Kings Park High School Student a Finalist in Intel Science Talent Search

There were three Kings Park High School students named as semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search, and with the search moving on to the round of finalists that number has been brought down to one. 

Mayuri Sridhar, 17, was selected for her project Computational Analysis of the DNA-Binding Mechanism of the p53 Tumor Suppressor and its Inactivation through the R249S Mutation.

Sridhar is one of 40 finalists selected out of the 300 semifinalists throughout the country. She now has the opportunity to go to Washington, DC in March for a final round of judging on her work, meet some of today's top scientists, and compete for $630,000 in awards. The top award of the competition is $100,000.

If that wasn't impressive enough, in 2008, Mayuri's sister Hamsa Sridhar, was also chosen as an Intel Finalist. Hamsa developed a low cost optical tweezers system for her Intel Science Talent Search physics project. An optical tweezers system uses laser light to trap and suspend microscopic particles.

Wesley Cox and Kenan Mutlu, both 17, were also selected as semifinalists earlier this month. The three were selected from among 1,712 entrants representing 467 high schools in 42 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, and two U.S. overseas schools. A total of 53 students were chosen from Long Island.