Tucson High teen wins top honor at global science fair

May 22, 2007

By hammersmith

[Source: Tucson Citizen Staff Report] — “Category Specific Semantic Deficits of Object Recognition in Adults with Neurological Damage.” That doctoral-sounding title was concocted by Mounir Koussa, a 17-year-old senior at Tucson High Magnet School, fair officials said.

Koussa, competing in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Albuquerque, N.M., this week, earned the ISEF Grand Award for First Place and also won a first place from the U.S. Air Force. Each award carries a $3,000 prize. In addition, an asteroid will be named after Koussa.

Parker Owan, 17, a home-schooled junior, was awarded a second place from the Patent and Trademark Office Society and $250 for a study of wing shapes to maximize wind power. David Charles, 16, a Salpointe Catholic High School sophomore, and Colleen Quigley, a 16-year-old junior at Salpointe, looked at the effects of ultraviolet radiation on resistance to parasites.