Rachel Davis: Smithtown High School East
2012 Intel finalist Rachel Davis of Smithtown East High School. Read her story (Jan. 24, 2012) Credit: Joseph D. Sullivan
Like many student researchers, Rachel Davis has personal reasons for pursuing her labwork on flame-resistant plastics. Five years ago, her family's home in St. James burned to the ground.
In response, Rachel and her father, Michael Davis, joined the Nissequogue Fire Department. There, the 18-year-old has taken her turn handling hoses and accompanying fire victims on ambulance rides, becoming the department's first nationally certified firefighter.
Since June, Rachel Davis has worked in a Stony Brook University lab on developing safer plastics. To do this, she has combined a phosphate-based additive, which is flame-retardant, with a biodegradable plastic, which isn't. The result: a polymer that is environmentally friendly and less likely to be a fire hazard.
Miriam Rafailovich, a Stony Brook professor who helped mentor Davis, said that high school students selected for her program do lab work largely on their own, rather than as assistants to adults.
"By definition, our kids are working on the cutting edge," she said.
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