Five high school students from DODDS-Europe will be attending the National Junior Science and Humanities Symposium next month in Orlando, Fla., following strong showings at the regional competition in Darmstadt, Germany, last month.

Dylan Hillestad, a senior at Aviano High School, took first place in the senior oral presentation for the second straight year and earned a $2,000 scholarship along with a trip to the national symposium. His topic was “The Effect of Attack on the Human Perception of Timbre in a Range of Musical Instruments.”

Michael Rynders of Ramstein High School was second and earned a $1,500 scholarship. His research focused on “Test of the Accuracy of Radiation as a Void.” Sam Hillestad and Jerri Ontiveros, both of Aviano, finished third and fourth and will also travel to the national event.

Students involved in the oral presentation category must choose a topic and present a research paper on it. They are then required to speak on the subject for 12 minutes with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation and answer questions. Those involved in the poster presentation category also present research papers on a chosen subject, produce a poster and answer questions on their research.

Giancarlo Rosario of Ansbach High School finished first in the senior poster competition and will also represent DODDS-Europe at the symposium. His research was on “The Effect of Various Treatments on the Mold Growth of Pears.”

Amandine Martin of Ansbach finished second in the poster competition, followed by Amanda Vane of Ramstein and Melvin Rosario of Ansbach.

Junior high students also competed at the regional level.

Emily Rosewitz of Robinson Barracks Middle School finished first in oral presentations, followed by Erin Schwartz of Bitburg Middle School, Christine Qabar of Kaiserslautern Middle School and Tabitha Nieman of Sigonella Middle School.

John Camuso of Sigonella was first in poster presentation, followed by Eric Langholz of Landstuhl Middle School, Victoria Flores and Haley Davis of Bitburg, Mark Muniz of Bitburg and Nick Falk and Evin Alarilla of Wiesbaden Middle School.

The symposiums are conducted by the Academy of Applied Science and sponsored by the Army, Navy and Air Force.

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