College Announces Winner of Grattidge-Ohnstad Science Competition

The annual Grattidge-Ohnstad Science Competition took place on May 12 in the Physics Lab, and Dylan Slater, who is majoring in Science with a concentration in Biology, was this year’s winner. Dylan is a junior at Schenectady High School and a Schenectady Smart Transfer student in the Early College High School Program. He is also the new President of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, a Senator with the Student Government Association, plays tenor saxophone with the College’s School of Music Jazz Ensemble, and he tutors ninth- and 10th graders in science. Dylan plans to graduate from both Schenectady High School and SUNY Schenectady next year and transfer on for his bachelor’s degree in either Biology or Molecular Biology. He plans to become a physician.

The goal of the competition was to determine the most precise value of Planck’s constant, h, by performing the famous Photoelectric Effect experiment for which Albert Einstein was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1921. Planck’s constant is a fundamental constant governing quantum interactions. In essence, the Photoelectric Effect experiment and Einstein's theoretical interpretation revolutionized our understanding of light and laid the foundation for modern physics.

The competition was established by the late Dr. Walter Grattidge, a longtime friend of the College and generous donor to the SUNY Schenectady Foundation.