Syosset Intel Semifinalists Honored

seniors Gary Rosenblatt, Karan Sikka, Harris Weber and Deanna Zhu have been chosen as semi-finalists in the

Each semi-finalist will receive a $1,000 reward, and the district will receive a grant of $4,000 in honor of the students. 

The Intel Science Talent Search recognizes 300 students as semifinalists each year and is one of the the nation’s most prestigious pre-college science competition. Past Intel semifinalists and finalists have made extraordinary contributions to science and hold more than 100 of the world’s most coveted science and math honors, including seven Nobel Prizes and four National Medals of Science.

• Gary Rosenblatt was selected for his research on Economic Indicators as Stock Market Gauges. In his research, historical data of several of the most prominent economic indicators was compiled and statistically analyzed for correlation with stock market data.
• Karan Sikka was selected for his research on increasing the power output of hydrogen fuel cells through the insight that he gained on catalytic mechanisms, using gold and palladium nano-catalysts and controlling fuel cell operating temperature. His project is titled A Temperature Controlled Investigation of Gold and Palladium Nanoparticle Catalysis for the Performance Enhancement of a PEM Fuel Cell.
• Harris Jacob Weber’s winning research was on P2X receptors, which are responsible for transforming  crippling spinal cord injuries into devastating paralysis through secondary expansion of tissue damage over time. The role of P2X receptors and their inhibitory properties were investigated using Dictyostelium as a model organism. Jacob's project is titled The Inhibitory Capacity of Coomassie G-250 and Role if P2X Receptors within Dicytostelium discoideum for Bulk Fluid Transport, Chemotaxis, and Mechanical Stress Response.
• Deanna Zhu was selected for her research studying mutations in the protein components of the apoptotic signaling pathway and their effect on human apoptosome assembly.  Deanna's research is titled The Assembly and Activation of the Human Apoptosome.