New York Tech Awards Mini-Research Grants to High School Students

Pictured: Naomi Berry and Kyra Browne from Sacred Heart Academy in Hempstead, N.Y., received New York Tech Mini-Research grants. Photo courtesy of Sacred Heart Academy.

In 2021, 29 research projects from 18 high schools have been awarded New York Tech Mini-Research Grants, made possible through the generous support of Voya Foundation. Now in its fourth year, the program received submissions from 82 students for a total of 55 research projects.

“Interest and submission quality were strong again this year, with students and teachers from high schools well beyond the local area applying,” notes Niharika Nath, Ph.D., professor of biological and chemical sciences, who oversees the program. “We’re thrilled that New York Tech’s commitment to undergraduate research and to diversifying the STEM pipeline at all academic and socioeconomic levels are encouraging research activity.”

Thee Mini-Research Grant Awards of $300 are applied to expenses incurred by the high school researchers during a new or continuing research in STEM and related disciplines in spring or fall 2021. The participants must have plans to compete in a science competition and present their work in person or remotely at New York Tech.

The New York Tech review committee, comprising Nath along with Rosemary Gallagher, D.P.T., Ph.D., associate professor of physical therapy, and Wenjia Li, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science, selected one or more projects to be funded from local high schools including Bethpage, Brentwood, Elwood-John Glenn High, Great Neck North, Great Neck South, Lindenhurst, Northport, Roslyn, Sacred Heart, and Valley Stream North High Schools in Long Island; Midwood High School in Brooklyn; Lakeland Regional and Bergen County Academies in New Jersey; and Norwich Technical in Connecticut. In addition, researchers from outside the metropolitan area, Saint Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., St. Joseph’s Academy in St. Louis, Mo., and Doral Academy Charter High in Doral, Fla., were also selected to receive grants

Some topics of research projects selected for the grant award include:

• Temporal changes in the leaf pigments of Acer platanoides, Cornus florida, and Ulmus parvifolia through the growing season from budding to senescence
• A Novel Microbial Process to Accelerate Degradation and Demineralization of Bioplastics
• Developmental Changes in the Preen Wax Composition of the Muscovy Duck (Cairina moschata)
• The Misunderstood Mealworm: A Possible Answer to Plastic Pollution?
• Students’ Attitudes Towards Different Proposed Physical Education Classes
• The Effect of the Spirit Bomb Origami Design on the Grasping Capability of a Pneumatic Soft Robotic Gripper
• Converting Natural Byproducts into Soil Compost Using the Bokashi Method for Large Scale
• Logistic Regression Model for Error-Detection from EEG Recordings
• The Effect of Sugar Diets on Fruit Flies
• The Association Between Father Presence and Support, Neighborhood Environment, and Preterm Birth in African-American Women
• The effect of green tea catechins on tumor progression in Solanum lycopersicum (tomato plants) infected with Agrobacterium tumfaciens
• Veganism Can Save the World
• “Widgets” potential application for children with autism
• Sleep deprivation and cognitive effects of memory on American adolescents
• How does gratitude affect one’s quality of sleep and level of depression?
• Increasing Production of Hydroponically Grown Vegetables using Sound Wave Technology
• The Dual Role of CHES: A Potential Treatment for SARS-COV-2 & Cancer

Applications for the Fifth Annual Mini-Research Grant Award for high school students will open in fall 2021.