$40,000 award goes to Alan Bu (RSI ’23) in STEM competition.
McLean, Va. (March 13, 2024) — The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) is pleased to announce that Alan Bu, an alum of CEE’s 2023 Research Science Institute (RSI), placed tenth in the 2024 Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) science and math competition for high school seniors. He is the recipient of the $40,000 prize.
“I am so very proud of Alan. He represents the future of U.S. global leadership in science and technology,” said Joann DiGennaro, CEE President.
Mr. Bu, a student at Phillips Exeter Academy, NH, was selected from 2,162 highly qualified entrants. His math project gave precise limits on how many spanning trees a planar graph can have. A spanning tree is the connecting point of vertices in a graph. His key insight was to connect the spanning tree counting problem to a separate problem in linear algebra, a different field of math, which he could then attack. His results shed light on the structure of planar graphs.
Six other 2023 RSI alumni were among the top 40 finalists: Maryam Abdel-Azim, Central Bucks High School, PA; Sophie Chen, Caddo Parish Magnet High School, LA; Sarang Goel, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, TX; Luke Huang, New Canaan High School, CT; Ekansh Mittal, Westview High School, OR; and Julianne Wu, University High School, CA. Ms. Wu also was a medalist in CEE’s USA Biolympiad in 2021 & 2022. A total of 22 of CEE’s program alumni were among the 300 semi-finalists.
The Research Science Institute students are building upon their extraordinary RSI experience, which included original, innovative research at RSI. RSI is widely recognized as the most prestigious international summer research program in the world for high school students. A six-week, summer enrichment program, collaboratively sponsored with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), it emphasizes advanced theory and research in the sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). RSI participants experience the entire research cycle from start to finish. At RSI they read the most current literature in their field, draft and execute a detailed research plan, and deliver conference-style oral and written reports on their findings. One hundred of the world’s most accomplished high school students are selected annually to participate in this program, which is cost-free to all competitively selected students.
To date, over 3,000 high school students representing every U.S. state and 61 nations have experienced RSI. CEE alumni enjoy networking and enrichment activities throughout their collegiate and professional careers. CEE’s RSI will be in session from June 23 to August 3, 2024, on the campus of MIT. For more information about RSI, visit https://www.cee.org/programs/research-science-institute.
The top 40 Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists were selected from 300 scholars and 2,162 qualified entrants. The finalists represent 36 schools across 19 states and were chosen based on their projects’ scientific rigor and their potential to become world-changing scientists and leaders. Each finalist is awarded at least $25,000.
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About the Center for Excellence in Education
The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization, 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 (STEM), and to encourage collaboration between and among scientific and technological leaders in the global community. CEE sponsors the Research Science Institute (RSI), USA Biolympiad (USABO), Teacher Enrichment Program (TEP), and STEM Lyceums. For more information, visit www.cee.org.
Media Contact:
Tom Flavell, (703) 448-9062 ext. 237