Commack HS Takes 1st in NYIT Science Competition

A Commack High School team recently won first place at a science competition at New York Institute of Technology.

The team from Commack High School designed “The EyeHand,” a prototype glove for measuring distance for the visually impaired. Second place was awarded to a John F. Kennedy High School Plainview-Old Bethpage team. The project, “An Assessment of the Adhesion Receptor Dystoglycan as a Regulator of Oligodendroctye Progenitor Cell Differentiation,” relates to cells that produce the fatty outer covering of nerve cells that when damaged can lead to diseases such as multiple sclerosis. Commack High School also was awarded third place, for its Facial Recognition Quadcopter Prototype project.

For their projects, teams were required to demonstrate an understanding of the underlying science and technology concepts. Projects were evaluated on their originality, potential for practical application(s), and the significance of the problem they seek to address. Each team was required to include at least one female student.

NYIT also presented awards for: 

• Sportsmanship: Robot Design for FIRST Robotics Championship (Girl Scouts/“Icebreakers”)
• Creativity: Microsoft Kinect Wifi Controlled Helicopter (Commack)
• Engineering: FIRST Tech Challenge Robot Programmed Using Robot C (Massapequa)
• Science: New Approach to Production of Silver Nanoplates (Plainview-Old Bethpage)
• Innovation: Novel Cellulose Nanowhisker Application as Emulsifying Agents ( Plainview-Old Bethpage)

Also serving as judges in the competition, which was sponsored by New York Community Bank Foundation, were Judith Murrah, Senior Director of IT for Motorola and a ConnectToTech representative; and Kathy Wagner, a retired Verizon executive. Associate Dean and Assistant Professor Babak Behesti and Associate Professor Fang Li, Mechanical Engineering department, served as NYIT faculty judges; student judges included Hurneet Singh (Computer Science), Colin Vinson (Engineering Management), and Matthew Wighton (Mechanical Engineering).