Commack High School Students Among Regional Winners In Science Competition

Four Commack High School students were among the regional winners in the 2016-2017 Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision competition.

Ninth graders Louis Viglietta, Kimberly Liao, Christine Kong, and Michael Parrinello won for their team project, “Scat Scan: The Future of Microbiome Analysis.”

The team was one of 24 Regional winners, chosen from thousands of entries from across the United States and Canada.

“Having one of the six top teams for the Toshiba Exploravision competition is mind boggling to me,” science teacher and mentor Richard Kurtz said. “These four ninth grade students were totally dedicated, independent, and creative in developing a method that projects a technology twenty years into the future.

As regional winners, the school will receive a Toshiba laptop, an engraved plaque, and a banner. Each team member and Kurtz will also receive a portable hard drive and framed certificates.

"The project idea envisions modifying the commonly used toilet to enable it to check a person's natural internal bacterial populations by analyzing human waste, allowing the information to be used as a strong indicator of a person's health,” Kurtz said.

While the subject may be a bit off-putting, the idea relies on the study of DNA and genetics.

The device envisions a retractable arm that sends a sample to a miniature glass microfluidic computer chip, which will extract DNA, then isolate the prokaryotic 16S ribosomal RNA gene using PCR amplification and sequencing.

Results are sent to the user’s smartphone, providing “fast, clean, and convenient data about their microbiome health.

The team will be advancing to the Nationals, and the next round of the competition requires creating a prototype of their project and a website for a chance to compete in Washington, D.C. in June for additional prizes totaling up to a $10,000 savings bond.

In addition to our regional winners, two other teams at Commack High School also received Honorable Mention (top 10%) in the competition: ninth grade students Theresa Haupt, Sarah O'Conner, and Maheen Naseem for their project: “3D Regeneration of Body Parts and Organs,” and tenth graders Aria Eghbali, and Yeil Kim for their project: “ActiveBrain - A Wearable Device to Monitor Brain Activity.”

“We commend our teams of young scientists and inventors for the caliber and depth of the research that went into the creation of these concepts,” Dr. Donald James, Superintendent of Commack Schools said “and congratulate them on receiving recognition for their work in such a prestigious competition.”

Congratulations to all the students!