Cancer cells, chemicals, solar panels, batteries and diseases were only some of the topics of the projects senior research students entered into the Siemens competition on Tuesday, September 30.
"It would be amazing if our school wins Siemens," said Dina Deng ’15, one of the competitors. "All of the research students are dedicated and worked hard to finalize their projects to meet the deadline."
In addition to Dina Deng, eight other students entered into Siemens. These include Michael Divgun, Taulant Kastrati, Sandra Lin, Patrice Sanderson, Carmine See, Richard Wu and Raymond Yu.
The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology is administered by Discovery Education and funded by the Siemens Foundation. Its purpose is to reward talented high school students who have strong research skills and who are willing to push themselves. Rewards include scholarships of $1,000 up to $100,000 for finalists.
To enter this competition, participants had to first be a student in high school. Individual projects required them to be seniors. Then, you had to have a project that didn’t involve behavioral or social sciences. Finally, you needed a scientific research paper regarding your topic.
In order to meet the qualifications for the contest, all students were enrolled in research labs ranging from as close as Brooklyn College and SUNY Downstate Hospital, to as far as New York University and Long Island University.
"A senior told me last year to finish my project over the summer," said Cindy Chee ’15, "so it would be easier than with all the school work. So, over the summer, I went Monday to Friday and finished my project."
Similarly other competitors also devoted most of their summers to the project. Many started their projects in June and finished by the end of the summer. The competitors entered into Siemens for multiple reasons; however their goal was all the same: to win.
"I read previous papers, and they were good," said Richard Wu ’15, "but I feel confident my project can win."
Unlike the Intel Science Talent Search competition in November and NYSCEF in December, the Siemens was relatively early.
"This was a hard competition because the students had to work a month and a half faster than everyone else," said Mr. Glenn Elert, Science Research Coordinator. "Entering this is a sign of students who are harder workers, and are more advanced above their peers.
The semifinalists were announced on Thursday, Oct. 16. Unfortunately there were no semifinalists from Midwood.
Lucy Lin
This article originally appeared in the October 2014 edition of Argus.