was 99.9% effective! She then expanded the experiment using hospital strength iodine.
2nd Place:
11th grade Female student
Noblesville High School
Noblesville, IN
"Antibacterial Plants"
This student used different plants to test their antibacterial capabilities on a common non-pathogenic bacteria. She collaborated with Purdue University to get the agar plates. She used a mortar/pestle and saline to make a plant solution. She streaked plates with the bug and then applied the plant solution. Afterwards, she measured the zones. She found that lemon vs. star fruit had the highest antibacterial capability.
3rd Place:
11th grade Male student
Noblesville High School
Noblesville, IN
"Destruction of DNA and Other Amino Acids via Combustion"
This student tested the effect of combustion on DNA with an interest in forensic use. He did an at-home DNA extraction using a blender (meat tenderizer as the enzyme!). He added salt and alcohol to tubes of the blended mixture of peapods vs. pine needles to determine if DNA had been extracted. Then, he burned the plant materials and attempted to extract DNA again. He concluded that combustion kills DNA.
The 57th Annual West Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair was held Saturday March 27, 2010 at Fairmont State University college of Science and Technology in Fairmont, WV. A total of 7 Microbiology projects were entered.
First Place was awarded to a male student from the Environmental Science Section for his project "Fecal Coliforms in the Potomac River". This interesting project was prompted from a kayaking trip on the Potomac when he noticed a discharge pipe into the river and became interested in what bacteria were being dumped into the water. He demonstrated negative cultures above the discharge pipe and identified bacteria that were isolated from points at and below the discharge pipe with colony counts at various points along the river.
Second Place was awarded to a female student for her project "Saved By the Spices". Miss Wedde was interested in the homeopathic antimicrobial effect of spices including chili peppers; cinnamon; coriander and garlic on bacteria. She found only garlic exhibited an antimicrobial effect and explained how this was produced.
Third Place was awarded to a female student for her project "Solarization Sterilization". She examined well water for bacterial counts and proved that solar energy in a greenhouse effect could lower and produce negative bacterial counts in water. This could be of benefit to third world nations in their endeavor to produce potable water inexpensively.
West Virginia would like to thank SCACM for their continued support of young microbiologists in our state high schools.
Roberta McDaniel - WV Director SCACM