MHS Senior Named Intel Contest Semi-Finalist

For the seventh year in a row, a Millburn High School student has been named a semi-finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search. MHS senior Chanthia Ma was named a semi-finalist on Wednesday, bringing Millburn’s total number of semifinalists since 2006 to 13. 

Unlike most of Millburn’s previous Intel semifinalists whose research was done as part of the school’s three-year Science Research course, Ma did her initial research as part of the Liberty Science Center’s Partners in Science Program last summer.  Science Research teachers Dr. Paul Gilmore and Dr. Paul Citrin have assisted her in entering her research into the local, state and/or national competitions along with other senior Science Research students. 

Ma’s project, “Control of Aging and Stress Resistance through the imd gene in Drosophila malanogaster,” studied the effects of suppressing an immune system gene, with the finding that it increased the age span in fruit flies.

Each semi-finalist in the nation’s oldest student research contest, is awarded $1,000, to support the students’ pursuit of careers in science, math and other disciplines. The student’s high school receives $1,000 to enrich programs in science, math and engineering. The 300 semifinalists in this year’s competition were chosen from among 1,839 applicants.

On Wednesday, Intel will name 40 finalists from the pool of 300 semi-finalists, who will then participate in the Intel Science Talent Institute held in Washington D.C. in March where they will compete for $1.25 million in awards, and participate in final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists and compete for the top award of $100,000.

For more information about the Intel Science Talent Search, please go to the website at: http://www.societyforscience.org/sts