Fourteen Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) students have been selected as semifinalists for the 2016 Intel Science Talent Search, one of the most prestigious high school science competitions in the nation. The MCPS students account for all but four of the 18 semifinalists in the state of Maryland.

The MCPS semifinalists are from four MCPS high schools—Montgomery Blair, Winston Churchill, Poolesville and Quince Orchard.

The Intel Science Talent Search is administered by the Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education. There are 300 semifinalists nationwide, who were chosen from a pool of nearly 1,800 entries. MCPS has been a national leader in this competition for many years and routinely is one of the school districts with the most semifinalists. Last year, Michael Winer, of Montgomery Blair High School, won the First Place Medal of Distinction for Innovation in the competition and received a $150,000 award.

“Our students continue to excel in the Intel Science Talent Search by demonstrating a strong commitment to advanced science and math,” said Interim Superintendent of Schools Larry A. Bowers. “Congratulations to our semifinalists, their families and the outstanding schools and educators that are supporting them.”

The research projects entered by MCPS semifinalists cover a broad range of scientific and math topics. Each of the semifinalists will receive a $1,000 award for his or her outstanding research. Additionally, to recognize excellence in teaching and school support, schools will receive an award of $1,000 for each semifinalist, which is to be used to further excellence in science, math and engineering education.

Forty national finalists will be chosen on January 20. They will compete March 10–16 in Washington, D.C., for more than $1 million in awards.

The MCPS semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search are:

Montgomery Blair High School

Eric Chen
Noah Zhou Fang
Yaelle Goldschlag
Amy Li
Raymond Lin
Arnold Mong
Brian Morris
Josephine Jessica Yu
Rona Yu

Winston Churchill High School
Yidong Hu

Poolesville High School
Rohan Dixit
Sanna Madan
Emily Wang

Quince Orchard High School
Tanay Vijay Wakhare

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