January 24, 2019 -- County Executive George Latimer is pleased to announce that four Westchester County students have been named finalists in the prestigious Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS). Students from the Byram Hills, Chappaqua and Ossining school districts advanced to the next level in the competition, tapped as the top in the nation for 2019.
Latimer said: “Our students, their teachers and their parents should all feel very proud of what they have accomplished. Alumni of the Regeneron STS have gone on to win the Nobel Prize, invent ground-breaking medical treatment and head countless successful companies in many fields of science. Congratulations to all our Scholars on a job well done.”
Nearly 2,000 High School students from across the country submitted their research projects for the nation’s oldest science and math competition for high school students. The finalists’ projects span across many STEM-related topics, including a potential improvement in precision care for leukemia, and developing an automated 3D printed sensor to detect arsenic in groundwater.
The four Westchester County students who have been named Regeneron STS finalists are as follows:
Brent Perlman, Byram Hills High School, Armonk, NY
- Project Summary: Brent developed a process to produce oxygen in human cells by coculturing human stem cells with spinach chloroplasts, which produce oxygen through photosynthesis.
Chirag Kumar, Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, NY
- Project Summary: Chirag used machine learning to more precisely measure seawater temperatures from satellites, giving scientists a tool that could more accurately predict climate changes.
Aditi Singh, Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, NY
- Project Summary: Aditi developed a computational model showing that visual short-term memory is an intrinsically limited human resource that may be further restricted by the brain’s rational decision to accept less precision to minimize neural effort.
Emma Montgomery, Ossining High School, Ossining, NY
- Project Summary: Emma developed new versions of an enzyme used for genetic base editing by reengineering the original base editing enzyme to make her two new, more efficient versions.
Brent, Chirag, Aditi and Emma will travel to Washington, D.C. from March 7 through 13, where they will undergo meticulous judging by leading scientists and compete for more than $1.8 million in prizes. The top 10 awards, which will be announced at a black-tie gala awards ceremony at the National Building Museum on March 12, range from $40,000 to $250,000. Each finalist will receive at least $25,000 in scholarship money.