Intel Science Talent Search $100,000 Scholarship Awarded to a 17-Year-Old Female High School Senior From New York

Business Wire, March 13, 2000

Business Editors & High-tech/Education Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 13, 2000

"Junior Nobel Prize" Runners-up from Montana, Iowa, Pennsylvania,

Kentucky, New York and California

Intel Corporation and Science Service tonight awarded the $100,000 first-place college scholarship for the Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) to Viviana Risca, a 17-year-old high school senior at Paul D. Schreiber Senior High School in Port Washington, N.Y.

The Intel STS is America's oldest, and most prestigious, pre-college science scholarship competition, often considered the "Junior Nobel Prize." This year, Intel has increased award scholarships and equipment from $330,000 to $1.25 million.

Risca, who entered a computer science project in molecular computing titled "DNA-based Steganography," is the third young woman in the last seven years to win the top prize. Risca studied steganography, a data encryption technique that embeds secret messages within large amounts of seemingly innocent information. She encrypted the message, "JUNE6_INVASION: NORMANDY," inserted it in the gene sequence of a DNA-strand, and flanked it by two secret "primer" DNA sequences. Then she combined the molecule with many other similar molecules.

The hidden message could be retrieved only by someone knowing the two secret primer sequences -- the keys to the code. Because the pair of primers provides a trillion trillion options, she concludes that the code is essentially unbreakable.

First in her class, Risca is managing editor of the school's literary magazine, and has won numerous science and writing awards. A native of Romania and a published poet, she enjoys computer programming, painting and badminton, and hopes to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jayce Getz, 18, a senior at Big Sky High School in Missoula, MT, was awarded the second place $75,000 scholarship for his mathematics project titled, "Extension of a Theorem of Kiming and Olsson for the Partition Function." He shows divisibility properties of the number of ways that a positive integer can be written as a sum. This extends the 1919 work of the famous Indian mathematician, Ramanujan.

Getz is an Eagle Scout and president of the Key Club. His hobbies include performing and composing for piano, writing, snow and water skiing, as well as wind surfing. He plans to study both mathematics and physics.

Feng Zhang, 18, a senior at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, IA, was awarded the third place $50,000 scholarship for his biochemistry project in molecular virology titled, "Genetic Functional Analysis of the Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus GAG Gene Reveals an Inhibitory Element that can be Masked to Control Retroviral Assembly."

In his two-year study, Zhang investigated whether parts of the structural protein GAG could become useful targets for therapy of viral infections like HIV/AIDS by disrupting the assembly of infectious viruses. He hopes his work will "provide a small piece to a larger puzzle of conquering the HIV disease."

Zhang is an Eagle Scout, a political campaign volunteer and the recipient of numerous awards including the Intel Young Scientist Scholarship at the 1999 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He hopes to attend Harvard.

"We applaud these young scientists -- our country's future leaders, thinkers and innovators. Their grounding in science and math is crucial to making sense of today's technological world, and making the best decisions for tomorrow," said Dr. Craig R. Barrett, Intel's president and chief executive officer.

"The Intel Science Talent Search is an ideal way for us to recognize and reward student excellence in science, as well as teachers and schools, that go the extra mile to excite and involve their students; and to encourage parents to stay involved in their children's education."

Completing the list of the top ten winners (digital photos available via NewsCom bulletin board system (BBS), www.newscom.com and AP Photo Network):

--   Fourth Place, a $25,000 scholarship goes to Alexander `Sasha'
     Schwartz, 17, of Radnor High School in Radnor, PA, for his
     mathematics project, "On Coset Partitions of Abelian Groups."
     Schwartz worked on abstract algebra, determining when a finite
     Abelian group can be partitioned into cosets of distinct
     subgroups. He is active in the juggling, math and engineering
     clubs, and has earned top honors in national and international
     mathematics and chemistry contests. Schwartz plans to major in
     math and physics at Harvard.
--   Fifth Place, a $25,000 scholarship, goes to Eugene Simuni, 18, a
     senior at Midwood High School at Brooklyn College, in Brooklyn,
     NY. Simuni submitted a biochemistry project, "The Role of
     Interdomain Interactions in the Activation Mechanism of the G
     Proteins," where he explored protein transmission of visual
     signals to the brain. He is a member of his school's
     award-winning debate team and organized its math team. Simuni was
     born in Russia, immigrating to the U.S. with his family just two
     years ago. He hopes to attend Harvard. Simuni was chosen by his
     fellow finalists to receive the Glenn T. Seaborg Award for his
     commitment to scientific cooperation and communication. Nobel
     Laureate Glenn Seaborg was a judge of this competition for four
     decades.
--   Sixth Place, a $25,000 scholarship, goes to Matthew Reece, 18, a
     senior at duPont Manual Magnet High School in Louisville, KY. He
     submitted a mathematics project titled, "Proposal of a New
     Multiscale Wavelet Method for Faster Solution of Fluid Dynamics
     Problems," which provides an adaptive and possibly faster way of
     simulating fluid flow. Fluid flow is difficult to compute, and
     important in many areas, such as airplane design and weather
     forecasting. Reece earned perfect SAT scores, plays the violin
     and enjoys hiking. He hopes to attend the University of Chicago.
--   Seventh Place, a $20,000 scholarship, goes to Kerry Ann Geiler, a
     17-year-old student at Massapequa High School in Massapequa, NY.
     Geiler presented a behavioral and social sciences project
     entitled, "The Ants Go Marching Two by Two: A Multivariate
     Analysis of the Physical and Chemical Communication of Formicidae
     Species." Geiler's study gives new insights into how ants
     communicate, and provides a building block for further inquiries
     into the communications among the world's insects. Geiler holds a
     black belt in karate, plays the saxophone, and is a drum major.
     She hopes to attend Cornell, and pursue a research career in
     bioscience.
--   Eighth Place, a $20,000 scholarship, is awarded to Elizabeth
     Williams, 17, a senior at Palos Verdes Peninsula High School,
     Rolling Hills Estates, CA. Elizabeth submitted a behavioral and
     social sciences project entitled, "Visual Search: A Novel
     Psychophysics for Pre-Attentive Vision." Her project looks at
     ways the brain perceives combinations of light and shape called
     "simultaneous contrast," a classic effect studied by perceptual
     psychologists. First in her class and with perfect SAT scores,
     Williams plays the violin and plans to attend Harvard.
--   Ninth Place, a $20,000 scholarship, goes to Zachary Cohn, 17, a
     senior at Half Hollow Hills High School East, in Dix Hills, NY.
     He entered a mathematics project entitled, "Reciprocity Laws
     Establishing the Quadratic Character of Remainder Classes over
     Polynomials with Coefficients in a Prime Dimensional Field,"
     which brings a new perspective to the study of perfect squares.
     He is captain of the Science Olympiad team, an avid runner and
     violinist, as well as a weekly volunteer at a geriatric center.
     He hopes to attend either Harvard or the California Institute of
     Technology.
--   Tenth Place, a $20,000 scholarship, is awarded to Bob Cherng, 17,
     a senior at Troy High School in Fullerton, CA. He submitted an
     atmospheric chemistry project entitled, "Gas Phase Formation of
     Solid Ammonium Halides: A Computational Study, " which studies
     the transition of two gases -- ammonia and hydrogen halide --
     into airborne clusters of solid ammonium halide. Cherng believes
     his work, all done by a computer, could be applied to the study
     of how acid rain is formed, or how the ozone is depleted. Born in
     Taiwan, Cherng is first in his class, co-president of the Future
     Scientists and Engineers of America Club, and co-captain of the
     Science Olympiad team. Cherng hopes to attend the California
     Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
     or the University of California at Berkeley.