2 Budding Scientists Get Chance to Branch Out
Michelle Rengarajan is following fruit flies and Peter Pawlowski is chasing clouds, but the two 17-year-old honor students are on the same path to national recognition.
Rengarajan, of Pasadena, and Pawlowski, from Fullerton, have been chosen as California’s two finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, one of the most prestigious and lucrative science competitions in the nation. On March 6 they will travel to Washington, D.C. for a week of competition against 38 other finalists selected nationwide from more than 1,500 applicants.
The Californians have spent countless hours poring through scientific journals and performing research in labs or on computers.
For Rengarajan, it all began with an article she read about parasitic wasps that use a virus to first suppress other insects’ immune systems and then infect them. The article’s suggestion of relevancy to AIDS sent Rengarajan’s mind spinning. She decided to look at nematodes, or parasitic worms, which use a bacteria to infect fruit flies in a similar fashion. Nematodes spread elephantiasis, a tropical disease affecting millions of people.
Science has “so much that is unknown. There is always something new to discover. I’ve always liked that about it,” Rengarajan said.
She performed her work at Caltech’s laboratories with biology professor Paul Sternberg. Rengarajan examined thousands of nematodes and hundreds of fruit flies. Genetically engineered, the fruit flies would emit a glowing green color that showed their immune systems had been compromised by the nematodes.
“She’s setting up a model for others to follow,” Sternberg said, adding that Rengarajan’s work might be used to study other diseases, such as malaria.
Pawlowski’s research helped define the structure and stability of the sulfur trioxide-ammonia complex using quantum mechanics. The complex may act as an agent in the formation of cloud particles and aerosols in the atmosphere. Pawlowski used computers to set up models and work out intricate calculations. He found that, as more water molecules were added, the complex got stronger.
“I was always interested in computers so I figured I would apply a hobby to something useful,” he said.
His findings could lead to a better understanding of smog and ultimately to ways of controlling it, said Fu-Ming Tao, a physical chemistry professor who worked with Pawlowski in the lab at Cal State Fullerton.
While Rengarajan and Pawlowski devoted anywhere from four to 40 hours a week to their projects, they have outside interests too.
Rengarajan is student body president at Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena and also a vocalist for the school’s two singing groups. She’s won four gold medals on the National Latin Exam and had a perfect 1600 score on her SATs. She also started a student theater.
“She’s one of those students who can do it all,” said Barbara Shannon, Rengarajan’s former biology teacher at Westridge. “She’s also not afraid to step back and let her peers shine.”
Priscilla Cheney, Pawlowski’s former English teacher, is helping him prepare for his contest presentation. She has seen him become more comfortable interacting with adults as colleagues.
“He works well with adults and peers,” she said. “He seems to be one of those timeless kids.”
Pawlowski heads the school’s Science Olympiad team, science bowl team and math club and has earned many academic accolades. He also enjoys photography and is an avid sailor.
In Washington, the first-place Intel winner will receive a $100,000 scholarship, second place $75,000 and third place $50,000. Fourth through sixth place finishers will receive $20,000 each and the remaining 30 finalists will get $5,000 scholarships. All 40 contestants get free computers and a White House tour, possibly meeting President Bush.
“It’s not all about competing and winning,” Pawlowski said. “It’s about meeting other students who have similar interests and scientists who do this work on a day-to-day basis.”
The Intel Science Talent Search, open to high school seniors, was started in 1947 by Westinghouse, which gave it its former name. Santa Clara-based Intel took it over in 1998, and since then California’s participation has steadily increased, with this year’s 73 applications, the highest number yet, producing the two finalists. California, however, always lags far behind first-place New York, which has 20 finalists this year and usually tops the list. Florida, with five finalists, ranks second, while Connecticut also has two finalists.
Barbara Carman, program manager for Intel, said she would like to see more California finalists. “We know that this talent exists in this state,” she said. “We’re here in the bed of innovation. But we also know teachers are bound by certain things they have to do and it’s a lot of work to include this in the curriculum.”
New York often gears entire courses toward research techniques. And special New York City schools like Stuyvesant High School, which had 19 semifinalists and three finalists this year, make the contests a priority.
“New York treats their students like they’re football stars,” Carman said of the state’s finalists.
When they return, the two California finalists will face decisions about college. Both students have been accepted by Harvard, but Rengarajan is also hoping to hear good news from MIT and Caltech. Pawlowski, accepted at those two campuses, awaits word from Stanford.
Rengarajan’s parents, both engineers, and Pawlowski’s parents, both doctors, said they have had to read their children’s papers several times to fully grasp the concepts. The parents said they admire their children’s independence and resolve.
Still, Rengarajan’s mother, Kalyani, wants her busy daughter to learn one more thing before she sets off for college. “I really wish she would get more sleep,” she said. “It’s hard to wake her up in the morning.”
