Six students in the Northern Virginia area are competing in the 2015 Siemens Foundation STEM Competition. These regional finalists recently advanced through the semifinal round, and now have a chance to compete at the National Finals taking place on Dec. 4-8 in Washington, D.C., where grand prize winners walk away with $100,000 scholarships.
The Siemens Competition is a signature program of the Siemens Foundation; it promotes STEM education and encourages young students to push their academic boundaries through hands-on projects. The students all have projects for the Siemens Competition, and they also participate in many other pursuits outside of STEM related projects.
The finalists from the area include:
Michael You, of Alexandria, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Researched SONAR-related whale beachings and how bubbles in blood vessels can contribute to the injuries of whales exposed to SONAR;
Christina Oh and Edward Oh, of Lorton, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology and South County High School (Found a potential method to mitigate the attachment of the barnacle, that could help with drastically improving marine vessels' efficiency);
Kelly Cho of McLean and Harriet Khang of Great Falls, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Found an inexpensive and uncomplicated method for a biosensor for breast cancer that could potentially be slightly modified for other diseases as well);
Daniel Chae, of Alexandria, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (Found a way to develop more cost-effective and improved bone implants through 3-D printing).