Ward Melville High School seniors Brandon Feng, Kirti Nath, and Nestor Tkachenko earned top honors in the 2016 Siemens Competition for Math, Science & Technology. All three were named semifinalists and Nestor advanced to Regional Finalist status.

As a Regional Finalist, Nestor will present his group research project, “Can Cars Fly? Eddy Current Magnetic Levitation as Viable Technology,” to the Siemens committee for additional honors. The topic for his project was something that captivated his interests since the first grade, when he visited the University of Michigan with his parents. His research explores the potential of eddy current coil levitation for commercial use. This levitation occurs when an alternating current is sent through a conducting coil, which is placed above a nonmagnetic plate; in this case aluminum.

“This technology has the potential to revolutionize transportation since the ideal efficiency is a factor of 10 better than that of some of the most efficient cars,” said Nestor. “Eddy current coil vehicles would essentially enable Maglev train-like transportation that is much more mobile and personal. In order for this technology to be implemented commercially, roads would need to have aluminum plating under them, which is quite plausible considering the relatively low cost of aluminum compared to asphalt.”

Brandon’s project, “A Robust Sensor Network-based Estimation Model for Wind Fields” focused around estimating wind fields from solar irradiance data taken from solar panels in order to maximize panel efficiency.
 

Kirti’s project, “Assessing the developmental and metabolic toxicity of neuroactive pharmaceuticals using early life stage zebrafish,” focused on the fate of pharmaceutical compounds once released into the environment and the consequent implications of this phenomenon on wildlife.