63rd Annual STS (2003-2004)
Finalists
Melis Nuray Anahtar

MARYLAND
Melis Nuray Anahtar, 17, of Bethesda, worked on a project related to the use of microelectronics and microfluidics in biology and medicine for her Intel Science Talent Search entry in engineering. Using soft lithography and designing/building her own microchips, she created a microfluidic device that isolates "diagnostically useful" white blood cells (WBC) from whole blood without altering their characteristics. The microfabricated device exposes whole blood to a lysing solution that selectively destroys red blood cells. Because the entire process takes less than 10 seconds, the WBC are not phenotypically changed. Standard techniques take longer than 30 minutes and significantly alter the WBC structure so that information gained is often of little value. Melis believes her research may potentially aid in the study of patient immuno-inflammatory response to trauma or burns. A pianist and a golfer, she is co-captain of the debate team at Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring. Also on the robotics team, she has created a robotic coin sorter, which she presented at the National Air and Space Museum. The daughter of Yavuz and Nuray Anahtar, she plans to attend MIT.