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Overcast Kennedy researchers score big at L.I. science fair
Senior headed to international event in Los Angeles
First in a series on Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District science students.
Kennedy senior Greg Manis describes himself as “chief geek” of the high school’s science club. To begin to understand Manis’s world, you probably have to be one of the club’s assistant geeks.
At age 18, Manis is already a seasoned computer programmer. He started playing with computer languages in middle school. By the time he reached Advanced Placement computer programming in high school, he was so far beyond the curriculum that his teacher had him complete the course as an independent study.
A member of Kennedy’s award-winning Authentic Science Research Program, Manis naturally chose a computer-programming project for his senior thesis, which was submitted to a number of the country’s top science competitions. He came up big at the Long Island Science and Engineering Fair, which was sponsored by the Society for Science and the Public, at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury in February.
Manis, who said he hopes to attend Stanford or MIT to study computers, took first place in the Computer Programming division at LISEF, which earned him a trip to the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair at the Los Angeles Convention Center from May 8 to 13. There he will compete against the top high school scientists from around the world, from the Czech Republic to South Africa, Saudi Arabia to China.
In all, 455 students from 59 high schools took part in LISEF. More than 1,600 student researchers are expected to participate in the International Science and Engineering Fair. ISEF finalists will be eligible for $4 million in scholarship prizes.
“It’s really picking the best of the best from all over the world and bringing them to one place,” said Robert Soel, chairman of the Kennedy science department.
Normally, high school science researchers work one-on-one with a mentor at a major laboratory or hospital. Not Manis. He completed his project virtually on his own, with only minor guidance from a New York University professor. “He’s not your typical high school student,” said Barbara Franklin, a Kennedy chemistry teacher and Advanced Science Research Program adviser. “He’s very independent.”
