16th Annual Awards Day Ceremony
April 25, 2006
You Took the Challenge!
And we are proud of you!
Master of Ceremonies
Shaun Cooper,
Supercomputing Challenge
Board of Directors , NMSU
Board of Directors
Bill Blackler, President
Betsy Frederick
Larry Donahue, Vice President
Marianne Granoff
David Kratzer, Secretary
Irene Lee
Joe Watts, Treasurer
Willard Smith
Shaun Cooper
Mike Topliff
Celia Einhorn
Molly Tovar
Welcome to the Los Alamos
National Laboratory from
Dr. Buck Thompson
Welcome our Special Guests
Presentation of the Finalist Teams
Gina Fisk, LANL
Betsy Frederick, Consult
Finalist Team
Team 05 - Albuquerque Academy
Wesley Smalls
The Multi-Dimensional Encryption of Data
Sponsoring Teacher: Jim Mims
Project Mentor: Jim Mims
Finalist Team
Team 43 - Las Cruces High School
Julia Silva, Alan Hshieh and Daniel Parrott
Can You See the Hot Spots?
Sponsoring Teacher: Greg Marez
Project Mentor: Dr. Puneet Ghei
Finalist Team
Team 47 - Las Cruces High
Jonathan Lee Annua, Billy Downs,
Vincent Maestas and Andrei Klypin
Simulation of Planetary Formation by Particle Accretion
Sponsoring Teacher: Gregory Marez
Project Mentor: Gregory Marez
Finalist Team
Team 54 – Manzano High School
Kristin Cordwell and Chen Zhao
Finding Inverses in a Finite Project
Mentor: Dr. William Cordwell
Sponsoring Teacher: Stephen Schum
Project Mentor: Stephen Schum
Finalist Team
Team 73 - Onate High School
Brittany Atteberry, Mihyun Hong, Jane Kim,
Erica Swenson and Natalie Wells
Hydrogen Vehicles and Their Atmospheric Effect
Sponsoring Teachers: Josefina Dominguez and
Donald Downs
Challenge Mentor: Eleanor Walther
Finalist Team
Team 75 - Onate High School
Kyle Fitzpatrick, Brett Beckett,
Meghan Scott, Kevin Christeson
Expanding on the Pythagorean Theorem
Sponsoring Teachers: Donald Downs
and Josefina Dominguez
Finalist Team
Team 77 - Rio Rancho High
Christopher Morrison and Nicholas Kutac
Analytical Fire Modeling: Fire in its Environment
Sponsoring Teachers: Debbie Loftin and
Janet Penevolpe
Project Mentor: Nick Bennett
Finalist Team
Team 94 - Santa Fe Indian School
Eveli Abeyta
An Herbaceous Vegetation Study
Sponsoring Teachers: Kate Sallah, Sally Phelps
and Matt Pecos
Project Mentors: Irene Lee and Gabe Coysleon
Finalist Team
Team 97 - Shiprock High School
Martha Hughes, Polito Walters, Andrew Yazzie
The Invasive Russian Olive
Sponsoring Teachers: Mary Herrmann, Vernetta Noble
Project Mentors: Gary Hathorn and Irene Lee
Finalist Team
Team 126 - St. Pius X High School
Matthew Paiz, Ryan Loyd and Mark Wunsch
Dynamic Software Evolution
Sponsoring Teacher: Kerrie Sena
Project Mentor: James Carrie
Special Thanks to the
Division of Computing and
Computational Science,
Los Alamos National Lab
For scholarships and sponsorship of the
2006 Challenge Summer Teacher Institute
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Environmental Modeling Award
Presented by David Janecky, LANL
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Environmental Modeling Award
Team 94 - Santa Fe Indian School
Eveli Abeyta
Herbacious Vegetation Study
The Society of Technical Communication
Best Written Report Award
Presented by Judy Prono
The Society of Technical Communication
Best Written Report Award
Team 77 - Rio Rancho High School
Chris Morrison & Nicholas Kutac
Analytical Fire Modeling:
Fire in its environment
iniCom Networks
Best HTML Final Report
Presented by Jon Hill
iniCom Networks
Best HTML Final Report
Team 06 - Albuquerque Academy
Karalyn Baca,
Franklin Orndorff-Plunket,
Punit Shah
Preventing Inbreeding
BX Internet
Multimedia Award
Presented by Peter Yanke
BX Internet
Multimedia Award
Team 105 - Shiprock High School
Lache Yazzie
Dakota Dee
Jeralea Hillgartner
Red Tide
SC Teacher Appreciation Award
Presented to Kate Sallah
nominated by Eveli Abeyta
of Santa Fe Indian School
SC Teacher Appreciation Award
Presented to Debbie Loftin
nominated by Nicholas Kutac
of Rio Rancho High
SC Teacher Appreciation Award
Presented to Neil McBeth
nominated by Garrett Lewis
of Sandia Preparatory School
SC Teacher Appreciation Award
Presented to Hanh Nguyen
nominated by Omar Solliman
of Socorro High School
1st Year in the Challenge
Teachers Award
David Bailey, Santa Fe School for the Arts
Randy Gaylord and Jim Orth, Artesia High School
Greg Marez, Las Cruces High School
Diane Medford, Los Alamos High School
Hahn Nguyen, Socorro High School
Marie Levy Ryan, Albuquerque High School
Recognition of Judges
Mike Trahan, Sandia National Laboratories
Eleanor Walther, Sandia National Laboratories
Best Use of StarLogo Award
Presented by
Irene Lee, Santa Fe Institute &
Supercomputing Challenge Board
Best Use of StarLogo Award
Team 97 - Shiprock High School
Martha Hughes
Polito Walters
Andrew Yazzie
The Invasive Russian Olive
Ben Lujan Leadership Award
Shaun Cooper, Presenter
Ben Lujan Leadership Award
Shaun Cooper, Presenter
Recipients: Irene Lee
Nick Bennett
Teachers’ Choice
Presented by Catherine Cross Maple,
Public Education Department
Teachers’ Choice
Team 97 - Shiprock High School
Martha Hughes
Polito Walters
Andrew Yazzie
The Invasive Russian Olive
Students’ Choice
Presented by Heather Lovato, NMITSA
Students’ Choice
Team 43 - Las Cruces High School
Alan Hshieh
Julia Silva
Daniel Parrott
Can You See the Hot Spots?
Tribune Lighthouse Award
Best Professional Presentation
Presented by Phill Casaus, Albuquerque Tribune
Tribune Lighthouse Award
Best Professional Presentation
Team 43 - Las Cruces High School
Alan Hshieh
Julia Silva
Daniel Parrott
Can You See the Hot Spots?
Senator Jeff Bingaman's
Middle School Award
Presented by Helen Maestas,
Senator Bingaman's Office
Senator Jeff Bingaman's
Middle School Award
Team 80 - Rio Rancho Mid-High School
Alex Baker
Gunther Wong
Modeling Air Flow over an Airfoil
High Performance
Computing Award
Presented by Mike Davis, Cray Incorporated
High Performance
Computing Award
Team 54 - Manzano High School
Kristin Cordwell
Chen Zhao
Finding Inverses in a Finite Field
CHECS Research Award
Presented by Duane Elms, CHECS
CHECS Research Award
Team 70 - Navajo Preparatory School
Raquel Hill
Rochelle Vandever
The Travelling Virus
CHECS Teamwork Award
Presented by Duane Elms, CHECS
CHECS Teamwork Award
Team 73 - Onate High School
Brittany Atteberry, Mihyun Hong, Jane Kim,
Erica Swenson, and Natalie Wells
Hydrogen Vehicles and their Atmospheric Effect
Women in Science and Engineering
Best Project by a woman or a team of women
Presented by Eleanor Walther,
NMNWSE, Sandia National Labs
Women in Science and Engineering
Best Project by a woman or a team of women
Team 101 - Shiprock High School
Josephine Begay, Rochelle Begay
Jerrin Nez, Karina Todechine, and
Tierra Todechine
Teacher Vernetta Noble
Unwanted
Science is Fun Award
Presented by Shaun Cooper,
Supercomputing Challenge
Board of Directors , NMSU
Science is Fun Award
Team 57 - McCurdy High School
Sarah Armstrong, Joseph Kobe,
Vanessa Trujillo, Juan Antonio Vigil
Computer Modeling of an Asymmetric Capacitor
Technical Poster Award
Presented by Shaun Cooper
Technical Poster Award
Team 28 - Eldorado / Manzano High School
Stephanie McAllister
Vincent Moore
Statistical Analysis of Parallel Code
Graphical Poster Award
Presented by Shaun Cooper
Graphical Poster Award
Team 06 - Albuquerque Academy
Karalyn Baca,
Franklin Orndorff-Plunket,
Punit Shah
Preventing Inbreeding
Creativity & Innovation Award
Presented by Arthur Ratzel and Michael Vahle of
Sandia National Laboratories
Creativity & Innovation Award
Team 75 - Onate High School
Kyle Fitzpatrick, Brett Beckett,
Meghan Scott, and Kevin Christeson
Expanding on the Pythagorean Theorem
Supercomputing Challenge Sponsors
You have met our sponsors who are with us
this morning. Our other sponsors are on our
webpage. Let’s have a good round of applause
for all of our sponsors.
Governor's Award
Presenter, David Kratzer, LANL, Consult
Governor's Award
Presenter, David Kratzer, LANL, Consult
Recipient: Dr. Richard Allen, Sandia, UNM
Scholarship Winners
Presented by Willard Smith,
Tennessee State University and NASA
Scholarship Winners
William Downs, Las Cruces
NMSU Engineering, $2500
Scholarship Winners
Kyle Kitzpatrick, Onate,
Intel Scholarship, $2500
Scholarship Winners
Michael Scott, Melrose
ENMU, $2000
Monte Mitzelfelt Memorial Scholarship,
$1000
Scholarship Winners
Nicholas Kutac, Rio Rancho
LANL, $10,000
Scholarship Winners
Stephanie McAllister, Manzano,
LANL, $10,000
Scholarship Winners
Matthew Paiz, St. Pius X High School
LANL, $5000
Scholarship Winners
Ryan Loyd, St. Pius X High School
LANL, $5000
Scholarship Winners
Mark Wunsch, St. Pius X High School
LANL, $5000
Scholarship Winners
Raquel Hill, Navajo Prep
UNM, $2500
Scholarship Winners
Rochelle Vander, Navajo Prep
NMSU, $2500
Scholarship Winners
Jane Kim, Onate
LANL, $5000
Scholarship Winners
Samantha Stutz, Los Alamos,
LANL, $10,000 a year for 4 years
Honorable Mentions
Presented by Shaun Cooper
Honorable Mentions
Team 77 - Rio Rancho High
Christopher Morrison and Nicholas Kutac
Analytical Fire Modeling: Fire in its Environment
Sponsoring Teachers: Debbie Loftin and
Janet Penevolpe
Project Mentor: Nick Bennett
Honorable Mentions
Team 126 - St. Pius X High School
Ryan Loyd, Matthew Paiz, and Mark Wunsch
Dynamic Software Evolution
Mentor: James Carrie
Honorable Mentions
Team 75 - Onate High School
Kyle Fitzpatrick, Brett Beckett,
Meghan Scott, and Kevin Christeson
Expanding on the Pythagorean Theorem
Second Place Winners
Regis Pecos, Chief of Staff
for the House Speaker, Presenter
Second Place Winners
Team 43 - Las Cruces High School
Julia Silva, Alan Hshieh and Daniel Parrott
Can You See the Hot Spots?
Sponsoring Teacher: Greg Marez
Project Mentor: Dr. Puneet Ghei
First Place Winners!
Bill Blackler, President of the Supercomputing
Challenge Board of Directors, presenter
First Place Winners!
Team 54 – Manzano High School
Kristin Cordwell and Chen Zhao
Finding Inverses in a Finite Project
Mentor: Dr. William Cordwell
Sponsoring Teacher: Stephen Schum
Project Mentor: Stephen Schum
Judges’ Special Recognition Awards
Integrating Computation into Anthropology
Judges’ Special Recognition Awards
Integrating Computation into Anthropology
Team 92 – Santa Fe Indian School
Daniel Pedro
Scan of the Past
Teacher: Kate Sallah
Project Mentor: Irene Lee
Judges’ Special Recognition Awards
The Extra Mile Award
Judges’ Special Recognition Awards
The Extra Mile Award
Team 59 – Melrose High School
Amanda Russell, Jessica Cano
Toby Turner, Lorenzo Lopez
Fruit Flies
Teachers: Alan Daugherty, Beckie Raulie
Judges’ Special Service Award
Judges’ Special Service Award
Eleanor Walther
For her commitment to excellence in judging.
First Place Winner’s
Project Overview
04/13/06
David Kratzer
Closing Remarks
Box Lunches will be served in the kitchen behind the
auditorium after the award ceremony
Fresh Roast Chicken Wrap
Provolone, avocado, lettuce & tomato with basil mayo in a tomato-basil wrap
Ham & Cheese Sandwich
Lettuce, sliced tomato with mayonnaise and mustard on the side
Club Sandwich
Ham, bacon, lettuce, sliced tomato with mayonnaise and mustard on the side
Veggie Cheese Wrap
Munster cheese, guacamole, sprouts & red bell peppers with basil mayo in a
tomato-basil wrap