Karry Roberts, ASA Detroit Chapter Secretary

Photo courtesy of Anamaria Kazanis
From left: ASA judges Bern DeBacker, Ruth Cassidy (District 3 vice chair), Heidi Reichert, Karry Roberts, Anamaria Kazanis (Council of Chapters representative to the ASA Board of Directors), and Mary Ann Ritter

This year’s Michigan Science and Engineering Fair (MSEF) statistics judging occurred just as the coronavirus began to unfold in Michigan. On March 11, several chapter members judged MSEF science projects under diligent cautions to promote statistics and recognize those students who exhibited effective statistical analyses in their science projects with professional awards.

The event took place at the TCF Center in Detroit immediately following the Science and Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit (SEFMD). In total, 87 projects qualified for the MSEF state-level competition, including projects from other areas of the state.

Due to the coronavirus outbreak, students began the event with a chemistry lab in which they made their own hand sanitizer. The night before the judging, Michigan confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus and the governor issued a state of emergency. During the MSEF, Michigan’s public universities announced they were moving to online classes. The next day, the governor announced K–12 schools were closing starting March 16.

The Grand Award winners were congratulated, but then told they would not likely get to attend the International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF). Especially because of the current constraints, chapter members want to congratulate the students for their hard work and the teachers who continue to educate and motivate them.

There were several exceptional statistical applications and impressive graphical data representations throughout the MSEF. ASA award winners include the following:

$200 Award of Excellence

• Asim Handy, “MLB Ballparks Altitude Effect on Number of Home Runs Hit and Park Factor,” Detroit Country Day Upper School, Beverly Hills

$50 Award of Merit

• Olivia Hagan and Catherine August, “Comparing Ferromagnetism and a Hydrophobic Net for Oil Spill Remediation,” Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center, Warren
• Saaim Khan, “Identification of Novel Drug-Like Compounds for Solute Carrier Anion Transport,” Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School, Bloomfield Hills
• Trinity Lee, “Light Chromatography Mass Spectrometry to Diagnose Respiratory Viruses,” University Liggett School, Grosse Pointe Woods
• Devarshi Mukherji, “Early Prediction of Alzheimer’s Progression Using Recurrent Neural Networks,” Notre Dame Preparatory School, Pontiac
• Lili Pakko, “Investigation of Soil Liquefaction by Pendulum Impact Testing,” Dearborn Center for Math, Science, and Technology, Dearborn Heights
• Andrew Yang, “Combinatorial Analysis of Sequential Win-Probabilities in Tic-Tac-Toe,” Washtenaw International High School, Ypsilanti

Certificate of Recognition

• Veer Agarwal, Detroit Country Day Upper School, Beverly Hills
• Jakar Dhillon, Bloomfield Hills High School, Bloomfield Hills
• Annie He and Anna Zhao, Troy High School, Troy
• Corinne Hinson and Natalie Hinz, Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center, Warren
• Catherine Jiang, Detroit Country Day Upper School, Beverly Hills
• Sujit Lakshmikanth, Novi High School, Novi
• Bhanu Teja Mamillapalli, Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, Saginaw
• Senne Michielssen, Washtenaw International High School, Ypsilanti
• Daniel Prakah Asante, Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School, Bloomfield Hills
• Hariti Shah, Detroit Country Day Upper School, Beverly Hills
• Nicole Spizizen, Ella Thompson, and Safia Siddiqui, Detroit Country Day Upper School, Beverly Hills
• Himani Yarlagadda, Detroit Country Day Upper School, Beverly Hills
• Amanda Xu, Huron High School, Ann Arbor
• Jessica Zhang, Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center, Kalamazoo

Two of the ASA award winners were also among the nine Grand Award winners qualifying for the ISEF, and an additional five were among the first- through fourth-place MSEF category awards.

Statistics judging at a science fair has been a traditional joint effort of ASA Michigan chapters for many years and a great opportunity to promote the practice and profession of statistics. This year, the judging team consisted of Anamaria Kazanis, Council of Chapters representative to the ASA Board of Directors; Ruth Cassidy, ASA District 3 vice chair; Karry Roberts and Bern DeBacker from the Detroit Chapter; and Mary Ann Ritter and Heidi Reichert from the Ann Arbor Chapter. They were able to give several monetary awards sponsored by the Detroit and Ann Arbor chapters. Additionally, they gave many recognition certificates with copies of Significance magazine and ASA stickers.