Alverno iGEM logo designed by team member, Victoria
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meet the team
Alverno Heights Academy (High School) iGEM 2016 team is made up of students who are passionate about science. The all-girl team ranges in age from 14 - 18 yrs old. Whether they are members of Alverno's Accelerated Honors Academy for Gifted Girls, or HS Seniors ready to go to college, their enthusiasm and curiosity are contagious.
Alverno girls are no strangers to research, and have participated in Caltech's Solar Army SEAL Team, Summer SEAL Research at Caltech, and individual research projects. With many awards in academics and sports, they are a multi-talented group, who hail from Sierra Madre and neighboring cities, such as Pasadena, Monrovia, San Gabriel, Altadena, Glendora, Rowland Heights, Temple City, and Arcadia.
Alverno girls are no strangers to research, and have participated in Caltech's Solar Army SEAL Team, Summer SEAL Research at Caltech, and individual research projects. With many awards in academics and sports, they are a multi-talented group, who hail from Sierra Madre and neighboring cities, such as Pasadena, Monrovia, San Gabriel, Altadena, Glendora, Rowland Heights, Temple City, and Arcadia.
MELODY -
HS Junior: Member of Alverno's Accelerated Honors Academy for Gifted Girls; Youth Science Center STEM Essay Contest Winner; You Be the Chemist Regional Finalist; Pasadena Youth Orchestra: Wind Ensemble Award; Mu Alpha Theta
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KATIE -
HS Sophomore; Girl Scouts Bronze Award Service Project - Community Service project for Marine Mammal Care Center; Honor Roll; Taekwondo
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ASIA -
HS Senior; Junior Service Project - Creating a STEM-based school program for low-income schools; National Honor Society (NHS)
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VICTORIA -
HS Junior:
Member of Alverno's Accelerated Honors Academy for Gifted Girls; 2016 CTY Cogito Research Award Winner; Numerous Math Contests (1st place); CM Advanced Level 10 in piano; Black belt in Taekwodo
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MARISA -
HS Senior; National Honor Society Member (NHS, Math, English); John's Hopkins CTY top scoring student; numerous roles in Drama/Musical Theatre productions; Comedy Sportz (Improv) Team; classically trained ballerina
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LAURA -
HS Junior:
2016 CTY Cogito Research Award Winner; Member of National Honor Society, National Art Society, Mu Alpha Theta, and CSF; Halloween Window Painting Contest winner
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BRIANNA -
HS Sophomore; Science Best in Class (8th grade); Numerous Science Fairs (since 3rd grade); Girl Scouts Bronze Award; Honor Roll
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ALICIA -
HS Senior; CSF (California Scholarship Federation); NHS (National Honors Society); NAHS (National Arts Honors Society)
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AMANDA -
HS Sophomore; Speech and Debate Championships; Girl Scouts Silver Award -City of Hope Blood Drive; Principal's Honor Roll
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EVINA -
HS Junior:
2016 CTY Cogito Research Award Winner; Alverno Math Team; Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
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HANAA -
HS Senior; Science Fair 2013 Honorable Mention; Participation Award at JPL Science Fair 2013; Junior Service Project - Creating a STEM-based school program for low-income schools
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MINJI -
HS Junior; California Math Cup (2nd); Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
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KATHERINE - HS Rising Freshman; Member of Alverno's Accelerated Honors Academy for Gifted Girls
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SAM CLAMONS -
Head Coach; Graduate Student, Caltech,
Bioengineering (Prof. Richard Murray);
Former Co-Captain of William and Mary's iGEM 2014 Team
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The Solar Energy Activity Laboratory (SEAL), headed by Professor Harry Gray of Caltech, offers high school and college students the opportunity to participate in scientific research aimed at discovering new metal oxide semiconductors with photoelectrochemical water-splitting activity. By using sunlight to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, using inexpensive, earth-abundant materials, the goal is to develop a storable, clean fuel, accessible to everyone. To support the students’ research, a Caltech mentor visits Alverno Heights Academy weekly to work with the team and provide guidance. This experience, along with other research opportunities, has allowed the students to hone their research skills, including the ability to develop scientific research questions, perform literature searches, and to develop creative strategies and problem-solving skills.
In 2014-15, the team worked on the “coffee-ring effect”, a phenomenon where the particles in a liquid move to the perimeter of a drop as it dries. They were successfully able to significantly lessen the coffee-ring effect by causing the particles to distribute more evenly across the area of the drops, deposited on a FTO glass plate, during drying. This was achieved by placing an array of glass balls (of approximately the same diameter as the drops), lined up on top of the individual spots, while drying on a hot plate. The Alverno SEAL team presented their results at SEALCon in May 2015.
This year, the team has grown in size, due to its popularity, and chosen to explore a wider range of questions. The first investigation is the structural difference between metal oxide spots that are good electrolyzers of water and those that are not. They discovered, by examining Atomic Force Microscopy images of the spots, that there appears to be a crystalline structure difference between the two, chemically identical, spots. They will continue to refine techniques which can consistently achieve the “good” spots.
The SEAL team is also exploring the use of bacteria as oxygen sensors to evaluate the water-splitting capability of various catalysts. The team successfully presented the concept and their progress in the poster session of the CCI Solar Fuels Conference in February 2016.
Other questions that the team is working on are the discovery of electrode materials which will resist corrosion in acidic electrolytes, and the creation of methanol by reducing carbon dioxide.
In 2014-15, the team worked on the “coffee-ring effect”, a phenomenon where the particles in a liquid move to the perimeter of a drop as it dries. They were successfully able to significantly lessen the coffee-ring effect by causing the particles to distribute more evenly across the area of the drops, deposited on a FTO glass plate, during drying. This was achieved by placing an array of glass balls (of approximately the same diameter as the drops), lined up on top of the individual spots, while drying on a hot plate. The Alverno SEAL team presented their results at SEALCon in May 2015.
This year, the team has grown in size, due to its popularity, and chosen to explore a wider range of questions. The first investigation is the structural difference between metal oxide spots that are good electrolyzers of water and those that are not. They discovered, by examining Atomic Force Microscopy images of the spots, that there appears to be a crystalline structure difference between the two, chemically identical, spots. They will continue to refine techniques which can consistently achieve the “good” spots.
The SEAL team is also exploring the use of bacteria as oxygen sensors to evaluate the water-splitting capability of various catalysts. The team successfully presented the concept and their progress in the poster session of the CCI Solar Fuels Conference in February 2016.
Other questions that the team is working on are the discovery of electrode materials which will resist corrosion in acidic electrolytes, and the creation of methanol by reducing carbon dioxide.
CAITLYN -
HS Senior; President of Science Club; Summer Solar Energy Activity Lab (SEAL) Research at Caltech; National Hispanic Merit Scholar; AP Scholar with Distinction; AP Calculus Award; Mu Alpha Theta; Soccer Team Captain; Valedictorian; Stanford Pre-Med in Fall 2016; emeritus
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JENNY -
HS Senior,
President of Math Club, Professional Chef Recognition; National Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society); NYU Math major in Fall 2016; emeritus
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ALEXIS -
HS Senior; Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Essay Contest Winner; Mu Alpha Theta; Chief Justice of the Supreme Court (Alverno); Editor of the School Literary Magazine; Salutatorian; UCLA Chemistry major in Fall 2016; emeritus
FEIER - HS Junior; CSF; Principal's Honor Roll, Level B Bel Canto; Lanting Cup calligraphy competition; an amateur writer and subtitles translator, member of track team, basketball team, and concert choir.
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ISABELLA -
HS Senior; Spanish Award (3 yrs); Math Award (2 yrs); Biology Award Honors Biology and AP Bio), Art Award, English Award, Wellesley Book Award; emeritus
KATE -
HS Sophomore; Member of Alverno's Accelerated Honors Academy for Gifted Girls; Vex Robotics World Competition Participant 2013
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SEAL Team with Professor Harry Gray of Caltech at the CCI 2016 Solar Fuels Conference Poster Session
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SEAL Team 2015-16 at Caltech with mentor Fan Liu (Graduate student, Caltech; Computational Chemistry)
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SEAL Team 2014-15 at Alverno Heights Academy
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Freshmen members of SEAL Team 2015-16 with Caltech Mentor, Fan Liu
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