Two Westchester high school students have been named finalists in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search competition, making the pair the only locals to be selected from the 22 regional students who made it to the semifinal round earlier this year.
Max Pine from Pelham Memorial High School and Charles Gulian from Ossining High School were named two out of the 40 finalists competing for over $1.2 million in awards from the Intel Foundation.
Charles Gulian was chosen for his research project, “A Search for Tidally-Distorted White Dwarf Binaries in the Kepler Survey.” Gulian created an algorithm to search for undetected white dwarf star systems that orbit one another—making them binary—in the Kepler astronomical database. According to Gulian, “These star systems are very important for our understanding of gravitational waves, general relativity, and the distances to other galaxies.”
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Max Pine was chosen for his project, “Effect of Climate on the Spatial Distribution and Synchrony of Eight Irruptive Bird Species.” Pine’s research looked at whether changes in the Earth’s climate could cause unexpected bird migrations, which are called irruptions.
All 40 finalists are to receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington DC in March to have their research judged and to meet with professional scientists. Their work will be displayed publicly at the National Geographic Society. The trip will come to a climax at a black tie event at the National Building Museum where the winners will be announced. The top three finalists will be awarded $150,000 each.
