Toyota Selects Students for Trip to 2005 World's Fair

GEORGETOWN, KENTUCKY, (April 6, 2005) — Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc. selected three finalists and two runners-up from competition at the Third Annual Kentucky Science and Engineering Fair, held at Eastern Kentucky University on April 2, 2005. The finalists were selected to attend the next world’s fair, Expo 2005, in Aichi, Japan.

Srishti Mirchandani, Jessica Miles, and Rebecca Vitale were named the three finalists. Mirchandani’s (Prospect, Ky.) science project theme was “Bioremediation of Crude Oil in Pristine and Contaminated Soil Environments with Natural Enhancement of Degradation.” Jessica Miles’ (Louisville) project was entitled “The Pathological Effect of Bacteria on Muscle Tissue,” while Vitale ( Louisville) presented a project entitled “The Glucose Dependence of CD4+ T-Lymphocytes.”

All three students are now eligible for the Toyota Youth Program at Expo 2005, or TYPE 2005, and will now participate in a ten-day cultural and educational study tour in Japan, including a visit to the world’s fair.

Two other Louisville natives were chosen as alternates. They were Sushma Chennubholta, who presented a project entitled “Artificial Muscles: A Simulation of Natural Finger Movement Using Silver Palladium Electroactive Polymers,” and Iddoshe Hirpa whose project was “The Effect of Epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) on the Production of Inflammatory Proteins.” The chosen alternates will fill in as a replacement for one of the finalists if needed.

TYPE 2005 is sponsored by Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, Inc., located in Erlanger, Kentucky. A total of twenty high school students will be selected from some areas where Toyota operates major manufacturing facilities in North America. Toyota affiliates across North America will coordinate the selection of students from regional science and technology competitions. The Institute of International Education is developing and administering TYPE 2005.

Students who are selected for TYPE 2005 will experience a unique program which will begin on June 30, 2005, with an orientation in Los Angeles, California. These young scholars will continue on to Japan with visits to Kyoto, Nagoya, and the Expo site to learn about Japan's past and present, and to explore issues shared by all industrialized countries.

The focus of Expo 2005, which will run for six months between March and September, is to heighten the awareness of common problems such as environmental, resource and energy issues facing humankind in the 21st century. Based on this awareness, Toyota in North America will be participating in and contributing to Expo 2005 through the special youth programming of TYPE 2005.

TYPE 2005 students will join Japanese peers at an Expo University conference where students from both groups will present their winning research projects. The TYPE 2005 students share an afternoon with a host family and then spend two days exploring the pavilions at the Expo.

Throughout the trip, the students will keep journals to share on-line with families, friends and communities all over the world. When the students return to their hometowns on July 10, they will continue to present their experiences to groups at their schools and in their communities.

TMMK is Toyota’s largest North American manufacturing facility with an annual production capacity of 500,000 vehicles and 500,000 engines. Located in Georgetown, Kentucky, the plant employs more than 7,000 team members and produces the Camry, America’s number one selling sedan, as well as the Avalon sedan, Solara coupe and Solara convertible.

By 2006, Toyota will have the capacity to build 1.66 million cars and trucks and 1.44 million engines annually in North America. Overall, Toyota currently employs more than 36,000 people throughout North America.

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Contact:
Rick Hesterberg
Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Kentucky, Inc.
502-868-2135