Schools
Smithtown HS East Student Named Regeneron Finalist
The 40 finalists will meet in Washington, D.C., in March to present their projects. The top award is $250K.
SAINT JAMES, NY — Jolene Cao, a 12th grader at Smithtown High School East, is one of 40 students nationwide to be named a Regeneron finalist — and one of six from Long Island — the Smithtown School District announced.
The Regeneron Science Talent Search is the country’s most prestigious science research competition. Finalists were selected from 300 scholars and 2,471 entrants.
"It feels surreal being a finalist," Cao said in a news release. "It’s something I’ve never imagined, and I can’t wait for the finals to meet distinguished scientists and to get to know all the other finalists, too."
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Cao’s research project is titled, "Synthesis of Stable and Magnetically Responsive
Magnetite/Cesium Lead Halide Perovskite Quantum Dots for Programmable Light Polarization."
She investigated perovskite quantum dots, tiny crystals at the quantum level used in the fields of energy, healthcare and computers, that suffer from instability.
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The 40 finalists will meet in Washington, D.C., in March to present their projects.
The winners will be announced on March 11; the top award is $250K.
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