Three local students to compete in prestigious Siemens Corp. challenge

Three suburban Chicago area high school students will measure their math, science or technology projects against some of the best in the Midwest Saturday, Nov. 14, for an eventual chance at a $100,000 scholarship from the Siemens Corp.

The three will be at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend at the regional finals of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. They made it to the regional finals out of more than 2,000 of the nation's brightest students.

• Arjun Puranik of Palatine; a student at Fremd High School. His project, in mathematics, is titled, "Finite-dimensional irreducible representations of rational Cherednik algebras associated to the Coxeter group H3," and deals with simplifying certain concepts in abstract algebra into well-understood theory and has applications in quantum physics.

• Marissa Suchyta of South Barrington; a student at the University of Chicago Laboratory High School. Her project, in biology, is titled, "Geminin mutant reveals the mechanism to inhibit DNA re-replication," and has the potential to develop a drug for the treatment of cancer. She has researched the mechanism by which the protein Geminin prevents DNA from replicating more than one time before a cell divides, since over-replication of DNA leads to genetic instability and may cause uncontrolled cell division, a fundamental abnormality in all types of cancer.

• Fred Schmitt of Bolingbrook; a student at Naperville Central High School. Working with a teammate, his project in biochemistry is titled, "Lysophosphatidic Acid Increases sST2 Expression and Secretion in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells," a project that has the potential to alleviate certain conditions associated with the lungs, such as asthma and bronchitis.

The Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology (previously Westinghouse) is a signature program of the Siemens Foundation, which provides more than $7 million in support of educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math in the United States. The Siemens Competition is administered by the College Board. More information can be found at www.siemens-foundation.org.