AiS Challenge Awards Ceremony Script

9:00-11:00 am, April 27, 2004, Los Alamos, New Mexico.

Joe Watts:

Good morning! Welcome to the 14th annual New Mexico Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge Awards Day. We are glad you took the Challenge.

I am your master of ceremonies, Joe Watts, of Actinide and Fuel Cycle Technologies (NMT-11) here at LANL and on the AiSC Board of Directors. It is my pleasure to welcome you to Los Alamos National Lab.

The Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge (AiSC) provides High School and Junior High students with the opportunity of a lifetime; the chance to run a program on a High Performance computer at one of the premier national institutions - Los Alamos National Laboratory. Beyond that, the AiSC gives young minds obstruction-free interaction with a tremendous group of dedicated mentors that includes scientists, business leaders, educators and high-ranking government officials. These mentors care deeply about young people and their educations, great science, and the creation of a successful new crop of highly educated New Mexicans.

Dr. William Press, LANL Associate Director, welcomes the participants and encourages them to continue their educational endeavors so that they can become scientists. "We're always looking for the kind of talent that is represented here."

Chris Kemper, CCN-DO, welcomed everyone on behalf of the Computing, Communications, and Networking Division and showed a few slides about what the ASCI Q machine has been used for.

Several special guests were presented with posters of thanks for their support: Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House, R. Bobby Gonzales, Representative from Taos, Jeanette Wallace, Representative from Los Alamos, and Regis Pecos, Chief of Staff for Ben Lujan

Joe: I would like to introduce David Douglas, Meatball Web Design.

The Sponsors web page was put up on the screen and David Douglas acknowledged all of the Sponsors. See the sponsors.

Gina Fisk announced the names of the finalists while Joe presented them with a finalist team poster and shook their hands. Betsy and Celia presented each finalist with a 128 megabyte memory stick as a reward for their hard work and accomplishment.

Pat Milligan:

Sandia National Laboratories is proud to sponsor the Creativity and Innovation Award. Creativity and innovation is a vital component of software engineering and computer science.

I want to share a short quote from Dr. Richard Florida's book "The Rise of the Creative Class"

Many say that we now live in an "information" economy or a "knowledge" economy. But what's more fundamentally true is that we now have an economy powered by human creativity. Creativity-"the ability to create meaningful new forms," as Webster's dictionary puts it-is now the decisive source of competitive advantage. In virtually every industry, ..., the winners in the long run are those who can create and keep creating.

Sandia is honored to present this award to - "Automated Theorem Proving in the Mathematica Language" to Santa Fe Prep - Team 68 Dylan Allegretti and Teacher - James Taylor

Joe: We are now going to present the two poster awards. It gives me great pleasure to introduce Shaun Cooper, from the Aggies, NMSU, etc.

For the best graphic poster, Shaun gives a $100 bill to Manzano High School Team 45. Team members Sean Gentry, Jamal Osmond, and Matt Tlush. This graphic will be the basis for the design of the 2004-2005 logo.

Joe presents the best technical poster award which becomes the cover for this year's finalist reports publication. The winner is Team 8 from Albuquerque Academy for Plasma: Limits and Stresses Mesh Analysis Code. Josh Langsfeld, Jim Adolph, Zack LaBry, Ryan McGowan, and Matt Strange. The team receives a cash gift of $100.

Joe: Now I'd like to welcome Bill Blackler, my colleague on the AiSC board of directors, to present our Science is Fun award.

Bill: This year's winner of the project which shows that science is not only mathematics and physics but a whole lot of fun, too, goes to Team 24 from Santa Fe's Desert Academy, The Engineering Beauty of the Trebuchet. The team members are John Corff, Alex Grunstein, Tory Passalaqua, Aaron Salmon, Stuart Pollock, John Wheeler, and Jessie Johnson.

Joe: Thank you, Bill. Vance Bass, IBM, will present the IBM Teamwork Award. The Challenge seeks to prepare students for post secondary studies and the world of work. Teamwork is valued is both those arenas.

Vance:

I want to give you a 30-second broad brush overview of how science becomes technology. I'm going to compress it into a simplified three-step process. The first step is the insight or inspiration -- the light bulb going on in your head. This is often an individual occurrence, though it's always based on the work others have done before.

The next step is verification of the insight, to make sure that it's really a light bulb going on and not just a random neuron firing. This is by definition a group process. The scientific method requires that other scientists be able to independently confirm that your idea is sound. Science is a cooperative group effort by its nature.

The third step involves taking that basic scientific finding and turning it into something people can use. That's where science blends into engineering. You might have noticed that there are no superstar names in computing. Sure, you may recognize Donald Knuth or Marc Andreesen for their important insights, but making those insights useful to the world took tremendous teamwork. Linus Torvalds' name may be on the operating system, but Linux became reality because thousands of programmers liked his idea and helped him develop it. Teamwork is essential to making basic scientific concepts into engineered products we can use.

So, in recognition of the importance of teamwork in our field, the judges have chosen a team that exemplified the spirit of teamwork to receive the IBM Teamwork Award. The winners are Kellan Bethke, Sam Boling, William Laub, teachers are Steven Schum, Manzano, David Dixon, Eldorado, their Mentor is Tom Laub, Team 48 from Public Academy for the Performing Arts, Manzano, and Eldorado-APS for their project titled "Who Said That?"

Joe: Thank you, Vance and IBM. Once again, I would like to introduce my bud, Shaun Cooper, this time representing CHECS.

Shaun:

Higher Education Computing has supported the Challenge all our 14 years and annually presents the Search and Browse award which rewards good Internet research techniques. The winning team is Team 51 from Melrose High School. Their project is Murder or Magnetism. The team members are Kimberlee Smith and Rebecca Strong. Their teacher is Becky Raulie.

Joe: Our next award goes to the best final report in HTML format. Larry Donahue of Fat Cow sends his regrets that he was unable to join us today so David Douglas, another of the HTML judges will present the award.

David Douglas:

On behalf of Larry Donahue and Fat Cow, I am pleased to present this award for a year of free web hosting to each team member and their teacher. The winning team is Team 43 for Manzano High School. Kyle Fuerschbach and Adam Davie. There teacher is Steven Schum. Their project is Traffic Waves.

Mike Davis:

This year's Cray Inc. High Performance Award was given to Team 026 from Eldorado High School for their project, "Atomistic Modeling of Biomolecular Interactions." Team members Tom Dimiduk, Jeff Dimiduk, Daniel Appel and Ryan Shea each recieved personalized plaques and gift certificates totaling $250.00, redeemable at five New Mexico bookstores. Their teacher, David Dixon, and their project mentor, Susan R. Atlas, also received plaques.

Team 026 earned the Cray award for demonstrating the greatest care and concern for high performance in their computer program. They demonstrated this concern in several ways, including a detailed computational complexity analysis, a performance-based evaluation of alternative algorithms, and careful optimizations in the most compute-intensive parts of the program. Cray Inc. congratulates Team 026 from Eldorado High School.

Joe: The Albuquerque Tribune has been a media partner with the Challenge for many years. Please welcome Phill Casaus, the Trib editor, who will present the Tribune Lighthouse Award.

Phill:

The Tribune Lighthouse Award recognizes the Best Professional Presentation. The winner is Team 2 from Alamogordo High School for Modeling the Metabolism of Ethanol to More Accurately Predict Blood Alcohol Content. They are Levi Blackstone and Matthew Woller. Their teacher is Sharon Dittrich.

Joe: Introduces Ben Lujan to present the Ben Lujan Leadership Award.

Ben:

This team has set an example for their peers. They are the first team from their school to enter the Challenge and they made it to the finals. By recognizing the achievement of these upperclassmen, we anticipate that other students from their school will follow in their footsteps. We commend Santa Fe SER Career Academy. Their project is Genetics and the Likelihood of Disease. Team Members are Sarah Anaya and Mario Larranaga. Their teacher is Rhonda Ward. Here is a plaque for the trophy cabinet in the front hall at your school. Congratulations!

Betsy Frederick:

Betsy presented the teachers' choice award for "Modeling the Metabolism of Ethanol to More Accurately Predict Blood Alcohol Content", Alamorgordo - Team 2, Levi Blackstone and Matthew Woller, Teacher - Sharon Dittrich and Mentor - Kevin Blackstone

Celia Einhorn:

Celia presented the students' choice for "Plasma Limits and Stresses Mesh Analysis", Albuquerque Academy - Team 8, Jim Adolf, Zach LaBry, Josh Langsfled, Ryan McGowan, Matt Strange, and Teacher Dr. Jim Mims

Joe:

A new award this year is for the best use of Star Logo. Irene Lee, new member of the AiSC board, from Santa Fe Institute and MIT, and James Taylor from Santa Fe Preparatory School will give this award.

Joe: And now for the recognition of the judges who volunteer to come to the February regional evaluations and to LANL for the Expo and the Finalist judging, I would like to call Mike Trahan, Sandia National Laboratories and Nick Bennet, Grassroots Computing to the stage. Mike? Nick?

Joe: I am pleased to present another new award, New Horizons Computer Learning Center's AiSC Professional Development Award. On behalf of Lee Frampton from New Horizons, I am honored to present six teachers with a free, week-long class at their center in Albuquerque. I would like to read you part of their award letter:

The AiSC Board of Directors wishes to honor you for all you do as the sponsor of a Challenge Team(s). In appreciation of your gifts of hard work, persistence, and time on behalf of your students, and in recognition of your dedication to improving your own technology skills, we have arranged a complimentary class at New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, in Albuquerque, any time this summer.

What you do makes a real difference. We believe that participation in the New Mexico AiSC is an invaluable experience for your students now and as preparation for their post-secondary experiences. Without your guidance, they would not be able to say, "I took the Challenge!"

The six teachers awarded the professional development prize this year are, in alphabetical order by first name: Becky Raulie, Melrose High for getting her team to LANL this year; Debbie Loftin, Rio Rancho Mid-High for bringing the Challenge to a new school this year; Dianne Kemp, Yucca Junior High, for finding the funding to bring her teams from Clovis to Challenge events; Makoena Simon who mentored her team at Chaparral in Santa Fe and who has provider good support to Dylan from Santa Fe Prep; Sue Giovanini, Rio Vista Mid, for supporting two first-year middle school teams; Vernetta Noble for being the lead teacher for five Shiprock High teams who completed the Challenge;

Joe: I would like to introduce Judy Prono from LANL. Technical writing is another skill the Challenge champions. The Society of Technical Communication reviews the finalist reports and selects a team to honor for submitting the best written report. Judy?

Judy Prono:

The Society for Technical Communication is an international organization of writers, editors, graphic artists, and Web designers. For the last 11 years, the NM Kachina Chapter of the STC has sponsored an award for the Best Written Challenge Report. The winning team receives a $100 gift certificate to purchase books on technical communication for its school.

For the award, editors in the Lab's Communication Arts and Services group evaluated finalists' reports in terms of their content, readability, and integration of text and graphics. This year's STC award for Best Written Report goes to team 96 from the Career Enrichment Center: Robert Cordwell and teachers Steve Schum and Ken Greenberg.

Joe: And now I am happy to present Jackie Valdez from Los Alamos National Lab to present the LANL Environmental Modeling Award.

Jackie Valdez:

The winner is Team 9, Albuquerque Academy for his project Model Forest Fire: Fighting It and Its Effects. Punit Shah is the winner of this award for outstanding Environmental Modeling project.

Joe: I am happy to bring R. Bobbie Gonzales, Jr. back to the stage to present the Governor's Award.

Bobby:

I am pleased to stand in for Governor Richardson who regrets he cannot be with us today. The Governor's Award goes to Team 48, a trio team from Manzano High School, Public Academy for Perfoming Arts Charter School, and Eldorado High School. Please join me in congratulating Kellan Bethke, Sam Boling, and William Laub. Their teachers are David Dixon and Steve Schum. Their mentor is Tom Laub from Sandia National Lab. You will have to let us know how you boys going to divide up this award at three schools

Joe: Next, I am pleased to present Willard Smith from Tennessee State University and NASA Ames to share with you the scholarship winners for this year!

Willard:

Scholarship announcements: Erin Ogilvie, Cliff High School, $2,500 scholarship from New Mexico State University; Eric Martinez, Manzano High School; and Jerrick Morsey, Goddard High School, $2,400 scholarships each to New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology; Kimberlee Smith and Rebecca Strohm, Melrose High School; and Chance Means, Cliff High School, $1,300 from Eastern New Mexico University; Leonard Biemer, Farmington High School, $500 scholarship from Mesa Analytics & Computing.

Dennis:

I am pleased to present The Award of Excellence on behalf of Jontz Dawe Gulley and Crown, PC to Christopher Taylor from Cliff High School. Here is a check for $250. Congratulations!

Several door prizes were awarded to the participants and the last, and best, door prize was a $500 scholarship given by CHECS and awarded by John Jenkins, former Challenge organizer and CHECS member, to Tanya Hohmann from Bloomfield. The scholarship can be used at any of the CHECS member schools.

Joe: Next I would like to introduce ZiaNet's Marianne Granoff, President of the AiSC Board of Directors, and Board of Directors for New Mexico Internet Professionals Association to share with you the honorable mention teams. My colleague from LANL, Eugene Gavrilov, would you please join Marianne on the stage.

Marianne:

I would like to acknowledge the AiSC board of directors who all have worked very hard to keep the Challenge going and to obtain sponsors for many of these awards. The board members are myself as president, Joe Watts as treasurer, Dick Allen as secretary, and members Bill Blackler, Celia Einhorn, Betsy Frederick, David Kratzer, Willard Smith, and Irene Lee, would just joined the board this afternoon.

Here are the Honorable Mention Winners. They are four teams from four schools across the state were recognized with honorable mentions for their supercomputing projects:

Bosque School, The Effectiveness of a Cervical Cancer Vaccine team members Conner Hite, Alison Trimmer, Chloe Williams and Colin Williams;

Monte del Sol Charter School, Teen World, team members Caroline Critchlow and Sonja Romero;

 

Alamogordo High School, Modeling the Metabolism of Ethanol to More Accurately Predict Blood Alcohol Content, team members Levi Blackstone and Matthew Woller;

and Santa Fe High School, A Comparison of Numerical Solutions to the General Neutron Point Reactor Kinetics Equations, team member Leif Hopkins.

Eugene: I am pleased to present The Second Runner Up Award to Team 8 from Albuquerque Academy. Plasma Limits and Stresses Mesh Analysis Jim Adolf, Zach LaBry, Josh Langsfled, Ryan McGowan, Matt Strange, and Teacher Dr. Jim Mims

Eugene: First Runner Up Award goes to Team 68 from Santa Fe Prep for Automated Theorem Proving in the Mathematica Language. Dylan Allegretti, will you please come to the stage. James Taylor is his Teacher and Mentor. Joe: Regis Pecos, chief of staff for the speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives will present second place.

Regis: The Second Place Winner of the 14th Annual New Mexico Adventures in Supercomputing Challenge goes to the project, Who Said That?, Team 48, the three-school trio from Albuquerque. Kellan Bethke, Sam Boling, and William Laub please come to the stage to receive your trophy for Second Place. Congratulations to you, your three schools, and your teachers and mentors. Eldorado High School will receive a high-end printer that scans, faxes, and copies. The students will each receive a $500 savings bond.

Joe: Ben Lujan, speaker of the House, will present the first place award.

Ben: We come now to the First Place Winners. Each member of this team will receive a $1000 Savings Bond. Hewlett Packard's representative at LANL, Steve Shaw, is awarding a laptop to their teacher. And the winner is, Team 26 from Eldorado High School for their project Atomistic Modeling of Biomolecular Interactions. Will the team please come to the stage. Daniel Appel, Jeffrey Dimiduk, Thomas Dimiduk , Ryan Shea, and Teacher - David Dixon, Mentor - Susan Atlas, UNM

Steve Shaw of HP congratulates teacher David Dixon who received a Compaq laptop from HP for use in his classroom.

Joe: First Place team, please get ready to share with us a succinct summary of your project.

Joe: We have one more set of awards. Mike Trahan, will you please return to the stage and present the Judges' Special Recognitions?

Mike: On behalf of this year's judges, I would like to present the Judges Special Recognition awards to four teams:

Rio Vista Middle School, for Komodo's Return, which was named the Best Middle School Project;

Cliff High School, for Couch Potato Syndrome, the Slothful Killer, Best Science Methodology Award;

Shiprock High School, School Wide Recognition Award;

and Bosque School, Research Award.

Joe: Now, the first place winners will share with us a short presentation of their projects! 1st Place Team

Joe: Please fill out an evaluation of your stay in Los Alamos and trade it for a memento from HP, one of our sponsors.
Joe: Thank you for your attention and all your hard work this year. We hope to see you or your peers here again next year.
Joe: In closing I would like to introduce David Kratzer, from LANL who has been with the Challenge for all 14 years!

David Kratzer: Yes, the AiS Challenge is a competition, but not like a demolition derby but more like an eight month marathon, those teams that have finished have all accomplished a great deal and are all winners. Even the teams that did not finish have learned from the experience.