The Intel Science Talent Search is the top science competition for high school students in the US. The 40 finalists were honored in Washington last week. They met with scientists and politicians. President Obama welcomed them to the White House. These 40 students were selected from almost 2,000 contestants nationwide. They had to present original research to be judged by professional scientists. The students showed their research projects on large posters. The winners were announced on March 15th, 2011. Wendy Hawkins is executive director of the Intel Foundation, who says the 40 finalists represented excellence across many areas of science. Selena Li is from Fair Oaks, California. She wanted to find a more effective treatment for liver cancer. She began her research four years ago. A scientist at the University of California, Davis, taught her how to design and do experimental work in the laboratory. Ms. Li placed 5th in the Intel Science Talent Search and was awarded 30,000 dollars. Scott Boisvert lives near Phoenix, Arizona. He began using a laboratory at the University of Arizona at the age of 14. Over four years, he completed a project studying a fungus  linked to the decrease in amphibians around the world. He was trying to find out if different chemicals and substances in the water could kill the fungus. He collected and tested water samples across Arizona. He says, "My results were able to identify a list of chemicals that were significant in the growth and in the movement of the fungus." He placed10th in the Intel competition and was awarded 20,000 dollars. Evan O'Dorney of Danville, California, won the top award of 100,000 dollars in this year's Intel Science Talent Search. For his mathematical project, he compared two ways to estimate the square root of an integer   , a number with no fractional parts. Wendy Hawkins at the Intel Foundation says these young people represent the next generation of scientists who will help shape America's future. Who will be probably engaged in math study in the future and become a mathematician?
Wendy Hawkins. Selena Li. Scott Boisvert. Evan O'Dorney