The Minnesota Academy of Science is very proud of our students and their accomplishments. If you don't see your accomplishments listed below, send your information to webmaster@mnmas.org.

	Gavin Ovsak competed in the 1st ever Google Science Fair in summer 2011 as one of 15 finalitsts. Students got to tour Google's headquarters and Gavin met with inventor Dean Kamen and talked with the head of Google's Artificial Intelligence Division at TESLA motors. Gavin had made a preliminary prototype turbine out of legos that he built as a proof of concept geared for moving waves. Congratulations! Watch a video about the Google Science Fair on YouTube. Other Gavin news: In September 2010, Gavin Ovsak was selected as one of six students to be inducted into the National Gallery of America's Young Inventors!
	Mikayla Nelson, Middle School Science Bowl student from Billings, MT, proudly represents National Science Bowl at the President’s 2011 State of the Union Address
	In October 2010, Courtney Jackson, a senior at Cloquet Highs School, and five other bright young scientists from across the nation met with President Obama to sharing their science/engineering research. Jackson was recommended to present to the President by The American Indian Science and Engineering Society which sponsors the National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair held in Albuquerque, NM (www.aises.org). Jackson has attended this national fair the last four years and each year was one of their top Grand Awards winners. Read More about Courtney Jackson... Read the White House article about this wonderful event... Thank you to Dr. Cynthia Welsh, Courtney's mentor, for all of her hard work with all of her students and for passing this exciting news on to us.
	Logan Pallin, a senior at Cloquet High School, has been selected to compete and represent the Great State of Minnesota at the Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) National Competition. Pallin and his science mentor, Dr. Cynthia Welsh will attend this National competition in St. Louis, Missouri, June 17-20, 2010. The top paper chosen at this national competition will compete in Stockholm, Sweden in August at the International SJWP. His research paper titled Engineering a rain garden to control road run-off in Scanlon Creek and an assessment of rain gardens as the best storm water management practice—Phase IV was selected by the Central States Water Environment Association’s Minnesota Chapter (CSWEA-MN) as the 2010 Minnesota Winner. Jerome Flogel, of MSA Engineering provided professional guidance during the engineering process, Larry Shelton and Shelton Excavating, donated all the materials and equipment to construct the redesigned rain garden. Andrew Wold from Fond du Lac College, Jim Prusak from the City of Cloquet also gave assistance for this Rain Garden project. Also supporting Pallin’s research has been the National Science Foundation with the University of Minnesota Geoscience Alliance as well as by Holly Pellerin and Fond du Lac College. The Stockholm Junior Water Prize is the most prestigious national award for a water-related science project at the high school level. The prize taps into the unlimited potential of today's youth as they seek to address current and future water challenges. The competition is open to projects aimed at enhancing the quality of life through improvement of water quality, water resource management, or water and wastewater treatment. Click here to see more. Pallin, a senior at Cloquet, has been accepted and plans to attend Duke University in the Fall, double majoring in Environmental Engineering and music. Pallin is an avid outdoorsman and loves to fly fish. During his high school years he has been active in Cloquet Drama, Cross Country Skiing and Track, Knowledge Bowl, and Future Problem Solvers and has earned the Eagle Scout Award. During his six years doing science research he has attended the MN Academy of Science State Fair, Junior Science & Humanities Symposium, National American Indian Science and Engineering Fair, National American Indian Science & Engineering Professional Conference, and the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair. At all of these prestigious events his research earned him top honors. Cloquet High School Science research is sponsored by Cloquet Public Schools and the Cloquet Educational Foundation.
	Prithwis Mukhopadhyay was one of the two MN state finalists of the sanofi-aventis BioGENEius Challenge. He sent the following note to the Twin Cities Regional Fair about what happened next: “The next step was the Midwest Regional Challenge, where two state finalists from 12 Midwest states compete with each other for the top two positions (Regional Finalists) who would compete at the National level. The Midwest Regional Challenge was held today, and you will be pleased (and proud of me) to know that I became one of the two Regional Finalists to compete at the National level. The other finalist is from Michigan. It was quite a good experience for me. My first thought after setting up my poster was that I would not stand anywhere close to others because every other project appeared much better (much much better) than mine. The judging procedure was slightly different from other competitions I have gone through. Everybody presents his/her project to the same panel of judges, in front of other competitors. All of the judges were from the University of MN faculty. They are all specialized in biotechnology or Cell Biology, and highly knowledgeable in the field of my study. 10 minutes presentation, followed by 6 minutes for first round of Q&A, and unlimited time for second round of Q&A. I loved the Q&A part the most because it was extensive and I talked in the same language as the judges (advantage of being knowledgeable in the same field). Even after the judging was over, I never thought I would be one of the top two because there were at least six other competitors who I thought did much better than me. When they announced the names of the winners, I could not believe when my name was called. I was excited and thrilled. The next step is the National competition, which will be held in Chicago on May 3 - 5, a week before the ISEF. You and others at the TCRSF have great contributions to my success at any science competitions. Please convey my thanks and regards to others at the TCRSF.”