Rating:

0.0 (0 votes)

TUCSON - A senior at Sonoran Science Academy is in the running to win a $100,000 scholarship at the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology; he will present his research at the Regional Finals this weekend.

Stanley Palasek, of Oro Valley, is competing with a research project to study the ways by which RNA (Ribonucleic acid) could have been the molecule to start life of Earth. He will present this research to expert university judges at the University of Texas at Austin on November 2 and 3.

If he wins the regional event this weekend, he will receive a $6,000 prize and will advance to the National Finals at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. on December 1 through 4, where a total of $500,000 in scholarships will be awarded, including two top prizes of $100,000.

Nationwide, 2,255 students registered to enter the 2012 Siemens Competition, with a total of 1,504 projects submitted. The Siemens Foundation provides more than $7 million a year in support of educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Learn more about the Siemens Foundation here:

www.siemens-foundation.org