Wehr presents research

On September 12, 2013 Advanced STEM Research (ASR) student Thorsen Wehr and science teacher Jeffery Wehr traveled to the Museum of Flight in Seattle for the 6th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS). As honored guests, Thor was selected to receive the Washington State Academy of Sciences Award. Thor's ASR project entitled, ìFocusing Sound Waves Using a Two-Dimensional Non-Linear Systemî and the international recongnition he has recieved from this research helped secure this award. Part of this honor is to participate in the American Junior Academy of Sciences (AJAS) Convention in Chicago, Illinois.

The AJAS was held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), February 12-16, 2014. The WSAS, in cooperation with the AAAS, flew Thorsen, Mr. Wehr, and Mrs. Wehr (as the female chaperone for the WSAS) to Chicago; both organizations financed the excursion. The Odessa School District supported Mr. Wehr's attendance as well, not only as Thor's ASR mentor, but for the professional development he gained over the weekend of global science lectures and seminars. The meeting featured thousands of top scientists, engineers, educators, policymakers, and science journalists from some across the United States and other countries in a full spectrum of disciplines.

Thor presented his research in both posterboard and powerpoint style on two different days. After the presentations, Thor was invited to a radio interview by a national station (details to come) discussing his interest in research and specifically acoustics. Dr. Peter Faletra, director of the NAAS, was impressed with Thor's research and introduced him to many cutting-edge researchers; he also as invited Thor to collaborate with the Max Planck Institute of Applied Physics in Munich, Germany.

Some of the exciting events the AAAS/AJAS provided for the students were visitng the Fermi National Laboratory, the Argonne National Laboratory, the research facilities at the Unversity of Chicago and Northwestern University, and we watched a surgery on a huge tortoise at the Brookfield Zoo science tour. The students also shared meals throughout the week with scientists and engineers while discussing their research with each other.

The Advanced STEM Research Lab, in conjuction with the Odessa High School Science Department, would like to thank the Odessa School District and the entire Odessa Community for its continued support. If you have any questions or would like to know more about the student-driven research being conducted at the ASR Laboratory, you can follow the students on Twitter: @ohsASR or view their website: http://www.wehrdscience.com/ASR