HHH High School Seniors Named Siemens Semifinalists

The Half Hollow Hills school district has three semifinalists in the prestigious Siemens Foundation Competition in Math, Science and Technology.

Two of the students—Dianna Hu and Gurpreet Singh—are seniors and Alexandra Nemeth is a senior.

Hu's project title was "Computational Analysis of Specific Missense Mutations in the SMN Tudor Domain," and her mentor was Dr. Carlos Simmerling, from SUNY Stony Brook.

Singh's project title was "A Temperature Controlled Investigation of Gold and Palladium Nanoparticle Catalysis for the Performance Enhancement of a PEM Fuel Cell," and his mentor was also from SUNY Stony Brook: Dr. Miriam Rafailovich.

Nemeth's project title was "Evidence that a Synergistic Interaction between the insecticides Fluvalinate and Imidacloprid Impairs the memory and Learning of Apis mellifera," and her mentor was Dr. Zachary Huang, from Michigan State University.

"The accomplishments of these students are amazing," said Dr. Sheldon Karnilow, Superintendent of Schools for Half Hollow Hills. "The fact that their knowledge and research in the various fields of science actually benefit the world is phenomenal. The entire Half Hollow Hills community applauds these students on their outstanding achievements."

The Siemens Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to providing scholarships and increasing access to higher education for talented mathematics, science, engineering, and technology students in the United States. The Siemens Competition seeks to promote excellence by encouraging students to undertake individual or team research projects. It fosters intensive research that improves students' understanding of the value of scientific study and informs their consideration of future careers in these disciplines.

Students can compete as individuals or as a member of a team. Individual projects promote independent research. Team projects foster collaborative research efforts, as well as individual contributions to the cooperative endeavor. Scholarships for winning projects range from $1,000 to $100,000.