The 2010 Westchester Science and Engineering Fair (WESEF) took place in Sleepy Hollow this weekend, gathering over 200 of the sharpest students from more than 23 schools across Westchester and Putnam counties.

A handful of Sleepy Hollow students participated in the competition and came away with some high marks from the judges.

"It's a tough competition," Sleepy Hollow senior Adam Fry said. "You have the best and brightest from all of Westchester here and a lot of kids put a lot of time into all of these projects."

Fry's project on green roofs, and how they affect runoff, netted honors and a third-place position in the Environmental Science category (see a full list of Sleepy Hollow winners below).

"I was basically trying to prove the amount of runoff that a green roof would retain, percentage-wise," Fry said. "And the hypothetical wide-spread impact it could have."

Using two different perennials, he found that in some hypothetical applications, green roofs could decrease runoff by over 60 percent.

Fry's work wasn't the only surprising study on hand this weekend. Students' displayed projects on innovative ways to track the sun, how music affects memory, how to predict planet formation and more efficient ways to combat diseases and infections.

Jonathan Araujo, a junior at Sleepy Hollow, presented his findings on ways to effectively orally administer antibodies into the gastro-intestinal tract. Currently, the most effective means of combating a GI infection is by surgery.

"Current research shows that our treatments for GI infections have a 20 percent relapse rate," Araujo said. "If this is effective we have a way to orally administer treatment for any infection."

Araujo has an internship at Progenics Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown and is looking forward to studying biology in college. But for now, he's concentrating on continuing his work on oral antibodies through the summer. Like many of the projects at this year's fair, the significance of Araujo's findings are worth following up.

"This is something we could distribute around the world," he said. "It's something we could use to help other countries and people that can't get to a doctor."

Sleepy Hollow High School WESEF winners are:

• 2^nd Place Behavioral Science  - Team Project - Elyssa Swanson & Emily Mottola 
• 3^rd Place Environmental Science - Adam Fry
• 3^rd Place Medicine and Health – Jonnathan Araujo and Tara Bonanno 
• 4^th Place Animal Science – Maddie LaRue
• 4^th Place Environmental Science – Diana Morales
• 4^th Place Medicine and Health – Layla Fassa 
• Phelps Memorial Hospital High Honors Award - $100 – Team Project - Elyssa Swanson & Emily Mottola 
• Visual Impact Award – Best visual representation – $25 – Maddie LaRue 
• Philips Award for research focusing on improving the quality of people's lives - $25 – Lauren Zallo 
• Westchester Academy of Medicine "Future of Medicine" Award $50 – Jonnathan Araujo 
• US Public Health Service Award – Sarah Camlic 
• Stockholm Junior Water Prize – Kelly Bender 
• Society for InVitro Biology Award – Olesya Bylim and Jonathan Mares 
• RICOH America's Corporation Sustainable Development Award – Adam Fry 
• Association of Women Geoscientists Exceptional Research in Environment or Earth and Space Science Award – Kelly Bender and Diana Morales 
• American Meterological Society Award for exceptional research in atmospheric, oceanic or hydrologic sciences – Kelly Bender, Adam Fry, and Diana Morales