Albert King Lin -1st place - Albert is the first place NYAA winner. He is a senior at St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, New York. Albert will receive an all expenses paid trip to the Astronomical League's 55th annual convention at Salt Lake City, Utah this July, where he will receive a $3000+ Meade 10-inch LX-200 telescope donated by Meade Instruments Corporation. In addition, Albert will receive a lifetime pass to the McDonald Observatory, compliments of the University of Texas. He has been involved in a variety of activities during his high school career, including being co-president of the Science Olympiad, president of his school's astronomy club, a national student leadership conference alumni, an
accomplished pianist, and major accomplishments in the martial arts. He has received many honors for his accomplishments in science and math, including an award at the Astronomy Competition at the 2000 Regional Science Olympiad. Albert has written a paper entitled A Survey of the Public Chandra Data Archive (CDA) in Search of Serendipitous X-ray Pulsars: A Systematic Approach. In addition, he took a three-year Science Research class developing his love of astronomy into a real life project. He worked under the direction of Dr. Eric V. Gotthelf at the Columbia Astrophysics Laboratory doing research with pulsars. For this work, he was named a 2002 Intel Semifinalist. He has observed many Messier objects with his two telescopes and is involved in astrophotography of planets, the moon and wide-angle constellation shots. His school has a new SBIG STV CCD camera, and he is working on planetary shots with it. He often sets up his telescope for public education at Custer Observatory.

Daniel Hightower-2nd Place - Daniel, a junior at Airport High School in West Columbia, South Carolina has been awarded second place honors. He has won a Meade ETX 125 telescope with computer controls and field tripod valued at more than $1,000. In addition, he won a trip to the Astronomical League's annual convention in Salt Lake City, Utah this July. Daniel will also receive a lifetime pass to the McDonald Observatory. He is an active member of his local astronomy club, the Midlands Astronomy
Club of Columbia, South Carolina and enjoys viewing through his 10-inch
telescope. Daniel has become most knowledgeable about objects in the night
sky, often being one of the people at his club's local star parties who is able to explain to the public what they are looking at and help them gain a new appreciation for the majesty and beauty of the night sky. He keeps an observation log with detailed drawings of many of his observations. He has viewed and logged many of the Messier objects and has the goal of viewing all of them. Having his own telescope just whetted his appetite for astronomy-related activities. He is currently a teaching assistant at the University of South Carolina's Melton Memorial Observatory, where he helps teach the University's astronomy classes. In addition, he has done astrophotography and CCD imaging at the University's facility. Daniel is emphasizing science and math in his high school classes, as he excels in both of these areas. In addition, he has given special astronomy presentations at his school. His plans beyond high school are to major in physics in college, with an emphasis in astronomy, and then to possibly earn a Ph.D in Radio Astronomy.

Ulyana Horodyskyj -3rd place - Our third place winner is Ulyana Horodyskyj, a junior at Padua Franciscan High School in Parma, Ohio. She is an A studentin her honors science and math courses, and she presented her scientific research paper "Sailing into Space: Reflecting on a Solution" at the NASA-JPL/MSFC Eleventh Advanced Space Propulsion Research Workshop in Pasadena California in 2000. Ulyana has won many science fair awards and honors. Her major accomplishments include the prestigious 2001 Intel international Science and Engineering Fair "Best in Category Award-Earth and Space Sciences" and "First Place Grand Award- Earth and Space Sciences" for her "Sailing into Space: Steering Toward Mars" scientific research paper. This paper also won the Honorable Mention in the category "Research Papers" in the ninth international Competition "FIRST STEP TO NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS." Ulyana has won numerous science essay competitions and has published science articles in The Ukrainian Weekly Newspaper.

Lauren Rae Layton-4th place - Lauren Rae Layton is a senior at Newark High School in Newark, Delaware, and she placed 4th in this year's NYAA competition. She has had a most active astronomy-related high school career. She founded a successful Astronomy & Aeronautics Club at her high school
during her sophomore year. The club has grown to the point that two telescopes and a small astronomy library were donated for its outreach effort. In addition, Lauren has been involved in helping one of her teachers create teaching materials for a future meaningful astronomy course at a local high school. Lauren is an active member of the Delaware Astronomical Society, having presented programs for the local club. In addition, she is the youngest club member to pass the required training and be granted a key to the club's Mt. Cuba telescope facility.