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National Gallery for America's Young Inventors 2005 Inductees

Andrew Deagon, Age 18 and Steven Frehn, Age 18 - Di-Conical Contracting Actuator

Dielectric Electroactive Polymers (EAP)--polymers that expand when an electric charge is applied--is an emerging technology with high potential in a variety of applications. Fascinated by the potential, Andrew and Steven developed an actuator which gives artificial muscles the ability to produce a contraction motion, when such muscles ordinarily can only expand. Their actuator is currently being patented.

Mitchell Fourman, Age 17 - A Novel Procedure for Creating High Performance PMMA-EVA Polymer Blends Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (SC CO2) is an environmentally friendly, notably strong solvent due to the high temperature and pressure nature of the supercritical range. SC CO2 is currently used for diverse processes such as coffee decaffeination, extraction of cocoa butter and dry cleaning. Mitchell has found a more efficient and cost effective way to blend incompatible polymer blends using SC CO2 to increase the tensile strength and ductility of the exposed materials without altering the materials' chemical nature.

Allyson Ho, Age 16, and Alex Thachara, Age 16 - The Effects of Nanoparticles on Selective Gas P ermeability of Thin Film Membranes Using Supercritical Fluid

While conducting research, Allyson and Alex discovered that the filtering materials used in most surgical and gas masks either hinder the free flow of oxygen, or are so porous that they allow the passage of dangerous airborne pathogens. Using nanoparticles and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide, they created a thin polymer film with holes so small that they allow air molecules in while restricting passage of bacteria and viruses.

Yunchao (Susan) Lou, Age 16 - Alarm Triggered Shut off Appliance System (ATSAS)

After an absent-minded neighbor almost burned down a house when a cooking pot caught fire, Yunchao invented and has patented her Alarm Triggered Shut off Appliance System (ATSAS). The system can be programmed to recognize an audio smoke/carbon monoxide alarm and automatically turn off any appliance attached to the device when the alarm is activated. ATSAS stops the risks of fire and carbon monoxide poisoning before they occur.

David Meigooni, Age 17 - A Novel Method for Enhancing Prostate Cancer Radiosensitization by Natural Compound Curcumin

After reading that occurrences of bowel cancer are significantly less among the Indian culture, David researched the relationship between the extensive use of curry in the Indian diet and the low incidence of bowel cancer. David's experiments show that curcumin, a major component of curry, not only helps prevent prostate cancer, but it can sensitize cancer cells so only a one-seventh dose of radiation is needed to destroy them.

Arpan Satsangi, Age 18 - Optimization of Biomimetic Osteoblast Response on Phospholipid Modified Implant Surface for Bone Regeneration

Arpan's research has led to the creation of living bone on metallic surfaces by applying a phospholipid coating seeded with bone stem cells. This allows more successful bone attachment to artificial reconstructive devices such as titanium hips, knees or other bone replacements.