
Meet the whiz kids: Intel Science Talent Search announces finalists

Meet the whiz kids: Intel Science Talent Search announces finalists

Weiva Sieh: Searching for Genetic Cancer Markers in the Real World
A 1988 Westinghouse finalist who worked on rat brains now studies ovarian and prostate cancer

Jonathan Gershenzon: Making Sense of Plant Scents
A 1972 Westinghouse finalist went from studying chaparral in Los Angeles for a high school project to figuring out the uses of plant terpenes as director of a one of Germany's top research institutes

Penelope Maddy: A Philosopher You Can Count On
A 1968 Westinghouse finalist is now a philosopher of science—and professor of logic

Carl Bialik: Striking a Blow for Mathematical Accuracy in the Media
A 1997 Westinghouse finalist now picks apart suspect statistics as The Wall Street Journal's "Numbers Guy"

Alice Beck Kehoe: Overturning Anthropology Dogma Since the Tender Age of 16
A dream summer job lead to a 1952 Westinghouse finalist spot, then a career in anthropology

Flying Green: Ilan Kroo Helps Shape the Future of Sustainable Aviation
A 1974 Westinghouse finalist built hang gliders as a kid, now he designs more efficient airplanes

High Stakes High School Science: Competitions Net Six-Figure Prizes
Top high school researchers walk away with $100,000 prizes in the 10th annual Siemens Competition

James Propp: Life and Math is a Great Combination
Inspired by a game he created on a long drive as a kid, a 1977 Westinghouse finalist became a math professor

Ian Patrick Sobieski: From a Sound Invention to Sounder Investments
A 1987 Westinghouse finalist moves from submarine acoustics to financial modeling as a venture capitalist

Bernard Rappaport: Living Testimony to the Power of Curiosity
A 1961 Westinghouse winner and psychiatrist has made a career out of serving as an expert witness

Joel Kugelmass: Math's Organizing Principles
A 1963 Westinghouse finalist's summer internship in Washington, D.C., spurs a life of activism

Ben Raphael: Teaching Insects to Walk, Virtually
A 1992 Westinghouse finalist goes from six-legged walking simulations to cancer genetics and evolution

Rageshree Ramachandran: Weathering Storms, Spelling and Slides
She won the National Spelling Bee in 1988, and a 1991 Westinghouse finalist spot. Now she's training to become a gastrointestinal pathologist

Testing Grandma's Scientific Theories: Graham Van Schaik
A teenager studies the potentially toxic effects of a common pesticide ingredient, and helps other kids do science

Sister Julia Mary Deiters: Planting Seeds for Science Education
A 1944 Westinghouse finalist finds her true calling in adult education after becoming a Catholic nun

George Yancopoulos: Doing Well by Trying to Do Good
A 1976 Westinghouse finalist goes from studying regeneration in a single-celled organism to chief scientific officer of Regeneron

Adam Solomon: A Young Astrophysicist Studies Old Dwarfs
A 2006 Intel finalist knows he wants to go into science

Nina Schor: A Reluctant Poster Child for Women in Science
A 1972 Westinghouse winner, Schor was the first girl to win the competition when she learned something about plants and pollution. Now she studies children's brains

Patrick Purdon: The Mystery of Unconsciousness and All That Jazz
A 1992 Westinghouse finalist went from studying cypress trees to figuring out what anesthesia says about consciousness--and jazz singing

Sarah Elgin: Turning genes off--And turning students on to science
A 1963 Westinghouse finalist studies proteins that package DNA, and works to improve science education

Susan Landau: Toward Perfect Internet Security
A 1972 Westinghouse finalist now fights the fight for web privacy at Sun Microsystems

Lise Menn: Figuring out why kids say the darndest things
A 1958 Westinghouse finalist's love of linguistics turns babble into a theory of language development

Terence Sanger: A childhood love, a love of kids
A 1981 Westinghouse finalist takes his interests in computer science to the treatment of children with movement disorders