Three hundred outstanding young scientists were named semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS), earning $600,000 in total awards for themselves and their schools. Included in that 300 are two students from Syosset and three from Jericho. Tiffany Yeh and Fiona Yuen were semifinalists from Syosset and Angela Yang, John Sillcox, and Suraj Rambhia, were named semifinalists from Jericho.

Often considered the junior Nobel Prize, the Intel Science Talent Search is America's oldest, most highly regarded pre-college science competition and heir to six decades of science excellence.

"As a U.S. citizen, I am troubled by the performance of typical American students in science and mathematics when compared to their peers around the world," said Craig Barrett, Intel CEO. "But each year at the Intel STS, we have the opportunity to discover and celebrate the accomplishments of 300 bright young students from across the country. These students have developed a deeper understanding of science through the process of research and discovery. They demonstrate the critical skills necessary to drive innovation and competitiveness in America."

Over the past 64 years, STS alumni have been the recipients of more than 100 of the world's most coveted science and math honors including Nobel Prizes, National Medals of Science, MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, and Fields Medals. And they continue to build on this impressive legacy: Frank Wilczek, who placed fourth in the 1967 Science Talent Search, won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Physics and is currently a professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Tiffany Yeh, a senior at Syosset High School, submitted a project entitled "Human Dermal Fibroblast Growth and Response to Polybutadiene and Polybutadience-Cloisite 6A Nanocomposite Surfaces." This topic researched the basics of tissue engineering. Yeh worked at a lab at SUNY Stony Brook with mentor Lourdes Collazo, who helped suggest topics and the idea for the research project came about after the two collaborated on it.

"This was a first experience for me," said Yeh. "I usually work in genetics, but I decided to do this polymer program. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I am still working on the research."

Yeh plans to be a biochemistry and/or psychology major when she starts college this fall.

Fiona Yuen's project was entitled "Target Clustering in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky Reaction." She began work this summer on her project, working with research scientists at Hofstra University. Her mentor was Dr. Sobel.

Yuen had previously been involved in mathematics research in the Syosset High School Research Program and was able to apply her considerable mathematics talents to this experiment, which involved the study of a chemical reaction that may be able to help doctors predict the severity of heart attacks in specific patients.

Although she is undecided on a specific college, Yuen is interested in majoring in biology.

Angela Yang, a senior at Jericho High School, submitted a project entitled "The Relationship Between the Normal and Mutated Expression of Connexin 43 and Oculodentodigital Dysplasia (ODDD)."

"I examined intercellular communication and mutating connections in a specific location," said Yang. "I came up with the idea after I was placed in a fellowship at Stony Brook. I told my mentor Dr. Peter Brink I was interested in genetics and we came up with this topic."

Yang plans to go back next summer and continue the research.

Although it is too early for Yang to know where she will be attending college in the fall, she does know that she wants to be a doctor.

John Sillcox's project was entitled "Nonagonal Numbers in the Fibonacci Sequence and Related Diophantine Equations."

Sillcox's math project looked for similar numbers in both the Nonagonal numbers, which are the ninth order of polygonal numbers, and the Fibonacci Sequence.

"I proved the theorem that states that the only numbers that are in both sequences are 0 and 1," said Sillcox. "It has been established that Fibonacci numbers satisfy one type of equation. If Nonagonal Numbers are Fibonacci numbers as well, then we can replace this equation wherever the Fibonacci numbers will go, which will mean that particular terms is both a Fibonacci and nonagonal number."

Last year, Sillcox was doing research at Brown University and stayed in contact with Professor Allison Pacelli, who served as his mentor.

Sillcox, a senior at Jericho High School, will be attending Stanford University next fall and likely majoring in mathematics.

Suraj Rambhia's project was entitled "Modulation of the Ubiguitin-Proteasome Complex Via Morphine Induced Nitric Oxide: A Possible Mechanism for the Prevention of Neurodegenerative Diseases."

Rambhia, a senior at Jericho High School, studied a new way to treat neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. "Current treatments for those diseases treat more of the symptoms rather than the causes," said Rambhia. "Most of the diseases are in different parts of the brain, but are actually caused by the same thing - the result of the death of a neuron. I used morphine to stimulate the production of nitric oxide within the cells, using brain cancer cells. What I tested for was the level of protein activity - called the Ubiguitin-Proteasome system. I used various stimuli to stimulate the diseases. I discovered that morphine has the ability to specifically alter the cell's activity so it is actually a viable target for future research."

Rambhia worked with Dr. George Stefano and Dr. Patrick Cadet from SUNY Old Westbury. Although it is too early for Rambhia to know where he will be attending college, he knows that he wants to be a physician.

This year's semifinalists will each receive $1,000 in recognition of their achievement. In addition, each of their schools receives $1,000 per semifinalist to enhance math and science programs. Since beginning this school award in 2000, Intel has contributed more than $1.8 million to improve math and science programs in U.S. high schools.

This year's semifinalists were selected from 1,600 entrants in 47 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Their research projects cover all disciplines of science including chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, social science and biology. The students range in age from 15 to 18 with females representing 50 percent of the total entries. Finalists will be announced on Jan. 26.