The science department at St. Andrew's Priory created quite a buzz since the rocket team competed at the 2008 Team America Rocketry Challenge in Virginia last spring. They were the first team from Hawaii to make it to the national competition and represented the state well, taking home two out of five possible awards. Excitement about science continues to build with the success the Priory saw at the 52nd Hawaii State Science and Engineering Fair.

Twenty-five Priory students competed against 509 students from around the state. Five Priory students were among the 20 Hawaii students picked who will advance to the International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, Nev., this month.

Sophomores Sarah Tamashiro and Lindsay Fujimoto will advance for their project, “;The Effects of Carbon Nanotube on Cyanobactrium Synchocystis sp. for Subsequent Biofuel Production,”; while juniors Diana Cabral and Noelle Owen and senior Aloha Yoza will advance for their project, “;The Motion of the Ocean: Engineering an Innovative Approach to Stimulate Ocean Tides.”;

Five other projects received major awards at the state level. Cabral, Owen, Yoza, and their adviser, Michael Grech, also won the Discover Your World With NOAA award. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will provide them with a one-week, all- expenses-paid trip to any NOAA facility worldwide.

In the Junior Research category, sixth-grader Hidemi Ishii won two cash awards, a nomination to the Young Scientist Challenge and a “;Best in Biochemistry”; award for her project, “;Which Indigenous Hawaiian Fruit and Plant Produces the Most Ethanol?”;

Priory students were not the only winners at this year's science fair. Grech, who acts as Priory science fair coordinator and co-adviser of the robotics club, and fellow teacher Jay Hamura were recognized for their work as science fair advisers.

Grech said of the students' success: “;As our resources have improved, the success level of projects has increased. We hope to see more success in these and other science and engineering competitions as the years go on.”;