SHSAA First Vice President Vanessa Liu ’92 has been helping Stuyvesant High School for a long time, but this year she is helping to rebuild the Science Talent Search (“STS”) research program.  The Science Talent Search, known to many of you as either Intel or Westinghouse, is extremely prestigious and has brought decades of national honor to Stuyvesant High school.

A finalist when she entered the STS in 1992, Vanessa with three other Stuyvesant finalists, traveled to DC to present her research to top industry science professionals.

Stuyvesant has experienced a decline in its Intel presence for both semi-finalists and finalists and we couldn’t be more proud of Vanessa for leading the charge.  In two months, she galvanized our alumni base of semi-finalists and finalists to help review and mentor current applicants to the (now) Regeneron Science Talent Search.   This partnership has benefited students and alumni alike.  Our students are so thankful for our alumni participation and for some alumni – this is a great way to be able to give back.

If you are a science or math professional and wish to get involved with helping current student researchers, or have access to a lab that can accommodate some of Stuyvesant’s best and brightest science students, please email us at [email protected] with the subject, “Regeneron / STS Help“.  Don’t have a knack for science but love Stuyvesant?  Help us fund exceptional student research at Stuyvesant by donating to the General Fund today!

A very special thank you to Vanessa and to all of our Westinghouse and Intel semi-finalists and finalists for keeping Stuyvesant’s spirit and legacy strong!!!

Run by the Society for Science & the Public (Society), a non-profit based in Washington, DC the competition has been going on for over 7 decades since 1942 and Stuyvesant boasts its fair share of participants and winners.  Any high school senior with independent, individual research can enter the competition.  They can complete the research at school, at a research institution, in the field, or at home. Judges look for students exhibiting exceptional research skills, a commitment to academics and to their communities, innovative thinking, and promise as a scientist.

Three hundred semifinalists are awarded $2,000 with an additional $2,000 going to their high schools to support STEM education. All 40 finalists win an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC  to go to the Regeneron Science Talent Institute where they compete for the top 10 awards. The top award is $250,000.

Information concerning the Regeneron STS judging and awards was recovered from the Society for Science & the Public webpage. Photos of the finalists are  from the Society for Science & the Public on Flickr.