Eric Edgar Fein
Indiana
John Adams High School
Eric Edgar Fein, 18, of South Bend, developed a way to remove nanoparticle contaminants from water for the earth
and planetary science project he submitted to the Intel Science Talent Search. Engineered nanoparticles, which can be
toxic, are entering the environment; for instance, titanium oxide nanoparticles are now a common component of white paint.
Eric, concerned about groundwater quality, decided to study the mobility of these contaminants and whether they could be
easily removed from water. He found that mica, a soil mineral, removed nanoparticles at low and high pH but not at near-neutral
pH. Suspended iron-oxide sand, however, removed 98 percent of the nanoparticles at near-neutral pH. Eric then quantified removal
rates for two types of nanoparticles and demonstrated that his approach was practical. Eric is first in his class of 375 at
John Adams High School, where he was a captain of the school’s varsity hockey and cross-country teams and organized a
math tutoring program for students for whom English is a second language. Eric, son of Jeremy and Antoinette Fein, has also
been part of his school’s award-winning Economics Challenge team and has acted in the University of Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival.
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