Ward Melville Students Named 2017 Siemens Semifinalists

THREE VILLAGE, NY - From The Three Village Central School District via Syntax: Faima Quadir and Andrew Zhang, Ward Melville High School students in the Three Village Central School District, are among the 491 semifinalists named nationwide on Oct. 17 in the 2017 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology.

The semifinalists were selected from more than 1,860 projects in science, technology, engineering and math fields.

Faima worked on a group project called “Cloud Mode Anomaly Detection in the Cimel Sunphotometer Using Machine Learning Algorithms” – a project that looked at ways to enhance the current tools used for predicting, monitoring and managing future climate change. As part of her research, Faima worked to create a program in Python that would automate anomaly detection through machine learning algorithms, which look for patterns in the data in order to classify it as good or bad.

Andrew’s project was titled “Sorting Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Using the Surfactant Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate and the Synthesized Organic Molecule Triptycene-Dimer.” In this project, a nonplanar aromatic molecule, triptycene-dimer (trip-dimer), and a common surfactant, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), were used to sort single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs). SWNTs have the capability to replace silicon as the semiconductor used for computing applications. To realize this promise, methods such as these need to be developed to sort SWNTs into their constituent components.

According to the organization, the semifinalists’ will now be 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.

Photo courtesy of the Three Village Central School District