Maryland high school youth have had a banner year in science and math. Following are the accomplishments in this past year's science fairs:

There are two national science fairs for seniors with individual projects. Starting in Fall 2007, with the results of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology (2007-2008), 11 students from around the state were named national Semi-finalists and two additional seniors were named Regional Finalists. These students engaged in research on topics ranging from cancer cures to theoretical computer science.

Semi-Finalists:

• Gabriella Biondo, George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology, Towson
• Liv Johannessen, Governor Thomas Johnson High School, Frederick
• Sarah Kamel, Centennial High School, Ellicott City
• Paul Kominers, Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda
• Damjan Korac, Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda
• Andrew Kung, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring
• David Lai, Ingenuity Project at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Baltimore
• Benjamin Lee, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring
• Phillip Sandborn, Wilde Lake High School, Columbia
• Boris Vassilev, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring
• Yang Yang, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring

Regional Finalists:

• Benjamin Lu, Richard Montgomery High School, Rockville
• Louis Wasserman, Montgomery Blair High School, Silver Spring

At the Intel Science Talent Search (2007-2008), a number of the students who had been successful in the Siemens Competition were also recognized in the STS and joined by some new students:

Semi-Finalists:

• Gabriella Nicole Biondo, Parkton, Baltimore Carver Center for Arts & Technology
• Anushka Aqil, Bethesda, Walt Whitman High School
• Paul Myer Kominers, Bethesda, Walt Whitman High School
• Andrew Kung, Silver Spring Montgomery Blair High School
• Benjamin Lee, Silver Spring, Montgomery Blair High School
• Timothy Peng, Silver Spring, Montgomery Blair High School
• Jasleen Kaur Salwan,, Potomac, Montgomery Blair High School

Finalists:

• Benjamin Brice Lu, Rockville, Richard Montgomery High School
• Louis Eric Wasserman, Derwood, Montgomery Blair High School

The qualifier for a third science fair, the Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, was held in 2008 for the second time at Morgan State University. Students from all over the state joined together to present and share their science research, including 50 students from the Flowers High School magnet in Prince George's County. For the second year in a row, Philip Sandborn (Wilde Lake High School), won First Place at Morgan State and went on to the nationals to win First Place in the national competition. Philip's 2007 and 2008 First Place wins at JSHS Nationals were Maryland's first and second First Place wins ever.

At the year's final national science competition, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, where 1500 students come from over 50 countries to compete, Maryland seniors, joined by younger students, were also successful. Winners of awards were:

• Jonathan Patrick Barnett, Florida Institute of Technology (La Plata High School, La Plata)
• James Arthur Iocozzia, Third Place, Medicine and Health Sciences Grand Award (Sherwood High School, Sandy Spring)
• Liv Helena Johannessen, Second Place, Biochemistry Grand Awards; also awards from: China Association for Science and Technology, Endocrine Society(Governor Thomas Johnson High School, Frederick)
• Paul Kominers, American Mathematical Society Karl Menger Prize (Walt Whitman High School, Bethesda)
• Shauna Theresa Linn, Second Place, Behavioral and Social Sciences Grand Award; also: award from Psi Chi, The National Honor Society in Psychology (Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Baltimore)
• Mark Jacob Pritt, Fourth Place, Computer Science Grand Award (Homeschool, Walkersville)
• Gavin Gregory Reen, Fourth Place, Earth and Planetary Sciences Grand Award; also award fromPatent and Trademark Office Society (La Plata High School, La Plata)
• Julie Emily Walker, Second Place, Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Grand Award (Leonardtown High School, Leonardtown)
• Hank Jay Zwally, American Meteorological Society, Geological Society of America (Centennial High School, Ellicott City)

Additional awards were won by Benjamin Hoffman (who lives in Maryland, but attends school in the District of Columbia): First Place: Microbiology Grand Awards, United States Army, United States Air Force, Florida Institute of Technology.

Outside of the science fair arena, Maryland math/science students were also extremely successful. A sampling:

Mathematics: Qinxuan Pan, Wooton High School, Rockville, was the top individual scorer in the national American Regions Math League (ARML) competition. Qinxuan was also named one of the 12 winners of the USA Mathematical Olympiad.

Science Bowl: Walt Whitman High School's Science Bowl team represented the state of Maryland at the Department of Energy-sponsored National Science Bowl.

Biology: Finally, just this month, two Montgomery County students (Jonathan Gootenberg, Montgomery Blair High School, Rockville and Jonathan Liang, Thomas S. Wootton High School, North Potomac) won gold medals as part of the United States gold medal sweep at the International Biology Olympiad.