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2009 Siemens Competition Regional Winners Announced at The University of Texas at Austin; Will Move on to National Finals for Chance at $100,000 Peter Hu Wins Top Individual Prize; Sean Karson, Dan Liu and Kevin Chen Win Top Team Prize.

Research projects in the areas of materials science and mathematics scored top marks this evening, as Peter Hu of Denton, Texas and the team of Sean Karson of Winter Park, Florida, Dan Liu of Austin, Texas and Kevin Chen of Missouri City, Texas received the highest honors at the Region Two Finals of the 2009 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, the nation’s premier high school science competition.

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 judges from The University of Texas at Austin, host of the Siemens Competition Region Two Finals.

Individual Winner

Peter Hu, a senior at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science in Denton, Texas, won the individual category and a $3,000 college scholarship for his materials science project that aimed to develop a novel and biologically compatible material for protein drug delivery. While similar delivery systems for therapeutic proteins are known in scientific literature, many of these materials were found to be carcinogenic. Mr. Hu’s research, titled Novel Thermogelling Dispersions of Polymer Nanoparticles for Controlled Drug Delivery, focused on an alternative FDA-approved material to mimic the behavior of these previous delivery systems, effectively avoiding prior toxicity issues.

“While all of the projects were very impressive today, Mr. Hu’s research was successful on many levels,” said Dr. Christopher Bielawski, Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at The University of Texas at Austin. “This research project established a key proof of concept in the laboratory and the materials presented are poised for examination in living systems. Mr. Hu’s work is very advanced and comparable to that of a second or third year graduate student; with minimal tweaks, this research project stands an excellent chance at being published in a top-tier scientific journal and will likely make quite a splash in many scientific communities.”

Mr. Hu is a senior who aspires to one day lead a research team at a university or facility, such as the National Cancer Institute. Currently, he is the Vice President of the Junior Engineering Technical Society, and is organizing a science demonstration team in order to promote interest in math and science among elementary and middle school students. Mr. Hu is also a member of his school’s Research Organization.

Both of Mr. Hu’s parents are physicists, spurring his interest in science at a young age. In addition to his academic pursuits, Mr. Hu plays piano and violin, as well as basketball and table tennis in his free time. His mentor for this research project was Professor Liping Tang of the Department of Bioengineering at The University of Texas at Arlington.

Team Winners

Sean Karson, a senior at Trinity Prepatory High School in Winter Park, Florida; Dan Liu, a junior at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy High School in Austin, Texas; and Kevin Chen, a junior at William P. Clements High School in Sugar Land, Texas, won the team category and will share a $6,000 college scholarship for their mathematics project entitled Relating Missing and Decycling Edges in Directed Graphs. The team’s mathematics project has the potential to increase efficiency in real world networks by establishing an upper bound on the minimum number of connections that must be removed to destroy all cyclic pathways in systems like the World Wide Web and transcontinental trade routes.

“The team’s work was truly impressive in that it focused on a topic in pure mathematics,” said Dr. Haskell Rosenthal, John T. Stuart III Centennial Professor Emeritus in Mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin. “With new and delicate techniques, they have advanced the infrastructure and knowledge of graph theory by providing better bounds, which is of fundamental importance to the mathematics community. Their depth of knowledge was remarkable, and their work was on the same level of that of a Ph.D.”

Mr. Karson is a senior who has received Excellence Awards for Honors Computer Programming C++, Graphics I, Honors Chemistry, Honors Precalculus, AP JAVA and AP Chemistry. He has also received the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Math & Science Award, and is recognized as a National Merit Semifinalist. Mr. Karson is Captain of the Quiz Bowl Team, President of Mu Alpha Theta, a member of the Spanish Honor Society and the National Honor Society and volunteers for the Center of Math, Arts and Science Achievement. He has also received the Varsity Baseball Coach’s Award and the Most Valuable Defensive Player Award, and has been the starting third baseman on the Varsity Baseball Team since his sophomore year. Mr. Karson has also leveraged his love of puzzles to create a club called Rubik’s Revenge, aimed to teach middle school students how to solve Rubik’s Cubes.

Mr. Liu is a junior who aspires to one day become a computer or electronics engineer or programmer. He is currently Vice President of the InvenTeams Club, Co-Director of his school’s Math Team, and a member of the Liberal Arts and Science Academy’s (LASA) National Honor Society Chapter. Mr. Liu is also a part of the LASA Camerata Orchestra and Science Olympiad Team. He is a part of the Circle C Swim Team, and also plays badminton and ping-pong.

Mr. Chen is a junior and is a member of his school’s Mu Alpha Theta, Junior Engineering Technical Society and Computer Science Team.  He is also an active volunteer at a local middle school Math Club. Mr. Chen’s dad is a computer engineer and has taught mathematics and physics in the past, playing a large role in sparking his interest in math when he was young. His mother is also very encouraging and supportive of his passion for math and science, helping to foster his current academic interests. He enjoys practicing piano, playing tennis and programming games in his free time.

The team’s mentor was Dr. Jian Shen, Professor of Mathematics at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.

Regional Finalists
Regional Finalists each received a $1,000 scholarship.

Regional Finalists in the individual category were:
–  Sai Achi, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX
–  Somak Das, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX
–  Prianka Ghoshal, Westlake High School, Austin, TX

–  Sahil Khetpal, Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Denton, TX

Regional Finalists in the team category were:
–  Fayen Bastani and Jonathan Lin, Jasper High School, Plano, TX
–  Sumit Gogia and Patrick Kim, The Science Academy of South Texas,
Mercedes, TX; and Vincent Yu, Sha Tin College, Sha Tin, Hong Kong
–  Sunil Pai, The Kinkaid School, Houston TX; and Aneesh Sampath, Ward
Melville High School, East Setauket, NY

–  Tianjiao (Tom) Zhang and Liang Gu, Bellaire High School, Bellaire, TX

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 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 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 www.collegeboard.com.

Hydrogen power has garnered all the hype these days and if you think that people are not using it, then you’re quite wrong. In fact, more and more people are now looking for a limitless supply of clean and usable hydrogen fuel. Have you finally decided to get a hydrogen fuel cell for your vehicle? If your answer to this question is a yes, read on to find out how.

There are a lot of advantages in building a hydrogen fuel cell. One is that it is cheap. If you’re looking for a cost effective energy source, make it hydrogen fuel. The fuel cell does not require a huge amount of money or resources. The parts of the hydrogen fuel cell can be obtained from the hardware store in your locality. Even if the hydrogen fuel cell is a powerful system, the parts are fortunately inexpensive and not very complicated.

Another advantage is that the fuel cells are not complicated. In fact, the process is quite easy. You will the following in building the fuel cell:

1. Quart-sized water container
2. Vacuum hose
3. Electrical wiring to be used in connecting the car battery to an HHO generator
4. Baking soda

If you don’t want to trouble yourself in purchasing the materials one by one, you can also buy HHO car kits. You can get the kits online or major local stores.

Once you have the different materials needed to build the fuel cells, you should be able to put them together properly. This is not hard to do as long as you have decent handyman skills. Building rocket power is definitely easy as compared to rocket science. The hydrogen fuel cells as mentioned awhile ago are not complicated and if you purchase the kits, it is equipped with step by step instructions in building the fuel cells.

So what’s it going to be? Are you going to purchase the materials one by one and later on research for the procedure on the net? Or are you going to opt for the HHO car kits? The choice will greatly depend on the individual. Oftentimes, price is a great factor when choosing between these two options. Well, it’s all up to you now. Just make sure that you choose the most cost effective way.

If you choose to purchase the materials one by one, you still need to find the needed information on how to build the hydrogen fuel cells. This is not a big problem and you have the internet to thank for. You can find all the needed resources online to help you build the fuel cells. You can print the instructions to guide you every step of the way.

On the other hand, if you opt for the HHO car kits, you hit two birds with one stone. All the materials needed to build the fuel cell are included in the kit and you don’t have to research online for the instructions because it also included in the kit.

If you want to enjoy an unlimited supply of useful and clean energy, build your own HHO fuel cell now. As long as you know how to read and comprehend, you can build the fuel cells in no time. If you want, you can also ask help from friends and other family members.

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You can now find hydrogen fuel for your car or cars and experience the many benefits it can provide. Some hydrogen cars are still being tested to prove its efficiency but time will come when these cars will be fully accepted on the road. It would be very beneficial if there are lots of hydrogen stations all over the world; well, who knows… perhaps that time will come too.

The demand for hydrogen fuel for cars will soon increase as the source of hydrogen fuel becomes stable. With the use of hydrogen powered vehicles, you can enjoy driving for about a month without refilling the tank; that’s discrete mileage, right? At present, fully hydrogen powered cars are not yet available.

However, the existing car engines can now be modified and converted. Once modified, the cars can use hydrogen as fuel. By 2010, some car manufacturers are going to launch fully hydrogen powered cars that can answer today’s energy and environmental problems.

With very few hydrogen fuel for cars at the moment, the price is too high for ordinary individuals to afford. But no one can really tell if the hydrogen fuel cars will soon be reasonably priced. At the moment, you can have your vehicle converted so that you can get the feel of driving a hydrogen fuel vehicle. Rest assured that you can save lots of money because you will be using water instead of gasoline. If you want to gain 35-100% increase in mileage, have you car converted the soonest.

Driving conditions differ and this is one thing to consider when using hydrogen fuel vehicles. The car of tomorrow will have an HHO fuel cell. This fuel cell can even be made at home. There are HHO car kits so that you can easily build the fuel cells since the building instructions are included in the kit. If you want, you can also purchase the needed materials and then look for the building instructions online.

How do hydrogen fuel cars work? The process is not hard to understand. Once the car is converted, you can now use clean water as fuel. The water molecules are separated and then the gases are forced into a combustion chamber. In the chamber, the gases are burned and in turn, energy is produced. Now, the car has power and you can enjoy driving for as long you like. Not only is the hydrogen fuel car cost effective, but it is also environment friendly as well. It can reduce pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases.

So, if you want to save the environment and cut-down your gasoline costs, have your vehicle converted now. Well of course, you need to consider if there are hydrogen stations in your locality. Otherwise, you will depend largely on your water source at home. You must know your options before you convert the car. It will involve a certain amount of money and you have to be prepared for it. And when new and fully hydrogen fuel cars are sold for the public, you can buy the car; that is, if you can afford one.

You have to learn more about hydrogen fuel for cars. If you want, you can take advantage of the various resources online and gather the needed information. You have to know how the hydrogen fuel car works so that you can appreciate it even more.

The environment definitely need help nowadays and the hydrogen fuel cars might be of great assistance.

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