The Last of the 2009 Siemens Competition Regional Winners Announced
at the California Institute of Technology? Will Compete for
$100,000 at National Finals Lynnelle Ye Wins Top Individual Prize;
Ryan Lindeborg and Andrew James Swoboda Win Top Team Prize
PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Research projects in the
areas of Mathematics and Materials Science scored the highest marks
this evening, as Lynnelle Ye of Palo Alto, California and the team
of Ryan Lindeborg of Laguna Niguel, California and Andrew James
Swoboda of Oakton, Virginia received the top honors at the Region
One Finals of the 2009 Siemens Competition in Math, Science &
Technology, the nation's premier high school science competition.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO)
Tonight's winners will receive thousands of dollars in college
scholarships and be invited to compete at the National Finals in
New York City on December 3-7, where the winners of six regional
competitions across the United States will vie for scholarships
ranging from $10,000 to the top prize of $100,000. The Siemens
Competition, a signature program of the Siemens Foundation, is
administered by the College Board. "These students have just earned
their place among the nation's greatest high school scientists,"
said James Whaley, President of the Siemens Foundation, based in
Iselin, New Jersey. "Each year, the students' work becomes more
impressive, and in a record-setting year such as this one, their
achievements become even more outstanding. We are proud to welcome
them into our family of Siemens Scholars and look forward to their
participation at the national finals in New York City." The
students presented their research this weekend to a panel of
distinguished judges from the California Institute of Technology,
host of the Siemens Competition Region One Finals. Individual
Winner Lynnelle Ye, a senior at Palo Alto High School in Palo Alto,
California won the individual category and a $3,000 college
scholarship for her Mathematics project in the field of game
theory. Game theory is applied in fields ranging from economics to
engineering to study systems where individuals compete in a shared
environment. The project, titled Chomp on Graphs and Subsets,
studied games in which two players take turns to eliminate nodes or
edges of a graph. The player to remove the graph's last node wins
the game. The aim of the research was to understand the best
possible strategy for playing this game and to determine which
player will win from each starting graph when each plays her best
possible strategy. "Ms. Ye demonstrated a good understanding of
prior research. She was able to build on tools developed by earlier
researchers to solve a number of interesting open cases," said Dr.
Michelle Effros, Professor of Electrical Engineering, at the
California Institute of Technology. "Even seemingly simple games
like graph chomp can be strikingly difficult to analyze
mathematically. Studying this type of question helps us to build
tools for reasoning about strategic behavior in more complicated
environments." Ms. Ye is the 2008 China Girls Math Olympiad gold
medal winner, garnering the highest score on the USA team that
year. She is also a three-time Math Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP)
qualifier and two-time attendee. She has qualified for the USA Math
Olympiad three times, and been named to her school's Science
Olympiad team since 2007. Ms. Ye has additionally qualified for the
Research Science Institute. She has been President of her school's
Math Club since 2007, and has served as Coach for the Jane Lathrop
Stanford Middle School MathCounts since 2006. Ms. Ye's dream job is
to become a Professor of Mathematics when she completes her
studies, as it is one of her top passions. She notes that her
interest in the field was piqued when she somewhat accidentally
qualified for her middle school's MathCounts team in sixth grade.
Ms. Ye worked on this project with her mentor Mr. Tirasan
Khandhawit, a Graduate Student at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Team Winners Ryan
Lindeborg, a sophomore at Dana Hills High School in Dana Point,
California, and Andrew James Swoboda, a junior at Thomas Jefferson
High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, won
the team category and will share a $6,000 scholarship. The team's
Materials Science project, titled Optimization of Platinum
Nanoparticle Deposition on Nafion Membranes, looked at a novel
method to maximize efficient platinum catalyst loading and enhance
the performance of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell.
Among other findings, the research showcased a method to decrease
the use of platinum - a very expensive metal - within the PEM fuel
cell by 50%, thereby making the technology more economical as well
as more scientifically approachable. "The team research was
impressive because it created a pathway to a better and more
efficient operation of this particular fuel cell, which is a good
problem to be thinking about given the changing energy landscape,"
said Dr. Julia R. Greer, Assistant Professor of Materials Science
at the California Institute of Technology. "In addition to having a
very clean, clearly described and well analyzed research, the
teamwork here was impressive, which demonstrated a very important
trait the students share with true scientific research teams to the
judges." Mr. Lindeborg is active in the International Project
Outreach Community Service Program. He has competed and won the
Regional, State and National Improv Team Competition: Destination
Imagination activities. He serves as the CIA Director for the
Junior State of America State Cabinet, and is also the President of
his school's Amnesty International chapter. He is an active member
of Habitat for Humanity, Children's Miracle Network, Junior State
of America, Family Assistance Ministries, Second Harvest Food Bank,
Special Camp for Special Kids, Students Run the Los Angeles
Marathon and the Friendship Shelter. Mr. Lindeborg is also Scholar
Athlete with the highest GPA in his class, and also plays the
saxophone. His dream job would be to work as an Orthopedic Surgeon,
where he can combine sports and medicine. Mr. Swoboda is a member
of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society and was a
representative for FroshComm (Student Government for entering
freshmen). He was also his high school's alternate for the Hugh
O'Brien Youth Leadership team. Mr. Swoboda is a member of his
school's Varsity Soccer Team, the Team America Rocketry Challenge
group, and is an active Club Soccer player and team Captain. His
dream job is to be a Lead Design Engineer at Apple, as he has
always had a keen interest in figuring out how things work and how
to make them work better. He has published "What Seniors Write at
America's Best High School," a non-profit book of college
application essays written by seniors at his high school, and is
currently working on the third edition. The team's mentor for this
project was Mr. Jonathan Burk, a Graduate Student in The University
of California in Santa Barbara, California. Regional Finalists
Regional Finalists each received a $1,000 scholarship. Regional
Finalists in the individual category were: -- Alex Han, The Harker
School, San Jose, CA -- David Liu, Lynbrook High School, San Jose,
CA -- Tito Thomas, Troy High School, Fullerton, CA -- William
Zhang, La Jolla High School, La Jolla, CA Regional Finalists in the
team category were: -- Cassandra Buru and Jian Liu, Northview High
School, Johns Creek, GA -- William Han and Frank Zhao, Westview
High School, Portland, OR -- Samantha Piszkiewicz and Nicolai
Doreng-Stearns, Laguna Beach High School, Laguna Beach, CA --
Katherine Wang and Sreetha Sidharthan, Interlake High School,
Bellevue, WA The Siemens Competition The Siemens Competition was
launched in 1998 to recognize America's best and brightest math and
science students. In another record-setting year, 2,151 students
registered to enter the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and
Technology in 2009 - more than ever before - for a total of 1,348
project submissions - a 14% increase in project submissions over
2008 figures and more than a 12% increase in the number of
registrations. Entries are judged at the regional level by esteemed
scientists at six leading research universities which host the
regional competitions: California Institute of Technology? Carnegie
Mellon University? Georgia Institute of Technology? Massachusetts
Institute of Technology? University of Notre Dame? and The
University of Texas at Austin. Winners of the regional events are
invited to compete at the National Finals at New York University in
New York City, December 3 - December 7, 2009. Visit
http://www.siemens-foundation.org/ on December 7, 2009 at 9:30 am
EST to view a live webcast of the National Finalist Award
Presentation. You can also log into and follow the Siemens
Foundation on Twitter (http://twitter.com/SFoundation) for the
latest information and announcements throughout this year's
competition. About the Siemens Foundation The Siemens Foundation
provides more than $7 million annually in support of educational
initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and
math in the United States. Its signature programs, the Siemens
Competition in Math, Science & Technology and Siemens Awards
for Advanced Placement, reward exceptional achievement in science,
math and technology. The newest program, The Siemens We Can Change
the World Challenge, encourages K-12 students to develop innovative
green solutions for environmental issues. By supporting outstanding
students today, and recognizing the teachers and schools that
inspire their excellence, the Foundation helps nurture tomorrow's
scientists and engineers. The Foundation's mission is based on the
culture of innovation, research and educational support that is the
hallmark of Siemens' U.S. companies and its parent company, Siemens
AG. For further information, visit
http://www.siemens-foundation.org/. The College Board The College
Board is a not-for-profit membership association whose mission is
to connect students to college success and opportunity. Founded in
1900, the College Board is composed of more than 5,700 schools,
colleges, universities and other educational organizations. Each
year, the College Board serves seven million students and their
parents, 23,000 high schools, and 3,800 colleges through major
programs and services in college readiness, college admission,
guidance, assessment, financial aid, enrollment, and teaching and
learning. Among its best-known programs are the SAT®, the
PSAT/NMSQT® and the Advanced Placement Program® (AP®). The College
Board is committed to the principles of excellence and equity, and
that commitment is embodied in all of its programs, services,
activities and concerns. For further information, visit
http://www.collegeboard.com/.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070904/SIEMENSLOGO
DATASOURCE: Siemens Foundation CONTACT: Valerie Francois, Siemens
Foundation , +1-732-590-5292 , ; or Alexander Aizenberg, Weber
Shandwick, +1-212-445-8414, , for Siemens Foundation Web Site:
http://www.siemens-/ foundation.org
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