After winning the mid-Atlantic regional title at the Siemens Westinghouse Math, Science and Technology Competition in the team category over the weekend, Plainview-Old Bethpage student Jinju Yi was named a national finalist in the competition. She was one of two students from Long Island named national finalists. The announcement puts the Plainview-Old Bethpage Central School District in the unique category of sending students to the national finals two years in a row.

As a national finalist, Jinju will advance to the National Finals held at New York University in early December. Jinju's project, titled "Surface Molecular Imprinting of a Nanoscale Biosensor for the Rapid Detection of Bioterrorist Agents and Early Diagnosis of Cancer," explores bio-sensing molecular imprinting that is able to detect cancer. Using molecular imprinting this device can screen for viruses with both anti-terrorism and cancer applications.

The regional competition was held at Carnegie Mellon University.