Stony Brook University Faculty Mentor 3 Intel Science Talent Search Finalists
STONY BROOK, NY, January 22, 2014 – Stony Brook University faculty mentored three of the 40 high school students named as finalists in the prestigious 2014 Intel Science Talent Search announced today. Intel finalists Kathy Camenzind (San Ramon, CA), Aron Coraor (Huntington, NY), and Emily Pang (San Ramon, CA), were selected for the research they did while at Stony Brook where they worked in labs with faculty and graduate student mentors. Camenzind and Pang were selected for work done while participants in the 2013 Simons Summer High School Research program at Stony Brook. Coraor also participated in the program this summer, but was selected by Intel for research conducted with a faculty mentor in the Department of Geosciences at Stony Brook over the past two years.
The finalists and their Stony Brook University mentors are:
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| Kathy Camenzind |
Kathy Camenzind, California HS, San Roman, CA, worked with Dr. John Noé and Visiting Scholar, Dr. Marty Cohen in the Laser Teaching Center in the Department of Physics and Astronomy on a project entitled, “Quantifying Trapping Forces in a Simplified Optical Tweezers Setup.”
Aron Coraor, Huntington HS, Huntington, NY, worked with Distinguished Professor Emeritus Donald Lindsley in the Department of Geosciences on a project entitled, “Pressure Dependent Azeotropic Melting Relations in the Mg2SiO4-Fe2SiO4-NaAlSi3O8-CaAl2Si2O8 System: A Critical Role in Lunar Highlands Formation?”
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| Aron Coraor |
Emily Pang, Dougherty Valley HS, San Roman, CA, worked with Berhane Ghebrehiwet, Professor of Medicine and Pathology, Department of Medicine on a project entitled, “The Opposing Roles of Tumor Suppressive cC1qR and Oncoprotein gC1qR as Mechanisms for Inhibiting Cancer Pathogenesis.”
“Stony Brook University consistently mentors and develops burgeoning high school scholars – not only in the summer, but throughout the year,” said Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD. “I salute the faculty and graduate students who give of their time and talent to welcome these young researchers into their lab, inspiring them to pursue careers in science. On behalf of Stony Brook, I offer sincere congratulations to all the Intel semi-finalists who did their work here, and best wishes to the finalists on their continued pursuit of an Intel first place award.”
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| Emily Pang |
“Stony Brook University continues to be an incubator for developing young scientists, especially in the nationally critical STEM disciplines,” said Dennis N. Assanis, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. “I would also like to thank the faculty mentors in our Simons Summer Research Program who worked with three of this year’s Intel finalists.”
In early January, it was announced that 21 of the 300 Intel semifinalists selected nationwide were mentored at Stony Brook University, bringing the total to 415 semifinalists mentored by Stony Brook faculty members since 1997. Including this year’s selection, 50 Intel finalists have been mentored at Stony Brook since 1997. A good number of talented high school students participate annually in summer research programs at Stony Brook, including the Garcia Center: Polymers at Engineered Interfaces – Research Scholar Program, and the Simons Summer Research Program. This year, on the 30th anniversary of the Simons program, 17 Simons Fellows were named Intel STS semifinalists. Half of the 21 semifinalists who worked with Stony Brook mentors are from New York (Long Island had 50 semifinalists); other semifinalists working at Stony Brook included students from California (4), Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington and Wisconsin.
Intel finalists Camenzind, Coraor and Pang will be in Washington D.C. from March 6-12 to compete for a share of $630,000 in awards, with the first-place winner receiving $100,000 from the Intel Foundation. Students will undergo a rigorous judging process and meet with national leaders. The top 10 winners will be announced at a black-tie, invite-only gala awards ceremony at the National Building Museum on March 11.
In the 2012 Intel Science Talent Search, the overall grand prize winner Nithin Tumma, a recipient of a $100,000 scholarship, was mentored at Stony Brook University by Dr. Ghebrehiwet, mentor to this year’s finalist, Emily Pang. Stony Brook mentors have had tremendous success in guiding students to successful outcomes in high school science competitions. In addition to mentoring a number of semifinalists and finalists in both the Intel and Siemens competitions, Dr. Iwao Ojima, Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry, mentored Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff, the grand prize winners (team category) in the 2007 Siemens competition; and Dr. Carlos Simmerling, Department of Chemistry, mentored Ruoyi Jiang, the individual grand prize winner in the 2009 Siemens competition. Additionally, in 2001, Miriam Rafailovich, Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, mentored Siemens competition grand prize winners (team category) Shira Billet and Dora Sosnowik.
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Reporter Contact:
Alida Almonte
University Media Relations Manager
631-632-6310
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