Twenty-seven students from across Northern Michigan presented research projects at the Third Annual Northern Michigan Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Symposium (NMMESS) on May 22, 2007.  At NMMESS, students presented projects that answered a scientific, mathematical, or engineering question, or solved a problem.  A committee of local secondary educators, college educators, and business/industry professionals reviewed the student projects and presentations. 

Cody Shumway, a member of Traverse City Area Public Schools’ SCI-MA-TECH program located at Traverse City Central High School who is dually enrolled at Suttons Bay High School, earned the High Honors Award and a $250 savings bond for his project titled “Temperature & Light Intensity of Lake Water.”  Four additional SCI-MA-TECH students earned Honorable Mention Awards and a $100 savings bond.  These students and their projects are Dan Alpers, “Boardman Pond Soil Erosion,” Richard Gavitt, “Loudness vs. Seating Location in CHS Auditorium,” Danielle Wick, “Global Warming and Soil Salinity,” and Taylor Williams, “Voice Range as a Function of Age.”  A team of students from the Manufacturing Technology Academy (MTA) at the TBAISD Career Tech Center also earned Honorable Mention Awards and $100 savings bonds for their project titled “An Educational Pumpkin Chuckler.”  The MTA students are Ben Davenport, Braden McNiff, Ryan Olson, Jay Martin, and Eric Otto. 

The Fourth Annual Northern Michigan Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Symposium will be held in the spring of 2008.  NMMESS is open to all math and/or science students ranging from upper elementary (grades 4-5), middle school (grades 6-8), and high school (grades 9-12) in the five county Traverse Bay Region. 

This event is cosponsored by TCAPS’ SCI-MA-TECH program, the Traverse Bay Area Intermediate School District, and Northwestern Michigan College.  NMMESS savings bonds are funded in part by a donation from the Alpers Family. 

For more information, call Tom Wessels, TBAISD Math/Science Coordinator at 922-7875 or John Failor, SCI-MA-TECH Director at 933-3554.