Intel Science Talent Search Announces 40 Finalists

The nation's oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition 'Intel Science Talent Search 2013' has recognized its 40 U.S. high school seniors as finalists.

The Society for Science and the Public has announced the list of the nation's 40 brightest high school candidates who have been chosen for the competition Wednesday, Jan. 23.

For the past 15 years, the Intel Science Talent Search has been sponsored by Intel. The candidates for this competition were selected on the basis of their original scientific research, their leaderships and achievements that are not just confined within the classroom.

"This year's Intel Science Talent Search finalists are presenting a wide range of research, from optimizing algae oil for biofuel to developing a new treatment for blood cancer," said Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Foundation, in a press release. "It's exciting for the future of innovation because the U.S. needs these 40 high school seniors, and others like them, to question, explore and help solve some of the world's greatest challenges."

The finalists will be competing for a whopping $630,000. They will head to Washington where the competition will be held from 7-13 March. The top winner receives $100,000 from Intel Foundation. 

Similar to the previous year, even these lucky 40 candidates get to meet national leaders. On March 12, the lucky winner's name will be announced at the National Building Museum during an award ceremony.

According to CNET, till date the people who have participated in the Science Talent Search have won 7 Nobel Prizes, 5 national medals of Science and several such laurels.

Listing a few of the projects proposed by these talented 40 participants is, "Predicting, Detecting, and Treating Seizures through Vagus Nerve Stimulation," by Akshay Padmanabha from Germantown, Houston High School; "Development of a Low-Cost Analyzer for Ferroelectric Characterization," by Kevin Chen from Fremont, Mission San Jose High School; "Fluorescent Imaging for Nano-Detection (FIND) of Cancer Cells for Future Surgery," by Kelly Zhang from Oakland, the College Preparatory School.