Marquez inducted into National Gallery for America's Young inventors

Samantha Marquez, a sophomore at Maggie Walker from Chesterfield County, is the youngest inventor inducted into the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors this year. She was selected for her invention of Celloidosomes®, 3D organized cell structures that she designed and fabricated.

Marquez, along with four other students from around the nation, was inducted into the gallery on Nov. 12, 2011 in Akron, Ohio.

“Samantha is a great student and a great representative of the many talented students we have here at Maggie Walker,” said Mr. Jeremy Clark, a science teacher at Maggie Walker.

Marquez was also the 2011 Pre-College Symposia Keynote Speaker at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers’ (SHPE) National Conference in Anaheim, Calif. on Oct. 26-30. Marquez spoke to more than 5,000 participants from all over the United States.

Serafin Fernandez, the National President for SHPE, said that Marquez was selected because she “is an exceptional role model” due to her “unique combination of academic excellence, leadership, achievements, and integrity.”

For more information about the National Gallery for America’s Young Inventors, visit www.nmoe.org/gallery/

Also, Maggie Walker Governor’s School student Saumil Bandyopadhyay, a junior, won first place in the research competition at the International Space Olympics held in Korolev, Russia. His project, “Eye in Space: Dual Detection of Infrared and Ultraviolet Emissions with a Novel Nanowire Multispectral Photo-detector,” will be published in a science journal.

During the 10-day competition, Bandyopadhyay and over 200 other competitors from eight different countries presented their projects in front of leading Russian scientists. Competitors also took physics, math, and writing tests, and Bandyopadhyay came in eighth place overall in the competition.

“[It] was a great experience, and I was honored to have to opportunity to be in the competition,” said Bandyopadhav.

Saumil Bandyopadhyay won first place International Space Olympics. - courtesy photo

Bandyopadhav was in Russia from October 18 to October 30. In addition to the competition, he had the chance to meet Russian cosmonauts and space industry specialists, visit Mission Control Center and several space museums, and visit Korolev schools to meet local students and learn about their culture and lifestyle.

For more information, see http://worldnetva.pwnet.org/russia2011/index.htm.

MLWGS and journalism student Natalie Pita, Class of 2013

(*correction on spelling of Celloidosomes®)