Five individuals and three teams of high school students have been selected to compete Nov. 15-16 (Friday-Saturday) at the University of Notre Dame in the Midwestern region of the Siemens Westinghouse Science&Technology Competition, a leading scholarship and awards program.p. The New Jersey-based non-profit Siemens Foundation created the Siemens Westinghouse Science&Technology Competition to enhance science and mathematics education in America. The competition is open to individuals and teams of high school students who develop independent research projects in the physical or biological sciences or mathematics. Competitions in six regions across the United States (including the Midwestern Region) are being held throughout November. Regional scholarship winners will advance to the national competition December 6-9 in Washington, D.C. for a top individual prize of $100,000. Members of the top team will share a $100,000 scholarship.p. The Siemens Foundation has partnered with six prestigious institutions to assist in judging and hosting the regional competitions throughout the fall: the University of California, Berkeley, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Nov. 8-9); Notre Dame and the Georgia Institute of Technology (Nov. 15-16); and Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Texas (Nov. 22-23).p. The Midwestern Regional finalists, whose entries are in subject disciplines spanning mathematics, biology, environmental science, physics, bioengineering and chemistry, will present their independent research projects to a panel of judges who are faculty members at Notre Dame. The individual regional winner will receive an award of $3,000; members of the winning regional team will share a prize of $3,000. All regional runners-up will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship with team runners-up dividing the prize among team members. All of the prize money will be applied toward the winning students’ post-secondary education. Panels of leading scientists and university faculty serve as judges at the regional and national competitions, under the independent oversight of the College Board and the Educational Testing Service.p. The public can view student posters from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Nov. 15 in the atrium of Notre Dame’s Eck Visitors Center.p. The keynote speaker for the Notre Dame regional event is Brian Greene, a physicist from Columbia University who is the author of the bestseller “The Elegant Universe.” Greene is one of the world’s leading experts in string theory, which asserts that all matter and forces are composed of incredibly tiny loops that look like strings. Loops vibrating in different ways become the fundamental particles, such as electrons, glutons and photons.p. Greene’s keynote address, which is open to the public, will be at 5 p.m. Nov. 16 in the McKenna Hall auditorium. A book signing will follow the talk from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the atrium of McKenna.p. The Midwestern Regional finalists and their respective categories of competition are:p. Indiana p. Ben A. Huffman, Heritage Christian School, Indianapolis (Individual)p. Brittany L. Melton, Terre Haute South Vigo High School, Terre Haute (Individual)p. Ann Chi, Terre Haute South Vigo High School, and Irene Sun, Ben Davis High School, Indianapolis (Team)p. Illinois p. Michael Constantinides, University of Chicago Laboratory School, Chicago (Individual)p. Ohio p. Kyra I. Sedransk, Hathaway Brown School, Shaker Heights (Individual)p. James Y. Zou, Upper Arlington High School, Columbus (Individual)p. Caitlin Fogarty and Katharine Trostel, Hathaway Brown School, Shaker Heights (Team)p. Maura Lillis, Laura Marx and Christiane Youngstrom, Hathaway Brown School (Team)p. Established in 1998 to promote and support educational activities, the Siemens Foundation recognizes America’s most promising science and mathematics students and teachers, as well as schools that are doing the most to promote education in the core sciences. Its mission is based on the culture of innovation, research and educational support that is a hallmark of Siemens’ U.S. operating companies and its parent company, Siemens AG.p.
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