McLean, VA – March 12, 2015 – The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) proudly announces that RSI alumni distinguished themselves again this year in the Intel Science Talent Search (STS). Of the three 1st Place Awards, CEE’s Rickoids took two of the Honors. Of the three Third Place Awards, the Center’s Rickoids garnered two of the distinctions.
“So very nice…..4 of the top 9 Intel Awards!” said Joann DiGennaro, CEE’s President. “HOORAY!”
Starting this year, the Intel Science Talent Search tripled the top awards to further recognize finalists and highlight the variety of research conducted. In place of the previous grand prize of $100,000, three first-place Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 were presented to students who showed exceptional scientific potential in three categories: Basic Research, Global Good, and Innovation.
RSI 2014 Alumni First Place Intel Winners are:
- Noah Golowich, 17, of Lexington, Massachusetts, won the First Place Medal of Distinction for Basic Research, which recognizes finalists who demonstrate exceptional scientific potential through depth of research and analysis. Noah developed a proof in the area of Ramsey theory, a field of mathematics based on finding types of structure in large and complicated systems. He is the captain of his high school math team, plays for his high school tennis team and plays jazz piano in his spare time. Noah was mentored by David Rolnick, RSI alum ’07, at MIT during RSI.
- Andrew Jin, 17, of San Jose, California, won the First Place Medal of Distinction for Global Good, which rewards finalists who demonstrate great scientific potential through their passion to make a difference. Andrew developed a machine learning algorithm to identify adaptive mutations across the human genome. Andrew was mentored by Joseph Vitti at the Broad Institute during RSI.
In addition to the top awards, three second-place winners received awards of $75,000 and three third-place winners received awards of $35,000.
- Shashwat Kishore, 18, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, won the Third Place Medal of Distinction for Basic Research, Shashwat’s math project focused on representing abstract algebras using matrices. His work developed a new relationship between these matrices and topology. Shashwat was mentored by Gus Lonergan at MIT during RSI.
- Anvita Gupta, 17 of Scottsdale Arizona, won the Third Place Medal of Distinction for Global Good. Anvita used machine learning to “teach” a computer to identify potential drugs for cancer, tuberculosis and Ebola. Anvita was mentored by Dr. Gil Alterovitz at MIT during RSI.
About the Center for Excellence in Education
The Center for Excellence in Education was founded in 1983 by the late Admiral H.G. Rickover and Joann P. DiGennaro, President of the Center. The Center's mission is to nurture high school and university scholars to careers of excellence and leadership in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and to encourage collaboration between and among leaders in the global community. CEE sponsors the Research Science Institute (RSI), the USA Biology Olympiad (USABO), and the Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP). For more information about the Center and its programs, visit CEE’s Web site, www.cee.org
| Sources: |
| Maureen Palmer, Public Affairs Manager, 703-448-9062 ext. 224 |
Related websites:
Center for Excellence in Education: http://www.cee.org/
Research Science Institute: http://www.cee.org/research-science-institute
Teacher Enrichment Program: http://www.cee.org/teacher-enrichment-program
USA Biology Olympiad: http://www.cee.org/usa-biology-olympiad-usabo