Commack's O'Connell eliminated in Google Science Fair 2014 regional finals

A Commack teen who was a regional finalist in Google's Science Fair 2014 has made his last stop in the competition.

Matthew O'Connell, 17, who became a regional finalist in June, did not advance beyond the second round of judging on Aug. 6, when a panel of teachers and university professors selected 15 projects for the final step in the worldwide technology and science competition. A winner will be chosen in September by a panel of "science luminaries and tech innovators," according to the contest's website.

O'Connell entered the competition in the spring with The Prescription Architect, a project that he said he had worked on for about a year. His project had garnered the attention of medical professionals at previous competitions and symposiums in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Dublin.

His computer program translates medication instructions into visuals, audio, or a written language. A project summary on the contest's website says Prescription Architect is hosted on "the official website of an international pharmaceutical organization," and had been downloaded more than 800 times in more than 80 countries.

"I'd love to be the world champion, but I know other people are doing very good work, and it's a very tough competition," O'Connell said of not making it to the final round. He said that these science competitions are often very subjective because competing projects have different purposes.

The winner will be announced Sept. 22 at Google headquarters in Mountain View, California. The grand prize includes a National Geographic Expeditions trip and $50,000 in scholarships.