Area Students Shine In Science

From video games to wisdom teeth, West Oahu’s brainy bunch are taking their award-winning science projects to Pittsburgh next week for the premier global gathering of high school students from 65 countries.

The May 13-18 International Science & Engineering Fair will put seven area residents in the national spotlight. They include Jennifer Wong from Kapolei High, Danten Inouye from Waipahu High, four private school students who live in West: Punahou’s Travis Le (of Aiea), Kamehameha’s Kyle Yoshida (Pearl City) and Alec Matsumoto (Ewa Beach), Iolani’s Erin Main (Aiea) – and Erik Wessel of Ewa Beach, who is homeschooled.

Their research is varied and complex, showing a respect for the scientific process and promise for future applications. Their projects are listed below.

* “Hep-G2 (Human Hepatocellular Liver Carcinoma Cell Line): Inflammation Response” by Jennifer Wong

* “Analyzing the Optical and Electrical Properties of Variable Deposition Volumes of Carbon Nano-tubes to Optimize the Efficiency of Thin-Film Photovoltaic Cells” by Danten Inouye

* “A Neural Network Approach to Forecasting Geomagnetic Storms” by Travis Le

* “PAX 9 Gene Variations Associated with Numbers of Wisdom Teeth” by Kyle Yoshida

* “The Regulation of Length-Dependent Myosin Light Chain Phosphor-ylation in Bladder Smooth Muscle” by Alec Matsumoto

* “Simulating Orbital Dynamics & Planetary Collisions in a Video Game” by Erik Wessel

* “The DOCTORs: A Fusion of Engineering and Biological Analysis” by Erin Main with Iolani colleagues Logan Davis and Kyle Flores.