WKU News

Gatton Academy juniors Gloria Huang (South Warren HS, Bowling Green) and Diksha Satish (Western Hills HS, Frankfort) recently qualified for the prestigious Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). 

Meanwhile, 11 other Gatton Academy students earned state and regional awards at the Northern Kentucky Science and Engineering Fair (NKSEF), the Louisville Regional Science & Engineering Fair (LRSEF), and at the virtual Kentucky Science & Engineering Fair (KY-SEF). These students include Shreeya Arora, a Louisville junior from duPont Manual HS, Natalie Cooper, a LaGrange senior from Oldham Co. HS, Maggie Gossage, a Russell Springs senior from Russell Co. HS, Jocelyn Martin, a Russell senior from Greenup Co. HS, Elizabeth Morgan, a Crestwood senior from Oldham Co. HS, Lukas Negron, a Frankfort senior from Western Hills HS, Aarini Panzade, a Louisville junior from duPont Manual HS, Aarohi Panzade, a Louisville junior from duPont Manual HS, Mina Ryumae, a Union junior from Larry A. Ryle HS, Darby Tassell, a Bowling Green senior from Bowling Green HS, and Elisha VanZant, a Lexington senior from Henry Clay HS.

The NKSEF was held on February 21, and one Gatton Academy student earned an award there.  The LRSEF was held on March 7, and 12 students earned a host of awards at this event. The annual event is for students in grades 6 – 12.  Students from 52 Kentucky counties may enter the fair. The in-person KY-SEF was replaced with a virtual format this year on March 28 to adhere to public health recommendations. Nearly 300 participants competed for category and special awards, and one Gatton Academy student earned a state award.

The Regeneron ISEF that Huang and Satish qualified for was previously-scheduled to take place this May in Anaheim, CA.  It has now been canceled due to COVID-19, though Huang and Satish are still recognized as Regeneron ISEF finalists and as alumni of the prestigious Society for Science & the Public.

The awards received by Gatton students are as follows:

Arora earned the U.S. Air Force and the Yale Science and Engineering Association Special Awards at LRSEF for her research titled, “Cloud VR Therapy for PTSD Treatment.” She is mentored by Dr. Michael Galloway, WKU School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Cooper earned first place in the Biochemistry category and the American Chemical Society’s Special Award at LRSEF for her research, “Reactivity of Platinum Anticancer Compound Oxalato(1,4- dimethylpiperzine)Platinum(II) with Biological Molecules.” She is mentored by Dr. Kevin Williams in WKU’s Department of Chemistry.

Gossage earned second place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category and the Office of Naval Research’s Special Award at LRSEF for her research, “Male Body Image and Action Figure Physiques.”  She is mentored by Dr. Rick Grieve in WKU’s Department of Psychology.

Huang earned first place in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics category and the GE Best of Fair Award at LRSEF for her research, “Finding the Most Influential Factors in the Healing Process of Diabetic Foot Ulcers Using Parameter Space Geometry.” She is mentored by Dr. Richard Schugart in WKU’s Department of Mathematics.

Martin earned first place in the Behavioral and Social Sciences category and the American Psychological Association’s Special Award at LRSEF for her research, “The Impact of Growing Older on the Accessibility of Emotion Words.” She is mentored by Dr. Andrew Mienaltowski in WKU’s Department of Psychological Sciences.

Morgan earned third place in the Microbiology category and the At-Large State Award at LRSEF for her research, “Does Lysogeny with Bacteriophage HK022 Affect Host Cell Physiology?” She is mentored by Dr. Rodney King in WKU’s Department of Biology.

Negron earned first place in the Mathematics category and the Mu Alpha Theta Special Award at LRSEF for his research, “Manipulating Link Diagrams Using Flypes.” He is mentored by Dr. Claus Ernst in WKU’s Department of Mathematics.

Panzade (Aarini) earned third place in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics category and the At-Large State Award at LRSEF for her research, “The Effect of TIMP-1, MMP-1 Levels, and Healing Times on the Wound Surface Area.” She is mentored by Dr. Richard Schugart in WKU’s Department of Mathematics.

Panzade (Aarohi) earned first place in the Systems Software category at LRSEF for her research, “Using Artificial Intelligence to Evaluate Dice Unfairness.” She is mentored by Dr. Warren Campbell in WKU’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Ryumae earned first place in the Computer Science category at NKSEF for her research, “Orientation And Backpropagation Techniques For Dots And Boxes Monte Carlo Tree Search.” She is mentored by Dr. Uta Ziegler in WKU’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Satish earned first place in the Microbiology category, the GE Best of Fair Award, and the Office of Naval Research Special Award at LRSEF for her research, “Discovery and Analysis of Microbacteriophage Squeegee.” She is mentored by Dr. Rodney King in WKU’s Department of Biology.

Tassell earned second place in the Animal Science category at LRSEF and KY-SEF for her research, “Is Nicotine Effective at Manipulating Sleep Patterns in Small Birds?” She is mentored by Dr. Noah Ashley in WKU’s Department of Biology.

VanZant earned second place in the Cellular and Molecular Biology category and the Office of Naval Research’s Special Award at LRSEF for her research, “A Screen for Protein Encoding Genes for Air Sac Primordium Invasion of the Wing Imaginal Disc in Drosophila melanogaster.” She is mentored by Dr. Ajay Srivastiva in WKU’s Department of Biology.

About The Gatton Academy: Established in 2007, The Gatton Academy is Kentucky’s first residential two-year program for gifted and talented junior and seniors. The Gatton Academy’s students enroll as juniors and are full-time WKU students pursuing their interests in advanced science, technology, engineering and mathematical careers. The Gatton Academy has been named to Jay Mathews’ list of top-performing schools with elite students, marking the tenth consecutive appearance.