Hathaway Brown School is proud to announce today that four of its seniors have been named semifinalists in the 2017 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology for their multiyear original research projects through the Science Research & Engineering Program (SREP).
Congratulations to Sukhmani Kaur, Amaya Razmi, Anika Rede, and Erin Xu.
Kaur has worked on her research in the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine with Dr. Tracey Bonfield. The work she submitted to Siemens explores the antibacterial and antimicrobial properties of umbilical cord tissue and the ability to use this currently discarded tissue as a possible treatment for pulmonary diseases.
Razmi has been a part of the Biomedical Engineering laboratory of Dr. Anirban Sen Gupta working with Michael Sun at Case Western Reserve University on a project to create drug-containing nanoparticles that target blood clots to treat vascular disease. Specifically, she has tested two proteins that target major parts of the blood clot to determine which led to the best clot binding and retention.
Rede conducted research with Dr. Philip Feng and Hao “Justin” Jia in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Case Western Reserve University. She has worked to develop a technique to isolate and manipulate cancer cells using resonance so that in the long term molecular differences between these cells can be used to mechanically differentiate them from non-cancerous cells.
Xu’s research takes place within the Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in the laboratory of Dr. Mike Hore under the mentorship of Xiaolong Lang. She synthesized different isomers of the polymer PNIPAM and analyzed each one’s properties within different solvents at a range of temperatures with the goal of identifying chemicals that can be used in thermoresponsive materials and as drug delivery vehicles.
Launched by the Siemens Foundation in 1999, the Siemens Competition is the nation’s premier competition in math, science and technology for high school students. Every year, students submit innovative individual and team research projects to regional and national levels of competition as they vie for college scholarships ranging from $1,000 up to $100,000. This year out of the more than 1860 projects submitted, 491 students are being recognized as semi-finalists. This select group of students and their notable projects are judged to determine who advances on to six regional competitions held in November. Individual and team winners of the regional contests earn the opportunity to compete in the National Finals held at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. in December where $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.
For more information on the Siemens competition, click here.
Congratulations Sukhmani, Amaya, Anika, and Erin!