On October 18, 2013, two University High School (UHS) students, Daniel Shaw (Sr.) and Vinson Luo (Sr.), were announced semifinalists of the Siemens Competition. The Siemens Competition is an annual, nationwide competition through which students from kindergarten to twelfth grade submit research projects involving math, science and technology. The Siemens Foundation hosts the competition and awards national recognition and scholarships to finalists and semifinalists.
Semifinalist Daniel Shaw’s project was “Multi-Agent Monte Carlo Equilibrium.” For his project, Shaw said he “introduced a new algorithm that generalizes certain methods in random sampling,” allowing for a “more accurate and diverse set of solutions.” Shaw credits many mentors for his achievement, including Mr. Tim Smay (Science Dept.) for helping him build a strong foundation in the early developmental stage of his project and Dr. James Li for helping him complete the project. Shaw said, “I am extremely fortunate to achieve this award” and recommends students planning to enter the Siemens Competition in the future, “to start [their] projects early.”
Semifinalist Vinson Luo’s project was “Determining Object Relations from Image Data Through the Use of Visual and Textual Factors.” Luo created a method to predict relationships between objects in an image. Luo said “my project is part of a larger field called computer vision whose long term goal is to use computer algorithms and programming techniques to convert image data into readable, fluent text.” When asked how he feels about being a semifinalist, Luo said “it’s truly one of the highest honors for a research project that one can receive in high school. I feel more encouraged to pursue scientific research and enter into other research competitions as well.” Luo recommends UHS students to enter the Siemens Competition because, “The experience of designing an experiment and writing a full length research paper is valuable for anyone interested in pursuing math or science in the future.”
Written by MONICA LAFERLA
Staff Writer
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