Joint Science and Humanities Symposium

  • Published
  • By Erin Crawley
  • AFOSR Public Affairs (Quantech)
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico --  Eighteen undergraduate tuition scholarships donated by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) through the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Army Research Office (ARO), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), totaling $144,000 were awarded to 18 high school student winners of a national research paper competition at the 44 th National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium (JSHS) held at the Embassy Suites Hotel, April 26 - 29, 2006.

The six first-place finalists received $16,000 for undergraduate tuition and an expense-paid trip to the London International Youth Science Forum, an exchange program bringing together over 400 participants from 60 nations, taking place July 26 to August 9, 2006 at London University. The six second-place winners received $6,000 for tuition and will serve as alternates to the first place winners. Awards of $2,000 for tuition were given to six third place winners.

Many student attendees enjoyed the event and appreciated the opportunity to participate in the National JSHS competition. Second-place winner Daniel Handlin of High Technology High School in Lincroft, NJ, who presented a paper in the Physics Sciences category, said the event was a high quality experience. "JSHS offers a special chance for projects with strong physical and military applications to be showcased in a national competition with impressive projects. I have found that the ability to network with military officers is extremely useful, and I have benefited from the industry and government leaders I have met at JSHS," Mr. Handlin said.

Third-place winner, Kelydra Welcker of Parkersburg South High School, Parkersburg, WV, who presented her paper in the Medicine & Health/Behavioral Sciences category, and whose mother and sister won first place at the JSHS Nationals events in 1973 and 1995, respectively, also enjoyed the experience. "I can't really express how grateful I am to JSHS for giving me the opportunity to present my research and earn some college money. I believe the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium is a crucial step in the development of a future scientist. The structured presentation format encourages an in-depth exploration of diverse topics, while the social activities allow the free and easy interchange of ideas. I especially appreciated the opportunity to meet students from so many different cultural backgrounds," Ms. Welcker said.

Keynote speakers representing the Air Force, Army, and Navy provided inspirational speeches throughout the symposium to an audience of about 240 high school students, who successfully qualified for attendance through forty-eight regional competitions held on university campuses nationwide, and about 160 teachers, parents and chaperones.

In his Wednesday evening opening keynote presentation entitled, "Innovation: Where Do We Go from Here", Dr. Alok Das, Chief Scientist of the Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate (VS), discussed innovations that are shaping the future such as space tourism. "I'm pretty sure in the very near future we'll have clothing that adapts to temperature outside. You can be sure that you'll have wearable computers as well. Space tourism is growing and New Mexico is right in the middle of that, but in the near future, only a few rich people will be able to go. It is impossible to predict innovations 100 years from now, but we can look at 20 or 30 years from now, and you are at the heart of that. You are the people that are going to make that happen," Dr. Das said.

Thursday morning events started off with a keynote address from Dr. Robert Fugate, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, and current advisor at the Atmospheric Compensation at the Starfire Optical Range, Directed Energy (DE) Directorate, AFRL, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., where he was previously the Senior Scientist (until his recent retirement in February 2006). Dr. Fugate shared his experience in adaptive optics with the aspiring young scientists of JSHS and encouraged them to be persistent in their future endeavors. "I'm here to talk to you about the building of extremely large ground-based telescopes to study some really important things, like the edge of the universe, and I'm so pleased that so many of you are interested in science and engineering. We currently have a tremendous downturn in educating a new generation of people that are interested in these kinds of topics. I hope that at least one of you will get motivated enough by what's going on here [at JSHS] to follow up in similar areas that you see in the presentations," said Dr. Fugate.

Dr. Fugate's hope may very well come true, as the keynote speeches definitely made an impression on second-place winner Handlin. "I found all of the keynote speakers to be good speakers, if not all inspiring. I thought that the talk on adaptive optics, an area in which I have a strong interest, was informative. The most special set of speakers was the group of high-ranking military speakers - I thought that all three of these speeches were inspiring, interesting, and unique," said Mr. Handlin.

Just prior to administering the awards, Major General William T. Lord, Director, Information Services and Integration, Secretary of the Air Force of Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., shared ten pieces of advice with the students during his Saturday evening keynote. Using significant historical and personal events, peppered with a good sense of humor, to illustrate his ten points, Gen. Lord stressed the importance of: Innovation, Logistics, Motivation, Attitude, Strategic Thinking, Management Trust, Honest Feedback, Bravery, Humor, and Serendipity. Lord told the students, "We as bosses want you to be innovative." When he spoke of bravery, Gen. Lord said, "I would suggest that we as leaders, as employers, are looking for your moral bravery, the right to stand up, the ability to stand up, and the necessity to stand up and say that's wrong."

Aside from listening to the keynotes and participating in the student competition presentations, the students also took part in roundtable discussions led by research professionals from organizations such as AFRL's Space Vehicles Directorate, the Naval Research Laboratory, the National Laboratories, the Glaciological & Arctic Science Institute, and the University of Arizona, among others. Topics included: "Nanotechnology"," What You Can Do with a Chemistry Degree", "What Sequencing the Human Genome Code Could Mean to You", among others.

Additionally students had the opportunity to participate in one of several educational tours hosted by AFRL's DE and VS Directorates, such as DE's Starfire Optical Range and the Laser and High Powered Microwave Divisions; VS's satellite components and testing facilities, and the Air Force 58th Special Operations Wing where students got a close-up, hands-on view of the C-130 airplane, and the new CV-22 Osprey Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft.

This year's event was hosted by AFRL with three of its ten AFRL Directorates, AFOSR, DE, and VS, coordinating activities and providing speakers and other support..

JSHS Program promotes original research and experimentation in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics at the high school level and publicly recognizes students for outstanding achievement. By connecting talented students, their teachers, and research professionals at affiliated symposia and by rewarding research excellence, JSHS aims to widen the pool of trained talent prepared to conduct research and development vital to our nation.