On March 19, U.S. Navy Reservist Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Quinn, an engineer in the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport’s Sensors and Sonar Systems Department, had the honor of presenting Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Division Newport Innovation Awards to the selected winners of the R.I. State Science and Engineering Fair. The event took place on March 15 at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Knight Campus in Warwick.

More than 200 high school and middle school students from across the state showcased their projects before a panel of judges at the fair. Among the judges were members of the Division Newport workforce, including employees from the Sensors and Sonar Systems Department and the USW Platforms and Payload Integration Department.

Dr. Lynn Antonelli, Dr. Kristina Kamensky, Joseph Muhitch, Carl White, and Dexter Hoag, from the USW Platforms and Payload Integration Department, served as special awards judges for the U.S. Navy. They reviewed all the science projects and selected the winners on behalf of the warfare center and ONR.

Lt. Cmdr. Quinn had the privilege of presenting the NUWC Innovation Awards in both the Senior Division (four awards) and Junior Division (four awards), as well as the ONR Science Awards in the Senior Division (three awards) and Junior Division (three awards).

Special Award Winners

NUWC Innovation Awards

Junior Division

• Michael Orsini, St. Augustine School – “The Eggcellent Experiment”
• Tobey Kim, Barrington Middle School – “Laser-Focused Sweetness: Measuring Sugar Levels with Precision Light”
• Annina Bassig, Immaculate Conception Catholic Regional School – “Which Water Temperature is Best to Ingest for the Most Accurate Vocals During Performance?”
• Anthony Elkhoury, St. Philomena School of the Sacred Heart – “Predicting Future Water Quality”

Senior Division

• Jimin Shon, Portsmouth Abbey School – “B-Cyclodextrin reduces the cognitive and survival impacts of Imidacloprid exposure in honeybees”
• Devin Silversmith, South Kingstown High School – “Evaluating the Influence of Weather Conditions on the Call Behavior of Nocturnally Migrating Birds”
• Genaveve Higham, South Kingstown High School – “Effects of CBD and nepeta cataria on microglia brain defense cells”
• Owen Monaghan, East Greenwich High School – “Displaying Fossils Found Across the United States Through a Website Database”

ONR Naval Science Awards

Junior Division

• Amina Bayo, Islamic School of Rhode Island – “Acid Attack!”
• Rania Akrasi, Islamic School of Rhode Island – “Testing Microplastic in Urban and Suburban Waters in R.I.”
• Tiago Sousa-Mederios, St. Augustine School – “Magnets and Temperature”

Senior Division

• Katherine Yang, Barrington High School – “Inhibition of HDAC11 attenuates renal fibrosis through blocking parietal epithelial-mesenchymal transition”
• Jason Lu, Barrington High School – “Ideal concentration of POP C and EPA in rHDL for Lowering Inflammation”
• Danu Kim, Bishop Hendricken High School – “Project Athena”