Judging is based on both the quality of the image and the explanation of the underlying science. First, second, and third place winners will have their images displayed on the walls of the KINSC.

First Place: Carter Patterson '20

When you compress a granular aggregate – like sand or the above collection of photoelastic rubber particles for example – the force is not transmitted through it uniformly. Here, we see the formation of “force chains”, in which the bright particles are under high stress while the dark ones are under almost none. By studying the nature of these chains and interactions between individual particles, we hope to be able to determine material properties of the whole aggregate. This work has applications in planetary formation, where collections of rocks and dust must stick together through asteroid impacts and other disturbances.

Second Place: Catherine Kim '21

This image shows a fertilized 1 day old TLF zebrafish embryo. Decision making has been extensively studied in the model organism Danio rerio, or zebrafish. This microscopic image was created in Superlab in a study that involves using CRISPR and drug treatments in zebrafish to clarify how serotonin modulates behavior selection.

Third Place: Samantha Olivares-Mejia '22

A woven textile produced using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). A SEM allows the user to visualize details in a sample that may go unnoticed in an optical microscope. The textile was placed in a vacuum chamber where a high energy beam of electorns is aimed at it. Images are the outcome of the detected secondary electrons, backscattered electrons, and X rays that are produced once the electrons interacts with the sample. This image is from in my Laboratory in the Environmental Sciences course Fall’19. 

Honorable Mentions: