2004-05 Project Seed Scholarship Recipients

The Committee on Project SEED has announced the winners of its 2004-05 college scholarships. Each recipient receives a one-year, nonrenewable scholarship to help cover tuition and fees during his or her freshman year of college.

Project SEED, which celebrated its 35-year anniversary in 2003, provides economically disadvantaged high school students with opportunities to conduct mentored research in academic, industry, or government laboratories during the summer. Each year, the program also awards up to $150,000 in scholarships to help exceptional SEED alumni make the transition from high school to college.

The scholarships are designed for high school seniors who have participated in one or more summer SEED programs. The scholarships are restricted to students who plan to major in a chemical science or engineering field such as chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry, materials science, or a closely related major.

Funding for the 2004-05 scholarships was made possible with help from a number of donors: Alfred and Isabel Bader, Bayer Corp., Glenn E. and Barbara R. Ullyot, and the Russell J. Fosbinder Endowment.

ALFRED & ISABEL BADER SCHOLARS

Alfred Bader is one of the founders of Aldrich Chemical (1951), now Sigma-Aldrich. The Baders have supported Project SEED for many years, including the start of the Summer II SEED program.

Opeyemi Awe is a graduate of Woodbridge High School, Woodbridge, N.J. Under the direction of Alan S. Goldman, Rutgers University, Piscataway, N.J., Awe worked on a project titled "Heat of Hydrogenation of Cyclooctene." He attends Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Suresh Dhanraji is a graduate of Orange High School, Orange, N.J. She attends Montclair State University, in New Jersey. Dhanraji's mentor was S. N. Ganguly from Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J. Dhanraji's research was titled "Nitration of Aromatic Compounds Using Both Cool and Cold Microwave Techniques."

A graduate of Orange High School, Orange, N.J., Cathy Gabriel attends Rutgers University, Newark. Gabriel worked under the supervision of Stephen C. Waller, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, N.Y. Gabriel's research was "Reactions toward the Synthesis of the Natural Product Cytisine: A and B Rings."

Darnell Green is a graduate of West Philadelphia University High School. Green worked under the direction of G. John DiGregorio at the Forensics Mentors Institute, Willow Grove, Pa. His research was titled "Effects of Preservatives on Drug Distribution between Red Cells and Serum and Plasma." Green attends Temple University, Philadelphia.

Deneah J. Johnson graduated from the Frank H. Morrell campus of Irvington High School, Irvington, N.J. Johnson worked under the supervision of Dittmar Hahn, Rutgers University, Newark. Johnson's research title was "Saprophytic Growth of Symbiotic Bacteria." Johnson attends Rutgers University.

Megha J. Kandhari graduated from Emerson High School, Union City, N.J. Under the supervision of John R. Sowa Jr., Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J., Kandhari worked on a project titled "Organic Synthesis." Kandhari attends Bergen Community College, Paramus, N.J.

Pauline Khumalo graduated from Arsenal Technical High School, Jersey City, N.J. Under the supervision of James C. Williams Jr., Indiana University, Indianapolis, she worked on a project titled "Stone-Shattering Cinematography." Khumalo attends Ivy Tech State College, Indianapolis.

Denise Kimbrough is a graduate of the Alabama School of Math & Science, Mo bile. She worked with Kathleen H. Berecek at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. Kimbrough's research was "Changes in Cardiac Structure and Function in Diabetic Rats with and without Hypertension." She attends the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

Nan Lin graduated from Normal Com munity High School, Normal, Ill. During the summer, she worked with Marjorie A. Jones, Illinois State University, on a project titled "Enzyme Studies Using Cloned Coproporphyrinogen Oxidase." Lin attends Bradley University, Peoria, Ill.

Lady Chanel Mendez attended McNair Academic High School, Jersey City, N.J. Mendez worked under the supervision of Calvin Strand, Jersey City Medical Center. She worked on a project called "Brain Natriuretic Peptide in the Diagnosis and Management of Congestive Heart Failure." She attends Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J.

Iris Molenaar is a graduate of Orange High School, Orange, N.J. She attends the College of New Jersey, Ewing. She worked under the supervision of Quinn Vega, Montclair State University, in New Jersey, on "DNA Analysis."

Michaela Olsavska graduated from Linden High School, Linden, N.J. Olsav ska worked under the direction of Richard D. Ludescher of Rutgers University, New Brunswick. Her research was titled "Conditions for Microbial Growth of Escherichia coli JM 109 in an Amorphous Solid Milk System." She attends the College of New Jersey, Ewing

Katherine Pereda is a graduate of Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. She attends Boston University. She worked under the direction of Svetlana A. Sukhishvili at Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J. Her research title was "Synthesis, Self-Assembly, and Permeability Measurements of pH-Responsive Ultra-Thin Polymer Films."

Laura Schmidt graduated from Shepherd High School, Shepherd, Mich. She worked under the direction of David Karpovich, Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, Mich. Schmidt's research was "Preparation of Biodegradable Composite Materials from Agricultural Waste and Food Products." She attends Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant.

Richa Sharma is a graduate of Warren Central High School, Indianapolis. Under the direction of C. Subah Packer at Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Sharma worked on a research project titled "In Vivo Effects of DMSO on Physiological Properties of Mammalian Bladder." Sharma attends Indiana University, Bloomington.

Saida Siddik is a graduate of Center High School, Antelope, Calif. Siddik worked with Donald R. Land of the University of California, Davis, on "Polishing Zinc Selenide (ZnSe) Crystals." She attends California State University, Sacramento.

Narpat Singh graduated from Orange High School, Orange, N.J. She attends Montclair State University, in New Jersey. She worked under the direction of Raymond A. Baylouny, Fairleigh Dickinson University. Her research was titled "Analysis of Products Using Gas Chromatography and Gas Chromatograph Mass Spectrometry by Solid-Phase Micro-Extraction."

Walter F. Urgiles is a graduate of Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. He attends Rutgers University, Piscataway. Urgiles worked under the supervision of Jun J. Xu of Rutgers on "Nanostructured Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries."

Sinu Varghese graduated from Bloomfield High School, Bloomfield, N.J. Varghese worked under the direction of Jeffrey H. Toney, Montclair State University, in New Jersey. Varghese's project was "Killing Superbugs: Search for a New Class of Metallo ß-Lactamase Inhibitors." Varghese attends St. John's University, Jamaica, N.Y.

Iris Velazquez is a graduate of Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. She attends Rutgers Cook College, New Brunswick, and worked under the direction of Edward Konsevick, New Jersey Meadowlands Commission, Lyndhurst, N.J. Her research was "Wind Direction, Air Pollution, and Exposure."

Christine Wise graduated from Center High School, Antelope, Calif. Wise attends the University of California, Davis, and worked there under the supervision of Matthew P. Augustine on "NMR of Materials."

BAYER SCHOLARS

Bayer has been a major donor for Project SEED, including contributing to the Project SEED Endowment.

Lisa T. Nelson is a graduate of Firestone High School, Akron, Ohio. Nelson worked under Pamela Cadile of Omnova Solutions, Akron. Nelson's research was titled "Polymer Blends for End-Use Textile Coatings." She attends the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Gloria R. Portocarrero graduated from Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. Portocarrero worked under the direction of Jae Chung, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J. Her research was "Sensor-Based Navigation of Mobile Robots." She attends New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark.

Sandra Ruiz is a graduate of Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. Ruiz worked under the direction of Terri G. Kinzy of Rutgers University, Piscataway. Ruiz's research was titled "Eukaryotic Production of Selenomethionine Proteins for X-ray Crystallography." She attends Seton Hall University, South Orange, N.J.

Rosa E. Tolentino is a graduate of Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. Tolentino conducted her research, "Genetic Mapping and Characterization of ny4 in C. elegans," under the supervision of David H. Fitch, New York University. She attends New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark.

ULLYOT SCHOLARS

Glenn Ullyot was an accomplished chemical researcher at Smith, Kline & French Laboratories who worked on the discovery and manufacture of a number of new drugs. Barbara Ullyot had a management career at ACS.

Angela M. Arango is a graduate of Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. Arango worked under the direction of Marshall Bergen, Rutgers Cook College, New Brunswick. Her research project was titled "Fungal Growth on Plastic." Arango attends Rutgers University.

Cam Yen Tran graduated from Joseph C. Wilson Magnet High School, Rochester, N.Y. Under the supervision of James J. Worman, Rochester Institute of Technology, in New York, Tran's research was on "Preparation and Spectral Properties of 2,2,4,4-Tetramethyl-3-Phenylimincyclobutanone and the N-Oxide Derivative." Tran attends Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H.

FOSBINDER SCHOLARS

The estate of Elizabeth Ernst Fosbinder, wife of late ACS member Russell J. Fosbinder, has provided an endowment in Fosbinder's name for college scholarships to Project SEED graduates.

Jose N. Argueta graduated from Union Hill High School, Union City, N.J. Under the direction of Suzie Chen at Rutgers University, Piscataway, his research involved "Isolation and Purification of Recombinant Grm1 Protein in E. coli Bacterial Cell." He attends Rutgers University.

Menachem Tabanpour is a graduate of James Madison High School, Brooklyn, N.Y. Tabanpour worked under the supervision of Phillip Barak at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. His research was titled "Controlled Crystallization of Struvite." He attends the University of Wisconsin, Madison.