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2005 Davidson Fellows

Seventeen 2005 Davidson Fellows were recognized for their achievements at a special awards reception sponsored by U.S. Senators Harry Reid and Chuck Grassley in Washington, D.C. on September 28, 2005.

2005 Davidson Fellow Laureates

	Karsten Gimre, 11 Banks, OR Category: Music Classical Instrumentalist Project Title: Conversation Without Words Award: $50,000
An 11-year-old young man from Banks, Oregon, Karsten Gimre creates a musical conversation during his piano performances, conveying a deeper meaning of universal themes common to all human beings. At the age of 6, Karsten earned first place in the International Young Artists Concert at the Kennedy Center and at 7 won the Russian-American Young Virtuosos Competition at Carnegie Hall. With mastery of a voluminous repertoire, Karsten has performed with the Portland Chamber Orchestra, Oregon Symphony and at the Miami International Piano Festival.
	Heidi Kaloustian, 17 Canton, MI Category: Literature Project Title: The Roots of All Things Award: $50,000
A 17-year-old young woman from Canton, Michigan, Heidi Kaloustian wrote a portfolio entitled, “The Roots of All Things,” which explores the intertwining themes of universal, social and individual perspectives. By seamlessly blending the roots of these thematic levels in every piece, Heidi links the tree-trunk of personal identity to family, heritage, culture and humanity in a way that illustrates the complex interconnections and undercurrents beneath the surface of our lives. Her distinctive prose enables the reader to connect with and relate to her characters in a deeply emotional way.
	Tiffany Ko, 16 Terre Haute, IN Category: Technology Engineering Project Title: Designing a Capacitance-Based Security System Employing the MC33794 E-Field Sensor Chip Award: $50,000
A 16-year-old young woman from Terre Haute, Indiana, Tiffany Ko designed a computerized security system based on electric field sensing, an emerging area of semiconductor technology. Tiffany built a prototype circuit board and programmed a novel capacitance-based computer system that is user-friendly and able to store collected data while providing an essentially foolproof security program superior to those customarily used today. Her technology may be used in numerous settings, including home and business security systems, high security safes, and to monitor the whereabouts of people within a building without expensive surveillance equipment.
	Milana Zaurova, 17 Fresh Meadows, NY Category: Science Project Title: Gene Therapy Meets Chemotherapy: Exposure of Malignant Glioma Cells to Transgenic Embryonic Stem Cells and Temozolomide Award: $50,000
A 17-year-old young woman from Fresh Meadows, New York, Milana Zaurova researched the deadliest form of brain cancer, malignant glioma, which is the most invasive and recurrent type of adult brain tumor with no viable treatment options. With a creative, multi-disciplinary approach blending chemotherapy and gene therapy, two areas of neuro-oncology, Milana studied transgenic mouse embryonic stem cells in combination with a chemotherapy drug as an effective method to fight brain cancer. Her method shows promise as a new treatment that can help save lives.
2005 Davidson Fellows
	Maia Cabeza, 12 Chapel Hill, NC Category: Music Classical Instrumentalist Project Title: Sharing Music With People Around The World Award: $25,000
A 12-year-old young woman from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Maia Cabeza was born in Japan to Argentinean parents and started violin lessons in Toronto when she was 4. Studying with faculty members at the Manhattan School of Music and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Maia has performed in the United States and abroad receiving accolades for her technical proficiency and musicality, as well as first-place awards in the Chapel Hill Philharmonia and Triangle Youth Philharmonic competitions. Through her music, Maia hopes to promote communication across all cultural and language barriers.
	Brett Harrison, 16 Dix Hills, NY Category: Mathematics Project Title: A Proof of Seymour's Conjecture for All Oriented Graphs Award: $25,000
A 16-year-old young man from Dix Hills, New York, Brett Harrison proved a long-standing problem in the field of graph theory called Seymour’s conjecture, which was formulated in 1993 by a Princeton mathematics professor about the square of an oriented graph. Using a combinatorial method, Brett developed a proof that is more precise than the conjecture itself, proving the existence and location of certain objects in a graph. Brett’s findings have broad implications in the fields of communications, computer networking and structural design.
	Tudor Dominik Maican, 16 Bethesda, MD Category: Music Composer Project Title: Symphonietta for String Orchestra, D'un Monde a l'autre, Reflections on James Joyce Award: $25,000
A 16-year-old young man from Bethesda, Maryland, Tudor Dominik Maican composed a portfolio containing orchestral, chamber and solo pieces, demonstrating a strong creative inner voice, mature handling of emotion, decisiveness and the formation of an imaginative musical personality. The recipient of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) 2003, 2004 and 2005 Morton Gould Young Composers Award and a student at Juilliard, Dominik was commissioned by the Dumbarton Musical Society to compose a large piano solo, D'un Monde a l'autre, for which he researched folkloric music while exploring his French and Romanian heritage.
	Justin Solomon, 17 Oakton, VA Category: Technology Computer Programming Project Title: Identification of Differential Surface Properties on a Triangle Mesh for Facial & Object Recognition Award: $25,000
A 17-year-old young man from Oakton, Virginia, Justin Solomon developed a new method for computerized object and facial recognition based on differential geometry concepts. Justin designed an algorithm to facilitate identification of objects and faces capitalizing on their unique three-dimensional features - such as concavity, ridges and curvature - whereas commonly-used recognition programs only extract two-dimensional features. Using three dimensional scans of a subject increases the likelihood of accurate identification and has potential applications in security and personalization systems as well as in shape analysis, robotics and artificial intelligence.
	John Zhou, 16 Northville, MI Category: Science Biology Project Title: A Study of Possible Interactions Among Rev1, Rev3 and Rev7 Proteins from Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Award: $25,000
A 16-year-old young man from Northville, Michigan, John Zhou used yeast cells to study the role of proteins in DNA with results that suggest a new molecular model for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) of translesion DNA replication. The same molecules that have the ability to let the DNA replication process occur may also be a source of mutations. John’s results will help scientists learn to enhance or suppress the function of these molecules, which is important in a wide variety of cancer treatments.
	Kadir Annamalai, 17 Saratoga, CA Category: Science Project Title: Growth of Germanium Nanowires Through the Vapor Liquid Solid Mechanism Award: $10,000
A 17-year-old young man from Saratoga, California, Kadir Annamalai created straight and aligned growth of wires from the metal Germanium at the nanoscale, approximately the width of two molecules. Since these wires are so small, they must be grown chemically by vaporizing the metal and letting it cool down molecule by molecule on a piece of silicon. Kadir optimized this growth process so that these wires could then be used in future thermoelectric devices such as power generators and circuit boards.
	Stephanie Hon, 17 Fort Myers, FL Category: Science Project Title: The Effects of Intracerebroventricular Passive Immunization on the Deposition of Beta-Amyloid Award: $10,000
A 17-year-old young woman from Fort Myers, Florida, Stephanie Hon researched Alzheimer’s disease based on the extracellular deposition of beta-amyloid in the cortex and hippocampal regions of the brain that result in neuritic amyloid plaques. Stephanie investigated a different way to deliver antibodies into the lateral ventricle, which is a cavity in the brain filled with cerebrospinal fluid. Her findings suggest that it may be possible to reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s by reducing the beta-amyloid deposits through intracerebroventricular passage immunization followed by an intraperitoneal treatment.
	Benedict Shan Yuan Huang, 17 Coram, NY Category: Science Project Title: Changed Particle Production in High Energy Nuclear Collisions Award: $10,000
A 17-year-old young man from Coram, New York, Benedict Shan Yuan Huang developed a technique of determining charged particle multiplicity during high energy nuclear collisions by studying Quark Gluon Plasma, a form of matter that only existed naturally during the first few nanoseconds after the Big Bang. Simplifying the handling of data in this area of particle physics, Benedict’s technique reduces intrinsic errors and promises to supplant previous techniques to analyze Quark Gluon Plasma, leading to faster and more accurate results in the investigation of the fundamental structure of matter.
	Lucas Moller, 16 Moscow, ID Category: Science Project Title: Static and Dynamic Analysis of Mars Dust: Application to Mars Exploration Award: $10,000
A 16-year-old young man from Moscow, Idaho, Lucas Moller studied the physics of dust particles to provide data in the design of exploration and support systems for Martian spaceflight missions. The accumulation of wind-blown dust can significantly reduce the lifetime, durability, and performance of support systems, including solar panels and other mechanical devices. Lucas examined the static and dynamic properties of mineral dust in a simulated Martian environment. His experiment has been incorporated in two Mars lander missions, by NASA in 2001 and the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2003.
	Nimish Ramanlal, 16 Winter Springs, FL Category: Technology Project Title: Programmable Quantum Computing: A New Framework with von Neumann Type Architecture Award: $10,000
A 16-year-old young man from Winter Springs, Florida, Nimish Ramanlal studied quantum computing, a computer that performs multiple computations simultaneously and exponentially faster than a conventional computer. Currently quantum computer limitations include both the lack of standardized programming and a generalized methodology for arbitrary search algorithms. Nimish overcame these limitations by developing a von Neumann-type architecture for writing algorithms. His findings could lead to the advancement of quantum computing, which could aid scientists in a number of fields such as advanced physics, medical research and nanotechnology.
	Tony Wu, 16 Irvine, CA Category: Technology Project Title: A Category Oriented Web Search Engine Based on Round Robin Learning and Ranking Algorithm Award: $10,000
A 16-year-old young man from Irvine, California, Tony Wu designed a new and more efficient way to search the Internet, rank relevant Web sites and gather information. Utilizing a complex Round Robin learning and ranking algorithm, Tony indexed more than 40,000 web pages as training and testing data, and used this information to calculate the optimal decision boundary and Euclidean distance for categorizing web pages. Tony’s new Internet search method has tremendous implications in an information-based society, including potential uses in tracking terrorist activity on the Internet and academic research.
	Fan Yang, 17 Davis, CA Category: Science Project Title: Identification of Bacterial Adhesion Antagonists for Contact Lenses & Intraocular Lenses Award: $10,000
A 17-year-old young woman from Davis, California, Fan Yang discovered a way to reduce the risk of eye infections to contact lens wearers and cataract patients who have intraocular lenses. By identifying three compounds that possess antibacterial adhesion properties, Fan demonstrated the feasibility of compound-grafted lenses to prevent bacteria and biofilm formation. In the future, anti-adhesion contact lenses and intraocular lenses could be developed to fight lens-related infections. Moreover, the use of anti-adhesion therapy could be applied to eye diseases and other health care problems.
	Marc Yu, 6 Monterey Park, CA Category: Music: Classical Instrumentalist Project Title: Performance Selections for Piano Award: $10,000
A 6-year-old young man from Monterey Park, California, Marc Yu has been studying piano and cello since the age of 3. He currently attends the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. At the age of 5, Marc passed the California Certificate of Merit piano and cello exams and was the winner at the National Piano Guild Audition two years in a row. At the 2004 Southwest Youth Music Festival, he won first place in cello and second place in piano. In 2005, he was the youngest participant in the Virginia Waring International Piano Competition master classes.
2005 Davidson Fellows Press Kit Materials National Press Release Davidson Fellows' Positive Contributions to Society News Articles 2005 Davidson Fellows Brochure (PDF) 2005 Davidson Fellow Honorable Mentions Technology Mr. Robert Glissmann Boulder, CO Utilizing Audio Feedback Technology in the Teaching of Body Kinesis Science Mr. Frank Anderson Antioch, TN Ergonomics: Optimizing the Fun and Function of Handheld Video Games While Preventing Injuries Miss Victoria Chu Hockessin, DE Security in Numbers: Liquid Crystal Polymer Layers in Security, Storage and Graphic Devices Mr. Blake Clifft Camden, TN Deviations in Various Testing Parameters That Determine Optimum Skateboard Quality and Performance Mr. Jayanth Krishnamurthi Iselin, NJ A Numerical Design Simulation of a Novel Notched Airfoil Mr. Vedant Misra Harriman, NY Quantum Tunneling of Electron Bubbles Generated by Neutrino Scattering in LHe Mr. Neil Nayak Hockessin, DE Synthesis of a Novel Heparin-based Micellar System for Effective Drug Delivery Mr. Vlad Papa Olathe, KS Cloning the Histamine H4 and Chemokine ccR5 Receptors into Baculouirus Expression Vector Mr. Josh Silverman Glen Head, NY Engineering and Development of Small Hairpin RNAi Libraries Miss Ivy Tam New York, NY Stable Uptake, Replication and Chromatin Assembly of Malaria Parasite Plasomodium Falciparum Mr. Sheel Tyle Pittsford, NY The Effect of Muller Cells on the Survival of Photoreceptor Cells Mr. Sujay Tyle Pittsford, NY Strides Towards More Efficient Ethanol Production Literature Mr. Hasan Altaf Islamabad, PAKISTAN These Precious Things Miss Caitlyn Moe Lake Oswego, OR Xandaerin's Story: A Study of Consciousness Miss Anna Stalker Birmingham, AL Literature: The Gravity of Dogs Music Miss Neena Deb-Sen New York, NY Musings of the Soul, An Interpretive Gesture Through the Voice of the Cello Miss Claire Huangci Lansdale, PA Music Making for Inspiration Miss Michelle Naughton Madison, WI Spreading the Musical Word Mr. Evren Ozan Laguna Beach, CA Native American Flute Music Miss Michelle Ross Scarsdale, NY Beauty is Truth and Truth is Beauty

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