Three Diamond Bar High School students were named winners of the 2011 STEM Contest sponsored by the Chinese Institute of Engineers.

The competition included Oral Presentations and a Poster Contest research related to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).

Anjali Iyer, Sarah Pak, and Brandon Chiou were recognized during an awards banquet held November 5 at the Diamond Bar Holiday Inn.

Senior Anjali Iyer won the top award - 1st Place in the Oral presentation with her project was titled "A Domino Approach of Heck Coupling for the Synthesis of β-Trifluoromethyl Styrenes". She received a $300 scholarship.

Junior Sarah Pak took the 3rd Place Award in the Oral presentation. Her research project was titled "Seasonal Changes in the Vessel Anatomy of Adults and Resprouts of the California Black Walnut Tree Following Wildfire”. She received a $100 scholarship.

Senior Brandon Chiou was named the contest Poster Winner. His project was titled "Improved Efficiency and Design for Platinum Cathodes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells". He received a $100 scholarship.

The students’ research projects were co-authored by professors from Cal Poly Pomona, University of Southern California, and ChengKung University.

Each winner also received Certificates of Recognition from Congresswomen Judy Chu, Assemblyman Curt Hagman, City of Diamond Bar, and CIF/USA-SOCAL (Chinese Institute of Engineers/USA-Southern California Chapter.

“The experiments our students conducted were very impressive!” said Principal Catherine Real. Three of the four high school winners represented Diamond Bar High School.

“The key purpose of this competition is to promote STEM,” said Tony Torng Ph.D, CIF president and competition coordinator.

We hope interested students learn how to prepare their research papers and properly present the results. It is an important factor for future STEM related careers, he said.

A total 18 students, seven high school and 11 college, vied in the contest. They first submitted abstracts for review and then were invited by the CIE committed to participate in the presentation and to submit their research package. The CIF Committee was comprised of six judges from both academic and industry to provide a wider variety of feedback to the contestants.

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