Five TAMS students named semifinalists in national Intel science competition

Five Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science students have been selected as semifinalists in the 2003 Intel Science Talent Search.

The students — Adam Hinze, Juliet Howe, Andrea Runyan, Cindy Wang and Jessica Yih — are among 14 Texas students named semifinalists in this year's competition.

The Intel Science Talent Search is the nation's premier program to recognize high school student research in science, mathematics and engineering. Past honorees of the 61-year-old program later became recipients of Nobel Prizes, National Medals of Science, MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and other prestigious science and math awards. Nationwide, 300 Intel semifinalists were selected from more than 1,500 applicants. TAMS has produced 27 semifinalists for this honor since 1993.

Richard Sinclair, TAMS dean, says he was "delighted, but not surprised" that TAMS has more Intel semifinalists in this year's competition than any other Texas high school.

"The combination of such bright, motivated students and the state-of-the-art research at UNT are a terrific combination," he says.

All Intel semifinalists receive $1,000 and the chance to be named one of 40 finalists in the program. Each semifinalist's school also receives $1,000.

The 40 finalists earn a trip to Washington, D.C., in March and are guaranteed at least a $5,000 scholarship. They compete for 10 scholarships ranging from $20,000 to $100,000.

Hinze, the son of Larry and Kathy Hinze, attended Granbury High School before entering TAMS in August 2001. He worked in the UNT Laboratory of Advanced Polymers and Optimized Materials under the direction of Witold Brostow, Regents Professor of materials science. Hinze developed a computer simulation method to test the scratch- resistance properties of polymers — commonly known as plastics — at the atomic level.

He presented his research before some of the world's leading materials scientists at the annual POLYCHAR World Forum on Advanced Materials, held at UNT in January.

Howe, the daughter of William and Carolyn Howe, attended Crowley High School before entering TAMS in August 2001. She also worked in Brostow's laboratory. She performed multiple scratch tests on a variety of polymer samples and determined that after 15 scratches, the samples did not show signs of further wear.

Runyan, the daughter of Michael and Mary Runyan, attended North Crowley High School before entering TAMS in August 2001. She worked at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History under David Hunt, the museum's specialist in physical anthropology. She examined 377 cadaver skeletons with reported causes of death to investigate a possible link between periodontal, or gum, disease and systemic conditions such as heart disease. From the research, she determined that tooth loss from periodontal infection is probably more harmful to health than infection without tooth loss.

Wang, the daughter of Wen and Menghua Wang, attended Reagan High School before entering TAMS in August 2001. For her project, she worked in a laboratory at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio under the direction of Sunil Ahuja. She studied a cell receptor that allows the HIV virus to enter cells. Solutions may be developed that decrease or block expression of this cell receptor to combat the virus, she says.

Yih, the daughter of Tachung and Debbie Yih, attended the Oakridge School in Arlington before entering TAMS in August 2001. Her research involved "smart gels" — laboratory-created, gelatin-like plastics with physical properties that change in response to temperature, light, acidic balances and electric fields. Working in the laboratory of Zhibing Hu, UNT professor of physics, Yih studied gels containing different amounts of a clay mineral that swells when it is exposed to heat and decreases when it is exposed to cold. These gels could be placed in pills to better deliver drugs into a person with a fever, since the gels will contract and squeeze out medication in response to an increased body temperature.

BY NANCY KOLSTI nkolsti@unt.edu

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• UNT names Philip J. Romano inaugural recipient of humanitarian award
• Law conference addresses key higher education issues
• Faculty and staff can vote now for the 2003 Homecoming theme
• Admissions Marketing Report awards best of show title to UNT undergraduate viewbook
• HIPAA isn't short for hippopotamus
• Making sure UNT maintains security
• NEA funds national project based on UNT program

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