This year, Stony Brook set a University record for mentoring 51 semifinalists in the 2015 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology.

Seventeen of the students were selected as regional finalists and four are national finalists. The Siemens Competition is one of the top national research events for high school researchers.

Simons Summer Research Fellow Sarah Lee of Syosset High School, mentored at Stony Brook, explains her research during a poster session in August.

Many of the competition finalists and semifinalists participated in Stony Brook University summer research programs such as the Garcia Center for Polymers at Engineered Interfaces Program and the Simons Summer Research Program.

“The Siemens competition is a great venue, as students make friends from across the country and the program encourages collaboration and teamwork, which is the norm of the real world in academic and industry research,” said Miriram Rafailovich, PhD,  Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and long-time mentor.

Stony Brook faculty,  graduate and undergraduate students worked together with the high school competitors in their research. Among the 17 regional finalists mentored at Stony Brook, 10 are from Long Island.