Today I was at the LISEF (Long Island Science and Engineering Fair) high school research conference. I was there judging physics and math presentations. Oh boy where there some good ones. I was double booked as usual so I ran out of there before the awards started – but I wished I had stayed. Two of my high school research students were presenting and one of them won second place in the “Physical sciences and engineering” division. Congraduations Sara!

Sara Shikder’s project was “Construction of a GHz-modulated injection-locked laser”. Sara is a junior at North Shore High School. North Shore Senior Natalie Ion was there also speaking about “Exploring How Temperature Affects Rubidium Atom Vapor Pressure Using a PID Controller.” Go Physics! Go Sara! Go Natalie! Go North Shore! Go Dr. Mordechai! Go Adelphi “Black Cat Quantum Labs!” (“Black Cat Quantum Labs” Any thoughts on that name? Trying it out today)

So if anyone deserves an award for her research, it is Sara. She worked really hard and has tackled a difficult problem. I am proud of her. She worked all summer. We didn’t even start reaearch until after 7pm most nights this semester – she just kept working hard and fighting through all the issues (as usual, there were a lot of issues).

You know when I was in high school I played baseball, rode my bike around, and worked at K-Mart. I couldn’t have fathomed doing quantum physics physics in high school. These young sciencists are impressive.