9 from LI Siemens regional semifinalists
Half Hollow Hills East High School student Aneesh Shah is a finalist in the Siemens Competitiion regionals. (Oct. 21, 2011) Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Long hours in Long Island's top laboratories paid off Friday for Holly Flores, Alexandra McHale, Tom Wang and other teenage science whizzes as the Siemens Foundation announced this year's initial winners in its national research contest.
Nine Long Island students emerged as regional finalists in the annual competition, while 46 others were named semifinalists. Finalists each win $1,000 and a chance to compete for top awards of up to $100,000.
"I'm still in shock," said McHale, 17, a senior at Smithtown High School East, after a teacher told her of the prize as she walked down a hallway. "I was shaking probably for 40 minutes."
McHale's research dealt with the circulation of nutrients from the soil into corn kernels, a project conducted for six weeks last summer at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton.
The Island's other regional finalists are: Flores, of Huntington High School; Wang, of The Wheatley School in Old Westbury; Alina Ranjbaran of Garden City High School; Matthew Rudin of Half Hollow Hills High School West in Dix Hills; Aneesh Shah of Half Hollow Hills East, also in Dix Hills; Blake Smith of Oceanside High School, and Christie Wang of Roslyn High School, all 17; and Austin Wild, 16, of South Side High School in Rockville Centre.
Competing in the Siemens contest means sleepless nights for the teens, many of whom juggle their research with sports, music, student government and Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate courseloads that would stagger many college students. The competition also provides plenty of nail-biting moments for teachers who act as advisers.
Herb Weiss, the research facilitator at South Side High, assured students he would give them the time needed to finish their projects, then make sure the work was delivered on time to judges. On the Oct. 3 deadline day, Weiss stacked research papers in his wife's SUV and took them to the contest's administrative office in Princeton, N.J.
"Thank God the car didn't break down," Weiss said.
Nationally, 96 regional finalists were named from 1,941 students who submitted projects. California had the highest number, with 17, followed by Texas, with 15, and New York, with 13.
Regional finals will be held next month on six college campuses across the country, followed by the national finals Dec. 3-5 in Washington, D.C.
Students choose to compete individually or in teams. Tom Wang, who lives in Old Westbury, teamed with Ranjbaran and David Nam, 17, of Cupertino, Calif.
Their project features the use of a handheld device to detect a flesh-eating disease found in the tropics -- equipment that the students hope eventually will prove useful in bedside diagnoses in hospitals.
Wang said he originally hoped to experiment on his own but found he enjoyed collaborating with others who shared his sense of purpose.
"Research is a test of endurance," he said. "I really needed people who wouldn't give up."
