Manhasset High School seniors Te, Yoo are national Siemens Competition finalists

Kimberly Te and Christine Yoo met in the first grade and have been best friends ever since. Along the way, the pair discovered a mutual interest in fighting environmental pollution and joined forces to seek cost-effective solutions.

The Manhasset High School seniors Monday were rewarded for their hard work: They were named national finalists in the prestigious Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology and will advance to the contest's final round in Washington, D.C.

There, they will have a shot at up to $100,000 in scholarship money, split between the two if they win first prize.

Te and Yoo, both 17, created an energy-producing device that can use naturally occurring bacteria, such as those found in mud and wastewater, to clean up oil spills. They say the device is cheap and efficient, and have a patent pending.

Te said she couldn't fathom their good fortune, even when she saw her own image flash on a computer screen as Siemens announced its latest batch of national finalists at noon.

"I couldn't believe it was us," she said, adding that her mother, upon learning of the pair's selection, started booking flights to join them in the nation's capital during the finals, slated for Dec. 4-8 at The George Washington University.

The two won $6,000 for making it this far in the competition, one of the most recognized science contests in the nation for high schoolers.

Te and Yoo said their interest in science was solidified through an honors research course they completed in the eighth grade. Though the class met on Saturdays only, each girl devoted her free time during the week to her respective project, relishing the autonomy.

"That class makes you more independent," Yoo said.

Te and Yoo were among 15 Siemens Competition regional finalists from Long Island. They presented their project through teleconference to a panel of judges at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

"The creativity of the concept and its potential impact was most impressive," said judge Shawn Litster, associate professor and the Russell V. Trader faculty fellow in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon.

The Manhasset team's mentors were Alison Huenger and Peter Guastella, science educators in the secondary school. Huenger, the science research specialist at the high school, has been working with the girls since the ninth grade -- including the year they focused on this particular project.

Huenger described the pair as extraordinarily dedicated.

"Even in their freshman year, they would come in before school and after school," she said Monday. "They'd also come in on Saturday to work on their projects and mentor other students in the program."

Both are artists -- Te paints and draws, and Yoo plays the flute and piccolo -- and their creativity shows up in their work, especially in problem-solving, Huenger said.

"If a procedure couldn't be carried out a certain way," they'd find an alternative, she said.

Dominick Rowan, 17, from upstate Armonk, was named this region's individual winner.

A senior at Byram Hills High School, he described himself in a video submitted to Siemens as "a below-average athlete" and "a decent musician," but "most importantly, a science researcher."

He advanced to the national finals for his detection of new exoplanets.

"Dominick discovered a new planet -- only the 20th Jupiter-like planet that has ever been discovered," said judge Matt Walker, assistant professor in the physics department and the McWilliams Center for Cosmology at Carnegie Mellon.

In Washington, six students will compete in the individual category and six teams, with a total of 14 students, will vie in the team category.