Trio of Kings Park Students Named Intel Semifinalists

Three Kings Park students have been chosen as semifinalists in the nation's most prestigious pre-college science competition, the Intel Science Talent Search.

Wesley Cox, Kenan Mutlu and Mayuri Sridhar, all 17, are three of 300 students chosen as semifinalists to compete for $1.25 million in awards.

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.

Each of the 300 students named a semifinalist in the Intel STS 2013 receives a $1,000 award for his or her outstanding research. Additionally every school  receives an award of $1,000 for each semifinalist named in the Intel STS 2013. According to the Intel website, the award is used to further excellence in science, math, and/or engineering education.

Cox was chosen for his project titled, Design of an Electromagnetic Energy Harvester for Wildlife Tracking.; Mutlu for The Effects of Shifting the Subject of Suspense during Cognitive Appraisal in Relation to Suggestibility and Cued Recall Capacity and Sridhar for her project titled, Computational Analysis of the DNA-Binding Mechanism of the p53 Tumor Suppressor and its Inactivation through the R249S Mutation.

"It's the best news," said Kings Park District Superintendent, Susan Agruso. "The kids do an outstanding job as well as the staff, what a program. It is just wonderful news."

40 finalists will be chosen and invited to Washington, DC in March to participate in final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for the top award of $100,000.

Last year, Kings Park had three students chosen as semifinalists; Amelia Natalie Morales, Eric Scott Parigoris and Shannon Phelan Wetzler. Shannon Wetzler was last year's Salutatorian and Parigoris was the Valedictorian for the high school.

The 40 Intel STS 2012 finalists will be announced on January 23.