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Intel Science Talent Search Winners

Intel Science Talent Search Winners
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US President George Bush and the finalists
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US President George Bush and the finalists
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March 19, 2005 The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) is America's oldest and most prestigious high school science competition and as Intel CEO Craig Barrett said when awarding the prizes, "we look forward each year to uncovering new scientific and mathematical talent, and each year we're rewarded with an outstanding array of students whose ability to explore, imagine and discover absolutely amazes us." Amazing? You bet! Read on to find out just how amazing you have to be to score a finalist position

The Intel STS represents six decades of excellence. Alumni of this program hold more than 100 of the world's most coveted science and math honors, including six Nobel Prizes, three National Medals of Science, 10 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and two Fields Medals.

This year, more than 100 scientists from a variety of disciplines reviewed 1,600 entries from 47 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. The students ranged in age from 15 to 18 with females representing half of the entries. From this group, 300 semifinalists were named with each semifinalist and his or her school receiving US$1,000. Through the Intel STS program, Intel has contributed US$1.8 million to support science and math at U.S. high schools.

In late January, 40 finalists were selected from the group of semifinalists to compete in the Intel STS. In Washington, the winners were chosen by a 12-member panel chaired by Dr. Andrew Yeager, professor of medicine and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Science Service, a nonprofit organization with a mission to advance the understanding and appreciation of science among people of all ages through publications and educational programs, has administered the program since its inception in 1942.

Intel Corporation awarded the first place US$100,000 scholarship to David Vigliarolo Bauer of Bronx, New York. Bauer, 17, of Hunter College High School, designed a new method using "quantum dots" (florescent nanocrystals) to detect toxic agents that affect the nervous system. Bauer believes his research could save thousands of lives by rapidly evaluating individual exposure to these agents. In addition to his love of research, Bauer is a member of the varsity fencing team and founded a nonprofit organization that raises money for social justice in Liberia.

The second-place prize, a US$75,000 scholarship, went to Timothy Frank Credo, 17, of the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Highland Park, Illinois. Credo developed a more precise method to measure very brief intervals of time -- picoseconds (trillionths of seconds) - over which charged secondary particles of light travel. A varsity swimmer, Credo enjoys cycling and playing guitar.

The US$50,000 third-place scholarship went to Kelley Harris, 17, of C.K. McClatchy High School, Sacramento, California. Harris studied Z-DNA binding proteins which may play a role in cell responses to certain virus infections. She is an award-winning Scottish Highlands dancer and enjoys backpacking and whitewater rafting.

Rounding Out the Top Ten

Fourth- through sixth-place winners each received a US$25,000 scholarship:

Robert Thomas Cordwell, 17, Manzano High School, Albuquerque, N.M., for his project, "Some Results on Inclusive and Exclusive Partitions of Complete Graphs."

Ryan Marques Harrison, 17, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Baltimore, for his project, "A Novel Approach to Modeling pH-sensitive Regions Within Proteins."

Lyra Creamer Haas, 17, Illinois Mathematics & Science Academy, Aurora, Ill., for her project, "Using Textiles to Date Sites in the Norte Chico, Peru."

Seventh- through tenth-place winners received a US$20,000 scholarship:

Justin Alexander Kovac, 17, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring, Md., for his project, "The Effects of Warm Core Rings on Hurricane Intensification in the Gulf of Mexico."

Karl James Plank, 17, Squalicum High School, Bellingham, Wash., for his project, "Toward Self-Assembling Nanocircuitry Using Liquid Crystal Solvents."

James Andrew Cahill, 18, Flagstaff High School, Flagstaff, Ariz., for his project, "Assessment of Equinoctial and Cross Quarter Alignments of Anasazi Origin in the Lomaki Pueblo of the Wupatki National Monument."

Po-Ling Loh, 18, James Madison Memorial High School, Madison, Wis., for her project, "Closure Properties of D2p in Finite Groups."

The remaining 30 finalists receive US$5,000 scholarships, and each student attending the competition received an Intel Centrino mobile technology-based notebook computer.

Intel's sponsorship of the STS is part of the Intel Innovation in Education initiative, a sustained commitment - in collaboration with educators and government leaders worldwide - to help today's students develop the higher-level thinking skills they need to participate and succeed in a knowledge-based economy.

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