Menlo Park, California — Now in its seventh year, the AAAI Special Awards program at the annual Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) consists of up to 10 awards to recognize outstanding achievements in the area of intelligent computation and robotics. The awards are intended for the best exhibits in the area of computer science with an artificial intelligence component. Finalists in other areas with significant computer science components are also eligible. The student authors of each award-winning project share $500, and each student receives a certificate and other mementos. The winners and their schools also receive a complimentary one-year membership in the AAAI, including a subscription to AI Magazine.
This year, the ISEF was held May 7-13, 2006, in Indianapolis, Indiana. There were 10 winning projects by 13 students (three teams). Eight projects were entered in the category of Computer Science, one in Engineering, and one in Mathematics. The 2006 winners are as follows:
- Facool: Convenient Internet Face Retrieval System
Liu Liu, 19, Shanghai Datong High School, Shanghai, China - Statistical-based Adaptive Binarization for Document Imaging
Nat Piyapramote, 17, Sarasit Phithayalai School, Banpong, Ratchaburi, Thailand - A Novel Approach to the Automatic Recognition of Emotions in Natural Speech
Caroline Elizabeth Pietsch, 17, Ossining High School, Ossining, New York - Tough or Diabolical? An Analysis of Sudoku Difficulty Level
Elsa Star Culler, 16, Lincoln Park High School, Chicago, Illinois - Three-dimensional Face Recognition from Video: Facial Surface Reconstruction and Analysis Using Tensor Algebra and Differential Geometry
Justin Moore Solomon, 18, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Alexandria, Virginia - Combining Touch Screen and Scanner Input for Handwriting Recognition
Alan Garrett Pierce, 16, School of Science and Technology, Beaverton, Oregon
Nathaniel John Broussard, 17, School of Science and Technology, Beaverton, Oregon - Leaf! What Are You?
Hung-Ju Chen, 18, National Hsinchu Girls, Hsinchu City, Taiwan, Chinese Taipei
Min Ju Yang, 17, National Hsinchu Girls, Hsinchu City, Taiwan, Chinese Taipei - A New Algorithm to Minimize Factory Inefficiency Through Penalty Reduction
Andrew David Gamalski, 17, Hamilton High School, Chandler, Arizona
Vinayak Muralidhar, 16, Corona del Sol High School, Tempe, Arizona - Acoustic Localization, Detection, and Identification
Joseph Anthony Crivello, 18, University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Computer-aided Identification of Cancer from Photomicrographs by Entropy Analysis
Lucia Mocz, 15, Mililani High School, Mililani, Hawaii
AAAI wishes to congratulate all the winners! In addition, we would like to recognize the judges who attended the fair in Indianapolis and selected the 10 winning projects from many remarkable and worthy entries. Many thanks to Reid Simmons (Chair), Carnegie Mellon University, for his organizational efforts, and to all the judges, Dave Kortenkamp, Metrica TRACLabs, Martha Pollack, University of Michigan, and Holly Yanco, University of Massachusetts Lowell, for their generous donations of time and energy.
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