Max Dickman and Morriel Kasher
WEST ORANGE, NJ — West Orange High School rising seniors Max Dickman and Morriel Kasher have been participating in the prestigious New Jersey Governor’s School of Engineering and Technology at Rutgers University, and on July 27, presented to hundreds of invited guests at the program’s research symposium.
“The entire group is quite small,” said WOHS chemistry teacher Ronald Brant. “These are students drawn from every high school in the state. Only two students from each school can be nominated. We should be proud that both our nominees were selected for this program.”
According to the website, “The New Jersey Governor’s School of Engineering & Technology at Rutgers University is an intensive residential summer program that brings together some of New Jersey’s most talented and motivated high school students. Free of grades and official credit, students spend part of the summer following their junior year studying on the campus of the Rutgers University School of Engineering at no cost to their families. During the program, students will have the opportunity to collaborate with two to four students on a novel research project which will be showcased in a conference-style final paper and presentation in front of hundreds of invited guests at our research symposium. Additionally, students will be able to participate in a variety of life-skills workshops, attend site visits to local corporations, and engage in activities that will help them connect with professors, professionals, and peers from throughout the state.”
Of the 300 to 400 applicants annually, fewer than 25 percent receive offers to participate. All participants take four academic courses and experience a small research and design project in addition to visiting two or three local corporations.
Dickman was part of a team presenting “Synthesis and Characterization of Simplified Nuclear Waste Glasses Containing Molybdenum,” and Kasher was part of a team presenting “Application of Lean Manufacturing Principles in Optimizing Factory Production.”
Brandt, who attended the presentations, said, “I was very impressed with the caliber of the presentations. These are high school students presenting research worthy of upper class undergraduates.”
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