Finalists named in student design contest at Argonne National Laboratory

ARGONNE, Ill. (Feb. 24, 2003) — Nine teams of high school students have made it to the second round in a design contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory. The students have been challenged to design interactive exhibits that demonstrate the scientific principles of synchrotron X-ray science. The best designs will be used for displays at the lab's Advanced Photon Source (APS).

The APS is a world class research facility that uses high speed electrons to produce ultra-bright X-ray pulses for research in many disciplines including materials science, chemistry, biology, physics, environmental science, planetary science, geology and nanoscience. The students' assignment is to design and build a prototype educational exhibit to explain the science behind the APS.

In the first round of the contest, teams submitted ideas and preliminary designs for exhibits. Nine teams were selected to advance to the second round. They are three teams from Glenbrook North High School, Northbrook, Ill.; one team from Delphi Community High School, Delphi, Ind.; one team from Morris Community High School, Morris, Ill.; one team from West Chicago Community High School, West Chicago; two teams from Maine East High School, Park Ridge, Ill.; and one team from West Leyden High School, Northlake, Ill.

Each team will receive a $250 grant for parts to build a working prototype of their exhibit. In the final round, prizes will be awarded to up to three teams that have produced the best designs and prototypes. The winning exhibits will be constructed by Argonne and displayed in the atrium of the APS main office building, which is visited by thousands of people each year attending scientific meetings and conferences and touring the APS facility.

The teams were required to design exhibits that highlighted one of the applicable APS themes. These themes were:

• What is diffraction?
• What is X-ray brightness?
• Scientific uses of X-rays
• Making X-rays with an accelerator
• How does the APS accelerator work?
• Studying materials with the APS
• Using the APS as a research tool

Prototypes and final designs for round two are due April 11, and winners will be announced April 18. An awards reception and a demonstration of the winning prototypes will be held May 16. The contest is sponsored by the Advanced Photon Source and the Argonne's Division of Educational Programs. For more information, see the website at www.dep.anl.gov/aps-contest.

The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory conducts basic and applied scientific research across a wide spectrum of disciplines, ranging from high-energy physics to climatology and biotechnology. Since 1990, Argonne has worked with more than 600 companies and numerous federal agencies and other organizations to help advance America's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for the future. Argonne is operated by the University of Chicago as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's national laboratory system.

For more information, please contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov) at Argonne.