University mentors a record 51 high school students selected as semifinalists and continues to spark the development of future researchers
October 22, 2015 – Seventeen high school students mentored by faculty at Stony Brook University have been selected as regional finalists in the 2015 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology – one of the top nationwide research competitions for high school researchers. Stony Brook University mentored a total of 51 semifinalists in the competition, marking a University record. The results rank the University among the institutional leaders who mentor high school researchers from Long Island and around the country.
The regional finalists, selected from the group of 466 national semifinalists, will advance to one of six regional competitions held over three consecutive weekends in November. Winners of the regional events will then advance to the National Finals held at George Washington University in December where $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top awards of $100,000. For a complete list of the 2015 regional finalists and semifinalists, and their Stony Brook University mentors, see this Stony Brook University webpage on the Siemens Science Competition. For more details on the competition this fall, see this Siemens Foundation press release.
Many of the competition finalists and semifinalists participated in Stony Brook University summer research programs, such as the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces Program and/or the Simons Summer Research Program. Of the 51 students mentored at Stony Brook, 28 are from New York State and 21 are from all over the country, including states such as Illinois, Minnesota, Florida, Texas, Washington and California.
Among the 17 regional finalists mentored at Stony Brook, 10 are students from Long Island. These include: Sarah Lee and Kunal Shah, Syosset HS; Kevin Sadhu and Kimberly Te, Manhasset Senior HS; Vishal Nyayapathi, Alia Rizvon, and Brian Rhee, Half Hollow Hills HS East; Roshan Patel, Ward Melville HS; Kameron Sedigh, Kings Park HS; and David Herman, Davis Renov Stahler Yeshiva HS for Boys.
The seven out-of-state regional finalists mentored at Stony Brook include: Sidharth Bommakanti (CA); Daniel Chae (VA); Kunai Singh (NJ); Kevin Qian (MN); Alan Tan (CA), Arvind Sridhar (CA), and Ziheng Wang (NH).
Thirty-one of the 51 students mentored at Stony Brook participated in the Garcia Program, which is directed by Miriam Rafailovich, PhD, a Professor in the Department of Material Sciences & Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
“The Siemens competition is a great venue, as students make friends from across the country and the program encourages collaboration and teamwork, which is the norm of the real world in academic and industry research,” said Professor Rafailovich.
