KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- -- Albuquerque hosted the 57th National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium April 24-27. More than 235 students from across the nation competed for scholarships in excess of $190,000.
The four-day annual symposium is joint-service event conducted by the Air Force, Army, and Navy each year, and brings together finalists from 47 region events. Students made poster and oral research presentations on Science Technology Mathematics and Engineering concepts, looking to solve complex problems faced in fields ranging from medicine to technology to agriculture.
This year’s JSHS was hosted by the Air Force. Vicky Stoneking, Air Force K-12 STEM lead from the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, said Albuquerque and Kirtland were a great place to have the Symposium. Proximity to the Departments of Defense and Energy scientific complex was key.
“Kirtland is a great place to come because we have two laboratories here, so the kids get a great view from Directed Energy, laser, and as well the satellite side of the house. We were also able to get the participants over to Sandia [National Laboratories], over to the University Medical Center – they had several tours they could pick from this year, including AFRL,” she said.
While the conference had local support from Team Kirtland, there were also local students taking part. Albuquerque’s own Milidu Jayaweera (La Cueva High School) and Rusty Ludwigsen (Early College Academy) were joined by New Mexicans Britany Hsu (Taos Academy Charter School), Mustafa Muhyi (Las Cruces High School), and Charles Strauss (Las Alimos High School).
All of New Mexico’s entrants made it through a regional competition held at the University of New Mexico March 8-9. Erin Garcia, University of New Mexico, oversaw the local competition as Southwest Regional Director.
“This year we have a good representation from across the state,” Garcia said. “They are all doing very different research, some doing life sciences, behavioral sciences, chemistry and physical sciences, so it spans the whole STEM spectrum.”
Garcia explained that the opportunities at the symposium were not limited to the competition.
“This is actually a great symposium for the students and the judges and teacher and regional directors that attend – obviously the competition part is great because we get to see all the presentations, but it’s also a chance for the students to meet with actual researches that are doing the work that the students are going to be doing in couple of years and talk about opportunities, networking, internships and how to get started and get their feet wet,” Garcia said.
Hsu, researching the potential of capsaicin as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s, said the collaboration and interaction enable people from rural areas, expanding their potential to effect change.
“Just to be able to meet a very diverse, like-minded group of students from across the country—especially coming from a rural area of northern New Mexico. Living in a small town should not define whether or not we can change the world,” Hsu said.
After doing related research since the seventh grade, Hsu’s grandfather’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s sharpened her focus. The title of her poster presentation for the symposium was “Plant-based Reduction of Amyloid Plaque Formation to Reduce Amyloidosis.”
Connecting talented students, their teachers and research professionals, is something the Air Force and DoD have a vested interest in, according to Stoneking. The three services were represented by 60 judges that gave students an in-depth assessment of their research.
Ultimately, it’s about the chance to interact with emerging talent in the field of scientific research and development.
“These will be our next researches in the United States. These [students] are the cream of the crop—the top 1-2 percent. We want to tap into these students as early and often as we can and figure out how we can draw them to what we do.”
Winners were announced at the end of the Symposium. They included La Cueva’s Jayaweera, who received a third-place award for his oral presentation in the Engineering and Technology category--and a $4,000 scholarship. Jayaweera entered a presentation on the “Multi-Agent Game-Theoretic Learning Based Cognitive Anti-Jamming Communication System to Combat AI Jammer.”