Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Biology teacher Heidi Anderson (left) with students Joseph Ferguson, Tamas Nagy, Roshan Palli, Arunita Kar, Andrei Terentiev and Stephen Steinmetz in Los Angeles (Photo: Courtesy of Paul Laurence Dunbar High School)

Four students from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School earned honors in worldwide science competitions this month. 

At the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, held May 8-13 in Los Angeles, the team of Roshan Palli and Joseph Ferguson won $1,000 for third place in the Cellular & Molecular Biology category, and Arunita Kar picked up $500 for fourth in Physics & Astronomy.  The previous week, Arunita earned top honors in a STEM contest at the University of Kentucky, while Roshan and Joseph’s project was runner-up.

Tamas Nagy, Andrei Terentiev and Stephen Steinmetz also competed at the Intel event.

“They met students from all over the world and have made life-long friendships and memories.  We are very proud of their accomplishments,” said biology teacher Heidi Anderson, who accompanied the group.

Meanwhile, the week of May 4-9 in Houston, Dunbar’s Orsolya Hegyi won $400 and a bronze medal in the Engineering category at the I-SWEEEP Olympiad (International Sustainable World - Energy, Engineering, Environment Project).

Orsolya’s paper, “An Approach to Water Purification Using Carbon Nanotube Membranes,” also was Kentucky’s winning entry in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition.