In yesterday’s NYT Science News, a nice story (“A Laboratory Grows Young Scientists” by Ethan Hauser) about the Intel Science Talent Search, the winners of which were announced last night.
About the Science Talent Search:
The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS), known for its first 57 years as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search, is a research-based science competition in the United States for high school seniors. It has been referred to as “the nation’s oldest and most prestigious” science competition.
The Society for Science & the Public began the competition in 1942 with Westinghouse Electric Corporation; for many years, the competition was known as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search. In 1998, Intel became the sponsor after it outbid Siemens (link)
The local connection:
A Palo Alto teen took tenth place in the Intel Science Talent Search at an awards gala in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.
Sahana Vasudevan, 16, who is homeschooled at Gnyanam Academy, received a $20,000 award for placing in the annual contest for her math research that “proved a new, generalized way to minimize an important function of arithmetic,” according to a statement released tonight by Intel.
… The first-place winner was Sara Volz, 17, of Colorado Springs, Colo., for her research of algae biofuels. (link)
Over 50 years ago, I was a finalist in the Westinghouse Science Talent Search (with a mathematical topic).The topics of research have changed enormously during this time, as have the ways this research is carried out; competitors mostly pair themselves with research scientists, who serve as mentors and sponsors. Their work is truly impressive.
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