STONY BROOK MENTORS SEE THEIR HS PRODIGIES REACH INTEL SEMIS
STONY BROOK, NY—January 7, 2016–Twenty seven high school students who did research with Stony Brook faculty were named as semifinalists in the prestigious 2016 Intel Science Talent Search which is celebrating its 75th year.
Many of these young research trainees participated in summer research programs including the Simons Summer Research Program and the Garcia Center: Polymers at Engineered Interfaces – Research Scholar Program. The faculty mentors come from a range of departments and disciplines throughout Stony Brook, including: Applied Mathematics & Statistics, Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Chemistry, Ecology & Evolution, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Neurobiology & Behavior, Oral Biology & Pathology, Pathology, Pharmacological Sciences, Physics & Astronomy, Psychology, and the School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences.
Fifteen of the 27 semifinalists doing research with Stony Brook mentors are from New York, which had the largest representation of awardees; 11 semifinalists who worked with Stony Brook faculty hailed from California (2), Florida, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, Virginia and Washington (2).
The 2016 Intel STS semifinalists who did their research at Stony Brook include:
Semifinalist: Eleni Aneziris, Ward Melville HS, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Dr. Greg Hajcak, Psychology
Semifinalist: Lee Blackburn, Lawrence HS, Cedarhurst, NY
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Semifinalist: Arthur Chen, Lawrence HS, Cedarhurst, NY
Mentors: Dr. Marcia Simons, Oral Biology & Pathology; Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Semifinalist: Krista Chen, The Wheatley School, Old Westbury, NY
Mentor: Dr. Iwao Ojima, Chemistry
Semifinalist: Audrey Cheng, Henry M. Gunn HS, Palo Alto, CA
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Semifinalist: Ayesha Chhugani, Herricks HS, New Hyde Park, NY
Mentor: Dr. Abhay Deshpande, Physics & Astronomy
Semifinalist: Sophia Chen, Ward Melville HS, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Dr. Martin Rocek, Physics & Astronomy, Inst. For Theoretical Physics
Semifinalist: Patrick Chi, Niskayuna HS, Niskayuna, NY
Mentor: Dr. Brian Colle, School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences
Semifinalist: Dessie DiMino, Garden City HS, Garden City, NY
Mentor: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
Semifinalist: Emma Feldman, Paul D. Schreiber HS, Port Washington, NY
Mentors: Dr. Benjamin Chu, Dr. Benjamin Hsiao, Chemistry
Semifinalist: Daniel Guo, Homestead HS, Cupertino, CA
Mentor: Dr. Krishna Veeramah, Ecology & Evolution
Semifinalist: Adarsh Karnati, Redmond HS, Redmond, WA
Mentor: Dr. Ya S. Wang, Mechanical Engineering
Semifinalist: Ariel Leong, Ward Melville HS, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Dr. Jingfang Ju, Pathology
Semifinalist: David Li, Commack HS, Commack, NY
Mentor: Dr. Fan Ye, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Semifinalist: Emily Li, Hunter College HS, New York, NY
Mentor: Dr. Benjamin Martin, Biochemistry & Cell Biology
Semifinalist: Michael Li, James M. Bennett HS, Salisbury, MD
Mentor: Dr. Il Memming Park, Neurobiology & Behavior
Semifinalist: Emily McDermott, Smithtown High School East, NY
Mentor: Dr. Joshua Rest, Ecology and Evolution
Semifinalist: Harriet O’Brien, Ward Melville HS, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Dr. Stella Tsirka, Pharmacological Sciences
Semifinalist: Benjamin Schiffer, University of Illinois Laboratory HS, Urbana, IL
Mentor: Dr. Carlos Simmerling, Chemistry
Semifinalist: Kameron Sedigh, Kings Park HS, Kings Park, NY
Mentor: Dr. Peter Tonge, Chemistry
Semifinalist: Anu Sharma, Oak Hall School, Gainesville, FL
Mentors: Dr. Benjamin Chu, Dr. Benjamin Hsiao, Chemistry
Semifinalist: Matthew Sun, Thomas Jefferson HS for Science & Technology, Alexandria, VA
Mentor: Dr. Il Memming Park, Neurobiology & Behavior
Semifinalist: Fangrui Tong, Ward Melville HS, E. Setauket, NY
Mentor: Dr. Alexander Orlov, Materials Science & Engineering
Semifinalist: Ziheng Wang, St. Paul’s School, Concord, NH
Mentor: Dr. Carlos Simmerling, Chemistry
Semifinalist: David Yang, Academy for the Advancement of Science & Technology, NJ
Mentor: Dr. Tom MacCarthy, Applied Mathematics & Statistics
Semifinalist: Rachel Zhang, Parkway South HS, Manchester, MO
Mentor: Dr. Moira Chas, Mathematics
Semifinalist: Richard Zhang, Redmond HS, Redmond, WA
Mentor; Dr. Miriam Rafailovich, Materials Science & Engineering
The semifinalists listed above were among 300 high school students selected nationwide from more than 1,750 competition entrants; each semifinalist is receiving a $1,000 award from the Intel Foundation with an additional $1,000 going to his or her school. Finalists will be announced on January 20th and will compete in March for more than $1 million in awards, including Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 each in the areas of Basic Research, Global Good and Innovation.
For more information regarding the history of Intel semifinalists mentored at Stony Brook, their research, and their Stony Brook mentors, please visit
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/simons/intel.html
*Please note this site is constantly being updated and may not reflect all winners at the time of your visit.
About Stony Brook University
Part of the State University of New York system, Stony Brook University encompasses 200 buildings on 1,450 acres. Since welcoming its first incoming class in 1957, the University has grown tremendously, now with more than 25,000 students and 2,500 faculty. Its membership in the prestigious Association of American Universities (AAU) places Stony Brook among the top 62 research institutions in North America. U.S. News & World Report ranks Stony Brook among the top 100 universities in the nation and top 40 public universities, and Kiplinger names it one of the 35 best values in public colleges. One of four UniversityCenter campuses in the SUNY system, Stony Brook co-manages Brookhaven National Laboratory, putting it in an elite group of universities that run federal research and development laboratories. A global ranking by U.S. News & World Report places Stony Brook in the top 1 percent of institutions worldwide. It is one of only 10 universities nationwide recognized by the National Science Foundation for combining research with undergraduate education. As the largest single-site employer on Long Island, Stony Brook is a driving force of the regional economy, with an annual economic impact of $4.65 billion, generating nearly 60,000 jobs, and accounts for nearly 4 percent of all economic activity in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and roughly 7.5 percent of total jobs in Suffolk County.
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Reporter Contact: Alida Almonte
631-632-6310; Twitter @sbunewsdesk
