Eighty-Four High School Students Selected and Participating in the 32nd Research Science Institute at MIT

Mc Lean, VA, July 10, 2015 (Newswire.com) - ​The Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) announces top achieving U.S. scholars and international scholars, are attending the 32nd annual Research Science Institute (RSI), jointly sponsored with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) from June 21st– August 1st.   RSI is a six-week intensive program that provides students with the opportunity to conduct original, cutting edge research in state-of-the-art university laboratories, hospitals and corporate research facilities. 

The RSI Selection Committee, comprised of professional educators and RSI alumni, convened at the Center for Excellence in Education (CEE) in March 2015 to select high school students to attend the nationally recognized program.  Students selected for RSI are exemplary as based on the following criteria: high school records, personal essays, standardized test scores, teacher recommendations, research experience, potential for leadership, and honors and awards in math and science. 

"The Research Science Institute offers scholars the opportunity to experience graduate level research at MIT. RSI has nearly 2,300 successful alumni with an 80% STEM career retention rate of the alumni."

Joann DiGennaro, CEE's President

RSI is offered cost-free by CEE to competitively selected top achieving students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).  RSI scholars participate in college-level research under the mentorship of leading scientists, engineers, and researchers in the Boston area.

The students, dubbed “Rickoids” after the late Admiral H.G. Rickover, Father of the Nuclear Navy and founder of the Center with CEE President Joann DiGennaro, are studying pure and applied mathematics, physical and biological science, economics, and humanities.  

Dr. Andrew Charman, RSI ’86 alumnus and lecturer of physics at University of California, Berkeley, will lead RSI 2015.  The RSI Academic Professors include:

• Dr. Steven Byrnes, RSI’02, Harvard University – Physics

• Dr. Steven Leeb, Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Engineering

• Dr. Forrest Michael, RSI’90, University of Washington  - Chemistry

• Dr. Sean Mulholland, Economics, Stonehill College

• Dr. Matthew S. Cain, RSI’97, U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center - Biology

• Mr. Lance Rhoades, University of Washington - Humanities

• Dr. Christopher Skinner, RSI’88, Princeton University - Mathematics

RSI is an annual, summer program consisting of one week of theoretical classroom work, followed by four-and-a-half weeks of research with a professor or research scientist in the students’ respective areas of interest. In the final week, students demonstrate their work through written academic papers and present oral findings to their peers and a panel of judges.

The RSI scholars learn about the careers, achievements, and challenges of the STEM environment and participate in question and answer sessions during the RSI Distinguished Guest Lecture Series.  Leaders in STEM will share knowledge with the RSI scholars and include:

• Dr. Phillip Sharp, Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine 1993, Institute Professor (highest academic rank) at MIT and member of the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research

• Dr. Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize in Physics 2001, D. MacArthur Professor of Physics at MIT and Associate Director of the Research Laboratory of Electronics at MIT, Director, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms

• Dr. Tom Leighton, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Akamai

Thirty-two international students have joined the U.S. students from Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Israel, Lebanon, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey at RSI 2015. 

Media Contact: 

Maureen Palmer, 703-448-9062 ext. 224, mpalmer@cee.org

Research Science Institute 2015 Students

Arizona

Abijith Krishnan

BASIS Scottsdale High School

Scottsdale

 Arkansas

Chuang K. Tang

David H. Xiang

Little Rock Central High School

Little Rock

 California

Claire B. Burch

Mira Loma High School

Sacramento

John Chapman A. Caddell

Stevenson School

Pebble Beach

Ajay Jain

Monta Vista High School

Cupertino

Jared A. Tramontano

Centennial High School

Corono

Kristine A. Zhang

Saratoga High School

Saratoga

Colorado

Casey H. Zhang

Fairview High School

Boulder

Connecticut

Robert Q. Kao

Edwin O. Smith High School

Storrs - Mansfield

 DoDEA

Brian J. Lee

Paul S. Lee

Seoul American High School

APO

Florida

Nicole Odzer

Pine Crest School

Fort Lauderdale

Georgia

Sarayu Narayan

Chamblee Charter High School

Chamblee

 Illinois

Emily C. Jia

Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy

Aurora

 Sarvasva Raghuvanshi

Neuqua Valley High School

Naperville

Indiana

Sreya Vemuri

Carmel High School

Carmel

Kansas

Disha Dasgupta

Olathe North High School

Olathe

Kentucky

Sanjana J. Rane

Yue Zhang

DuPont Manual High School

Louisville

Louisiana

Louie D. Kam

Baton Rouge Magnet High School

Baton Rouge

Maryland

Ramya A. Durvasula

Montgomery Blair High School

Silver Spring

Massachusetts

Amol D. Punjabi

Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science

Worcester

Uma Roy

Lexington High School

Lexington

 Michigan

Christina Y. Li

Adlai E. Stevenson High School

Sterling Heights

Minnesota

Neehar M. Banerjee

Mayo High School

Rochester

Missouri

Olivia Y. Long

John Burroughs School

Saint Louis

Montana

Amy A. Chou

Phillips Academy

Andover MA

Nebraska

Thomas A. Graul

Lincoln Southeast High School

Lincoln

 Nevada

Haydn L. Bradstreet

Davidson Academy of Nevada

Reno

New Hampshire

Meena Jagadeesan

Phillips Exeter Academy

Exeter

New Jersey

Sahaj Garg

Bridgewater Raritan High School

Bridgewater

Allen J. Lee

Millburn High School

Millburn

New Mexico

Dylan H. Hendrickson

Albuquerque Academy

Albuquerque

New York

Brandon R. Epstein

Half Hollow Hill High School West

Dix Hills

North Carolina

Anne B. Davis

Stanford Online High School

Stanford CA

Ohio

Venkatesh S. Sivaraman

Bexley High School

Bexley

Oregon

Anirudh Jain

Catlin Gabel School

Portland

Pennsylvania

Michelle D. Xu

Conestoga High School

Berwyn

Puerto Rico

Natalia M. Pacheco-Tallaj

University High School

San Juan

South Carolina

Albert  Z. Wang

Dutch Fork High School

Irmo

Tennessee

Tony Ding

Montgomery Bell Academy

Nashville

Texas

Wilbur Y. Li

Clements High School

Sugar Land

Alexander Y. Yang

Clements High School

Sugar Land

Utah

Anthony Cheng

Hillcrest High School

Midvale

Vermont

Vivian Huang

South Burlington High School

South Burlington

Virginia

Jake Cui

Michael C. You

Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology

Alexandria

 Selena C. Feng

Albemarle High School

Charlottesville

Washington

Brian H. Gu

Interlake High School

Bellevue

David Zhao

Lakeside Upper School

Seattle

Wisconsin

Suzanne B. O’Meara

Madison West High School

Madison

2015 Research Science Institute International Scholars

 Australia

Adrian E. Hindes

Good Shepherd Lutheran College

Noosaville

Elijah B. Stanger-Jones

Dubbo College Senior Campus

Dubbo

Brazil

Matheus E. Batinga

Luana J. N. Ferreira

Instituto Federal de Alagoas

Marceio

Bulgaria

Kristian G. Georgiev

Model High School of Mathematics Academy Kiril Popoc

Plovdiv

Hristo S. Staykov

High School of Mathematics “Dr Petar Beron” - Varna

Varna

 Canada

Jonathan D.H. Chow

Ashbury College

Ottawa

 Canada

Ameer M. Farrukh

Xiangqi Yan

Holy Heart of Mary High School

St. John’s

 Israel

Liam B. Kimel

HaKfar HaYarok - The Green Village High School

Ramat Hasharon

 Korea

Jungyeon Park

Hunkuk Academy of Foreign Studies

Yonginsi

Yo-Whan Kim

Seoul International

School

Seongnam-si

Lebanon

Aya El Daouk

Hariri High School II

Beirut

Khodr H. Badih

Haneen R. Al Khalili

Rafic Hariri High School

Saida

Poland

Jerzy K. Szuniewicz

Adam Mickiewicz High School in Poznan

Poznan

Saudi Arabia

Ahmed A. Albahhar

Alfaris International School

Riyadh

Faisal Alsalloum

Al-Ghad High School

Riyadh

Singapore

Victoria E. Buckland

National Junior College

Singapore

Cher Ying Foo

Jiaqi Li

Ming Hui M. Sim

Raffles Institution

Singapore

Marion W.R. Pang

NUS High School of Mathematics and Science

Singapore

Yan Hsien Quah

River Valley High School

Singapore

Spain

Pol R. Gomez Riquelme

Sagrada Familia Sabadell

Sabadell

Marti Oller Riera

Institut Jaume Vicens Vives

Girona

David Oort Alonso

Institut d’Argentona

Argentona

Sweden

Anton C.I. Moller

Sandbackaskolan

Arvidsjaur

Mana Shams Latifi

Per Brahegymnasiet

Jonkoping

Switzerland

Hoang-Thi Morselli

Kantonsschule Solothurn

Solothurn

Turkey

Baris Ekim

Armand Hammer Unitted World College pf the American West

Montezuma NM

Sule Kahraman

Robert College

Istanbul