ORHS senior places first, qualifies for International Science and Engineering Fair

(Oak Ridge Schools press release) Roxanne Farahi, a senior at Oak Ridge High School (ORHS), placed first at the Southern Appalachian Science and Engineering Fair (SASE), earning a scholarship prize and the opportunity to travel to Dallas in May to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) against 1800 other high school students from around the world.

Farahi worked with Dr. Joanna McFarlane at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to automate the analysis of temporal pressure data as noble gases dissolve into molten salt. The result was the creation of software that helps researchers use a novel application of the kinetic model to determine the solubility of the noble gas. The research was conducted as part of the Math, Science Thesis course at Oak Ridge High School, a partnership with ORNL that has existed since 1981. Farahi, an active member of the ORHS Robotics Team, was traveling with the Wildbots and unable to compete at the Tennessee Junior Science and Humanities last month.