The Siemens Foundation announced the 2016 class of regional finalists​ and semifinalists for the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, the nation’s premier research competition for high school students. The following students were named finalists:

In addition, 

Vivek Bhupatiraju, Lexington High School, Lexington
Vennela Mannava,Westford Academy,Westford

were named as semifinalists.

This year, 96 regional finalists have been invited to advance to the next round of the competition where they will vie for college scholarships ranging from $1,000 up to $100,000 and one of the most prestigious science honors awarded to high school students in the country today.

“Every year, I look forward to seeing whether this will be the year when we’ll see a project that will lead to developing the cure for cancer – or identify tomorrow’s coolest technology,” said David Etzwiler, CEO of the Siemens Foundation. “We congratulate the regional finalists on their accomplishments and wish them luck in the next phase of the competition.”

The Siemens Competition, launched in 1999 by the Siemens Foundation, was established to increase access to higher education for students who are gifted in STEM and is based on the culture of innovation, research and educational support that is the hallmark of Siemens.  This competition, administered by Discovery Education, seeks to recognize and hopefully build a strong pipeline for the nation’s most promising scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

These 96 regional finalists announced today were picked from an exceptional group of 498 semifinalists that were recognized on October 18.  The semifinalist projects are those considered outstanding and notable from the pool of more than 1,600 projects submitted this year.  

Regional finalists will go on to compete in one of six regional competitions virtually hosted over three consecutive weekends in November at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (November 4-5); Georgia Institute of Technology (November 4-5); University of Notre Dame (November 11-12); The University of Texas at Austin (November 11-12); California Institute of Technology (November 18-19); and Carnegie Mellon University (November 18-19). Winners of the regional events will then advance to the final phase of the competition, National Finals at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., December 5-6, 2016, where $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.