2023
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 266 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2023 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- Cluster 1: Amy "Mimi" Zhao
- Cluster 2: Ikseong Choi
- Cluster 3: Mia Ravishankar
- Cluster 5: Divya Moorthy
- Cluster 6: Lucia Moscola
- Cluster 7: Tavisha Patel
- Cluster 8: Aaron Dumas
- Cluster 9: Miranda Gen
- Cluster 10: Angela Huang
- Cluster 11: William Stobaugh
- Cluster 12: Angie Yao
- Cluster 13: Hilary Kuang
2022
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 271 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2022 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- Cluster 1: Lacole Yang
- Cluster 2: Molly Hyver
- Cluster 3: Oscar Anderson
- Cluster 4: Elaine Gong
- Cluster 5: Anthony Foo
- Cluster 6: Xavier Lem
- Cluster 7: Megan Chen
- Cluster 8: Michele Kim
- Cluster 9: Yashnil Saha
- Cluster 10: Evelyn Evans
- Cluster 11: Sebastian Vargas
- Cluster 12: Julia Bonk
- Cluster 13: Emily Lao
2019
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 225 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2019 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- First Place: Yvonne Li (Cluster 2) – "The Problematic Pitfalls of Patents"
- Second Place: Kyra Fetter (Cluster 7) – "Tea Time Ethics: A Timely Conversation of the Design, Synthesis, and Implementation of Bioweapons"
- Third Place: Jessica Liu (Cluster 6) – "Clearing Biodiverse Land to Cultivate Biodiesels"
2018
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 180 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2018 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- First Place: Ravi Patel (Cluster 7) – "An Ethic Game Plan for Playing God"
- Second Place: Drake Lin (Cluster 10) – "The Ethics of Drones: War in the Future"
- Third Place: Nicole Smith (Cluster 7) – "The Ethics in the Global Science Community"
- Third Place: Leela Gowland (Cluster 8) – "Biobanks: How Do We Ensure Informed Consent"
2016
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 180 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2016 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- First Place: Brian Nguyen (Cluster 6) – "Nuclear Power: Energy of the Future"
- Second Place: Zhixue (Mary) Wang (Cluster 2) – "The Duty of an Engineer: Weighing Progress Against Safety”
- Third Place: Shifali Kerudi (Cluster 3) – "The Sustainability of the Animal Agribusiness Industry”
2015
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 180 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2015 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- First Place: Wei Xiong (Cluster 5) – "Surveillance vs. Security"
- Second Place: Thomas Kim (Cluster 3) – "Geo-Engineering: Humanity’s Golden Fleece or Pandora’s Box?"
- Third Place (Tie): Sara Friend (Cluster 5) – "Building Lasers: The Future of Military Weaponry"
- Third Place (Tie): Yuchen Jiang (Cluster 1) – "How to Perfect the Digital Doctors of the Future"
2014
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 180 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2014 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- First Place: Shannon Hwang (Cluster 8)
- Second Place: Akua McLeod (Cluster 6)
- Third Place (tie): Yu-Jane Chen (Cluster 3)
- Third Place (tie): Leora Mazumdar (Cluster 7)
2013
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 163 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2013 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- Cluster 1: Po Tsui (First Place)
- Cluster 2: Calvin Tsai (First Place)
- Cluster 3: Mackenzie Lighterink (First Place)
- Cluster 4: Hector Arias (First Place)
- Cluster 5: Sonya Jacobs (First Place)
- Cluster 6: Daniel Arnold (First Place)
- Cluster 7: Heidi Peterson (First Place)
- Cluster 8: Dahnby Jun (First Place)
- Grand Prize Winner: Dahnby Jun (Cluster 8)
2012
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. 162 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2012 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- Cluster 1: Arianna Olson (First Place), Bradley Dorsey (Second Place)
- Cluster 2: Joel Kosmatka (First Place), Karen Lu (Second Place)
- Cluster 3: Charles Bieler (First Place), Matt Friedman (Second Place)
- Cluster 4: Spenser Chiang (First Place), Mariana Valdez (Second Place)
- Cluster 5: Michelle Chang (First Place), Danny Yang (Second Place)
- Cluster 6: Alex Beisner (First Place), Courtney Wong (Second Place)
- Cluster 7: Dina Levashova (First Place), Anchi Wu (Second Place)
- Cluster 8: Kaylee Shiao (First Place), Alyssa Chavex (Second Place)
- Grand Prize Winner: Charles Bieler (Cluster 3)
2011
COSMOS awards cash prizes to high school participants who competed in the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology Essay Competition. Over 140 COSMOS students submitted essays that covered the ethical considerations with regards to their final science or engineering research projects. The top essays were determined by a panel of judges from the Center for Ethics. Awards were given to the following finalists:
2011 COSMOS Ethics Essay Contest Winners
- Cluster 1: James Wang (Westview High School, San Diego)
- Cluster 2: Sunny He (Cupertino High School, Cupertino)
- Cluster 3: Mukta Kelkar (Gretchen Whitney High, Cerritos)
- Cluster 4: Saho Arai (Canyon Crest Academy, San Diego)
- Cluster 5: Brian Hou (Mission San Jose High, Fremont)
- Cluster 6: Arjun Lakshmipathy (Irvington High, Fremont)
- Cluster 7: Joyce Zhang (Westlake High, Westlake Village)
- Cluster 8 and Grand Prize Award: Jack Takahashi (Lynbrook High, San Jose)
