Devon Prep Students and Teacher Win Awards at Regional Science Fair

April 21, 2012 - PRLog -- Devon Prep Sixth Grader Matthew Siracusa of Newtown Square and Ninth Grader Russell Emery of Phoenixville, who won first place ribbons in the Chester County Science Research Competition last month, both went on to win medals at the Delaware Valley Science Fair (DVSF) at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA.  Devon Prep Science Teacher Mr. Roger Mecouch was also recognized at the DVSF. Over 1,000 students from Southeastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey and the state of Delaware competed in the DVSF.

Siracusa won a Second Place Award in the Computer Science category for students in grades 6 to 8. Siracusa also won the Broadcom Masters Middle School Award for his project “Practical Applications of Microsoft Kinect.” In the Chester County Fair Siracusa won First Place and Best of Show in the Computer Science Category.  

Emery received a Third Place Award in the Engineering category for 9th graders. He was invited to participate in a Nanotechnology Science Fair at the University of Pennsylvania in October. Russell also received the following awards for his project “Rail Gun Science;” Third Place Award from the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineering , Inc.; Honorable Mention from the American Society of Naval Engineers;  United States Navy/Marine Corps Award;  NANO/BIO Interface Center Award; and United States Air Force Award.  In the Chester County Competition he won First Place and Second Best of Show in the Engineering Category.

In addition, Mecouch received the DuPont Excellence in Teaching Award for the high school division. This recognition included a monetary award and a trip to Pittsburgh for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (IISE) in May. The IISE Fair is an international competition, where high school freshmen through seniors from 65 foreign countries and 48 states will compete for scholarships and prizes valued in the millions.

Mecouch said he was honored to be recognized as a teacher. “But I’m really proud of Matthew and Russell for doing so well in the competitions,” he explained.  “As a sixth grader and ninth grader they have several more years of science fairs ahead of them. If they choose to continue competing I expect they will be even more successful in the future.”

In his project “Practical Applications of Microsoft Kinect “  Siracusa tried to determine if Kinect Speech Recognition could be used in an educational game and whether gender or age would affect the accuracy, and if so, could anything be done to improve the accuracy.  He used the 24 Challenge game for his project.

In his project “Rail Gun Science” Emery tried to determine how current and voltage affect the speed of a projectile launched using railgun technology. He also tested the efficiency of the design as a model for scaling up the technology. Emery built the railgun using a 12 volt battery, a large electrolytic capacitor and a relay. The relay allows the capacitor to discharge into itself or into a set of rails where a projectile will complete the circuit and move to the point of least current, nearest the end of the rails.

Delaware Valley Science Fairs, Inc. (DVSF) was founded in 1949. It is one of the oldest and largest Science Fairs in the country.  The Fairs were designed as a vehicle for stimulating interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) among students in middle and high schools in the tri-state area.  The philosophy behind the Fairs is that students learn science by doing science. DVSF provides an opportunity for students to excel and reach their full potential fostering intellectual curiosity and creative problem solving - essential skills for future innovation.

Devon Prep is a private Catholic, college preparatory school for young men in grades six through 12, conducted by the Piarist Fathers. Located on a 20 acre campus on Valley Forge Road in Chester County, Devon Prep enrolls students who hail from Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Bucks Counties as well as parts of Philadelphia. For more information call 610-688-7337 or visit www.devonprep.com or www.facebook.com/devonprep