The Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District recently announced that two of their students have been named as semifinalists in the Siemens-Westinghouse Math, Science and Technology Competition. Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School junior Angela Lau and senior Jinju Yi were both selected as semifinalists for their work.

Angela worked with a partner from another school district on "The Thermal Reversible Polymeric Matrices for DNA Separation by Capillary Electrophoresis." In their project, they created a polymer solution with unique structures to replace the gel used in traditional electrophoresis. The solution worked faster and with greater resolution.

Jinju, who also worked with a partner from another school district, did her project on "Surface Molecular Imprinting of a Nanoscale Biosensor for the Rapid Detection of Bioterrorist Agents and Early Diagnosis of Cancer." Using molecular imprinting this device can screen for viruses with both anti-terrorism and cancer applications.

Both students will be advancing to the next round of the competition.