Photos By: Submitted

The University of Cincinnati celebrates five years of STEMM (science, technology, engineering, math and medicine) competition today with the annual Science & Engineering Expo (SEE). A morning of chemistry demonstrations, hands-on science and movies will be topped off by a keynote presentation from Tim Samaras, National Geographic severe-storms researcher.

Samaras says, ‘My passion for storm chasing has always been driven by the beautiful and powerful storms displayed in the heartland each spring.’

As families scramble to avoid deadly tornadoes, Tim Samaras races straight toward them. He careens across the United States’ notorious Tornado Alley on a mission: Predict the exact coordinates of an unborn tornado, arrive before it does, and place a weather-measurement probe directly in the twister’s violent, swirling path.

“Data from the probes help us understand tornado dynamics and how they form. With that piece of the puzzle we can make more precise forecasts and ultimately give people earlier warnings,” Samaras explains. Since current warnings average a slim 13 minutes, every extra second of warning can be a lifesaver for residents facing a twister’s wrath.

“It all started when I was about six years old and saw that fantastic tornado in ‘The Wizard of Oz,’” Samaras says. About 20 years ago, he began storm chasing. Now he spends every May and June putting 25,000 miles on his vehicle, chasing zigzagging tornadoes across the Plains.

About five years ago, as an engineer, he designed the next generation of probe to measure pressure drops inside tornadoes. A history-making instrument, Samaras’s “turtle” probe has recorded record-breaking drops in pressure—the condition that triggers a tornado’s extreme wind speeds.

“This information is especially crucial,” Samaras says, “because it provides data about the lowest 10 meters [33 feet] of a tornado, where houses, vehicles, and people are.” A 6-inch-high weather station encased in steel, the probe has sensors that measure humidity, pressure, temperature, wind speed, and direction.

His car jammed with GPS gear, radios, scanners, a wireless Internet connection, and satellite tracking devices, Samaras constantly checks the forecast, data, and sky. “I only have one shot at being at the right spot,” he says. “The worst is being five minutes late. One traffic jam or detour and you can miss the whole show. That’s why we try to anticipate the action and arrive while there’s still nothing but blue sky. The storms develop right over our heads, and we follow them as they form.”

Tim Samaras

Often the fury fizzles. Tornadoes develop from only two out of every ten storms Samaras follows. And deploying a probe is only possible during two out of every ten tornadoes. “The odds are really against us,” he admitted. “Storm chasing is probably the most frustrating thing one can do.”

Students who received a “superior” rating at their schools’ science fairs were eligible to compete at UC’s SEE, which is the Southwest District (District 11) for the Ohio Academy of Science — for the counties of Hamilton, Preble, Warren, Butler and Clermont. Approximately 400 students in grades 7 through 12 will have spent the morning with their projects competing for an all-time high of $73,000 in awards and scholarships.

But first they’ll be thinking about…tornadoes.

Samaras’s presentation is free and open to the public. The keynote will be held on the University of Cincinnati campus at 3 p.m., Saturday, March 14, 2009, in the Fifth Third Arena of the Myrl H. Shoemaker Center.

Photos By: Ashley Kempher

Students from 39 schools in southwestern Ohio competed at the University of Cincinnati at its fifth-annual Science and Engineering Expo (SEE) on March 14 for more than $73,000 in awards and scholarships. More than 100 student poster presentations won superior ratings and were recommended for the Ohio Academy of Science State Science Day, which will be held in Columbus on May 9. UC is once again paying the $50 entry fee of students who qualify for the state contest.

The Physics Department’s freezing roses is always a smash hit.

Tom Cruse, director of UC’s Science & Engineering Expo, noted that the number of projects allowed to compete at the State Science Day is a reflection of the quality of projects from that district’s fair.

In addition, two student projects and one team project were selected to compete at the world’s largest pre-college science competition, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, Nev., May 10 – 14. The individual participants are Alexander Chernyakhovsky, a junior at Mason High School, and Michael Di Mascio, a junior at Waynesville High School.

Both Alexander and Michael are SEE veterans; this is Alexander’s fifth science fair at UC and it is Michael’s third. In fact, Alexander has competed at UC’s SEE every year that UC has held a science fair. Jennifer Andrews and Brent Gargano, both seniors at Sycamore High School, were chosen for their team project.

Jennifer Andrews of Sycamore High School

The competition for the nearly 400 7–12 graders in southwest Ohio held $73,000 in scholarships and awards, among them three UC Presidential Scholarship awards that went to Akanksha Mishra ($3,000), Alexander Chernyakhovsky ($2,000) and Alexandria Behne ($1,000) if they enroll at UC in any science major of their choosing.

Cruse pointed out that physics was the most popular category, although engineering is the fastest growing. For one of the first years, the math category had entrants — nine projects. Altogether, 391 students competed with 313 projects, including 74 team projects in every category offered.

List of students qualifying for State Science Day