Kudos to Great Neck's seven high school seniors who were named semifinalists in the 2004 Intel Science Talent Search. Semifinalists from North High School are Henny Admoni, Jonathan Birnbaum, Katherine Chiang, Maanit Desai, Jason Li, and Svyatoslav Mishchenko. South High's semifinalist is Sharon Chou. These seven are among 300 Semifinalists selected from over 1,600 applicants nationwide.

Intel, formerly known as the Westinghouse competition, is often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize" of science competitions for high school students. Semifinalists will each receive $1,000 scholarship awards. In addition, each of the schools that placed a semifinalist will receive $1,000 per semifinalist to support science and math education programs. All semifinalists and their teachers will also be honored with certificates of merit.

At the end of this month, 40 finalists will be selected from the 300 semifinalists (updates will appear in future issues of this newspaper). In March, finalists will attend the Science Talent Institute in Washington, DC, for a week of activities, final judging, awards, and monetary scholarships.

Henny Admoni's project is entitled "Counting Features: Quantifying Discrete Parts in Visual Object Identification." Since objects are identified through their features, Henny created a model based on two assumptions: that features are detected independently, and that images are identified correctly through an unknown number of features. The probability of correct image identification increases as the number of features increases. Her faculty sponsor is David Keith, science department head.

Jonathan Birnbaum's project is "A Comparison of Flow Through Monoleaflet and Bileaflet Mechanical Heart Valves Utilizing In Vitro Digital Particle Imaging Velocimetry and Computational Fluid Dynamics." Flow patterns created by the use of Mechanical Heart Valves (MHVs) can activate platelets leading to the formation of blood clots. Using laser measurements and a computer simulation, Jonathan compared the flow patterns between monoleaflet and bileaflet MHVs. Although both valves can create potentially harmful flow patterns, results showed that the monoleaflet design produced slightly more favorable conditions. His faculty sponsor is Alan Schorn, science research teacher.

Katherine Chiang's project is entitled "A Novel Study of Oceanic Bacterial Activity: Alpha-Proteobacteria Enrichment in Aerosols and the Microlayer." Alpha-Proteobacteria is an indicator of water/bacteria activity because it catalyzes much of the ocean's biological and chemical processes. Katherine collected and analyzed local estuary water. Surprisingly low Alpha-Proteobacteria presence showed that harmful microbes transported into the air may not have as great a consequence to people living around coastal areas as preconceived. Her faculty sponsor is Thomas Elkins, science research teacher.

Maanit Desai's project is entitled "A Simplified Method for Characterizing Complex Media by the Coherent Backscattering of Light." Coherent Backscattering (CBS) is the phenomenon of light in which there appears to be a bright spot, or cone, of scattered light at exactly 180º from the point of incidence. Maanit developed a new, and inexpensive, way of analyzing his observations. He was able to clearly view CBS cones in milk and white Tempera paint and compare their optical properties. His faculty sponsor is Alan Schorn, science research teacher.

Jason Li's project is "A Numerical Analysis of Gravitational Lensing Events Involving Large Tidal Radius or D25 Isophote Local Group Galaxies." Gravitational lensing is the process by which a massive object, known as a lens, can magnify background starlight. This only occurs when the massive object and a background source are nearly perfectly aligned with the Earth. Jason's research focused on identifying a set of stars that have high probabilities of acting as gravitational lenses. He also studied an aspect of gravitational lensing involving the lensing of many background sources simultaneously. His faculty sponsor is Alan Schorn, science research teacher.

Svyatoslav Mishchenko's project is entitled "A Novel High-Yield Recombinant Protein Expression System." The manufacture of large amounts of protein is necessary for research and for medicine. However, the currently employed systems are relatively inefficient in the production of complex proteins found in vertebrates. Svyatoslav's project concentrated on the development of a more efficient system for obtaining high yields of protein. He combined a viral system and suspension cultures to produce large amounts of the target protein (Green Fluorescent Protein). His faculty sponsor is Alan Schorn, science research teacher.

Sharon Chou's project is entitled "Design of Drug Release Profile Using Polyelectrolyte Complexes." Sharon did research to design a coating for medical catheters, to reduce or eliminate microbial infection that often results from catheter use. She used polyurethane membranes, a material in catheters. Her results support the conclusion that, with the proper coating, controlled drug delivery over two to four days should be possible, thus enabling patients to be free of infection from catheter use. Her faculty sponsor at South High is Carol Hersh, science research teacher.

Intel, begun in 1942, is a comprehensive competition that evaluates the applicant in many areas of involvement. The research report is just one of several criteria used to select the semifinalists. Each talent search applicant is also required to submit a school transcript, standardized test scores, records of community service, extracurricular activities, and a faculty recommendation.

Students must submit a lengthy written report (including appendices, tables, and charts) on an independent science research project. They continually revise their work, often beginning more than a year prior to the competition. Applicants are judged on their research ability, scientific originality, and creative thinking. Research projects cover all disciplines of science, including chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social science, and biology. Entries are reviewed and judged by top scientists from a variety of disciplines.

Many Intel alumni hold the world's most coveted science and math honors, including Nobel Prizes, National Medals of Science, MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, and Fields Medals.