W.H. student to represent L.I. at state competition

Chris McAvoy, a 16-year-old West Hempstead High School sophomore, has been selected as a finalist to represent Long Island in the New York Science Congress in Albany next month.

The regional competition was held on April 6 at SUNY Farmingdale, where Chris gave an oral presentation of his project, titled “Biomimetic Wind Turbine Blade Design Efficiency.” The competition was established in 1950 and is sponsored by the Science Teachers Association of New York State.

In a recent interview with the Herald, Chris’s mother, Lesley McAvoy, said her son has gone to the Science Congress twice before, first in 2008 and again in 2009, where he won third place.

“We’re amazed,” she said, adding that most of the children that attend the Congress are juniors or seniors in high school. “He works on it literally all year long. That’s his gift.”

McAvoy said Chris’s project examines how different animal appendages could be models for more effective wind turbine blades. His work is based off the work of Dr. Frank Fish, a biomimetic engineer and professor of biology at West Chester University who invented the whale power blade.

According to his mother, Chris first became interested in the subject in 2008 when he read an article in the Herald about saving Long Island beaches. Chris, an avid surfer, became worried about the beach when he learned from the article that the Long Island Power Authority could not install wind turbines at Jones Beach. He began to research the subject, keeping professional records of all of his experiments, research and conversations with people like Dr. Fish.

Without naming any specific mentors, McAvoy said her son received significant help from his science research teacher, Tobias Daempfle. “One individual can really change kids’ lives,” she said. “There are so many opportunities here.”

Daempfle said he has worked with Chris for the past five years and described his as one of the top research students he has ever known. “I am impressed by Chris’s achievements,” Daempfle said. “As a student Chris is creative, hardworking, motivated, mature and an asset to our school. It is very rewarding to see the success of our students as it reflects on the high quality of our school district.”

He said Chris will be one of 10 students from Nassau County at the state finals, and only one of two from 10th grade. According to Daempfle, Nassau county is one of the most competitive counties in the country for science research.

Chris has represented West Hempstead at the Long Island Science Congress for four consecutive years, advancing to the state finals twice and winning many awards and scholarships. He also competed in the Molloy College Science Fair last year, winning first place, and is a finalist this year.

“Everyone at West Hempstead High School is proud of him,” Daempfle said. “Chris is only a sophomore and competed against over 200 students from grades nine to twelve. It is a pleasure and an honor to work with the research students in West Hempstead. They are talented, hard working and represent our future.”

Chris has two sisters, Elisabeth, 22, studying at Columbia University, and Katie, 20, studying at Fordham University. McAvoy said that Chris is still uncertain where he wants to attend college and in what he plans to major.