Wake students win second place in science competitions

Three Wake County students have earned second place the nation's top high school science competitions.

Organizers of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology announced today at a press conference in New York City that Vivek Bhattacharya, Hao Lian and Daniel Vitek came in second in the team category. They will share a $50,000 scholarship.

The three students attend Enloe High School, a magnet school in Raleigh.

Mentored by N.C. State professors Donald Bitzer and Anne-Marie Stomp, the students developed a computer model that helps scientists determine which gene sequences to use to produce specific proteins. The research could provide a cost-effective method of commercially producing useful proteins such as insulin.

They faced tough competition. The winning team of Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff from John F. Kennedy High School in Plainview, N.Y., won a $100,000 scholarship for a drug discovery project that could lead to the first new tuberculosis treatment in 35 years.

In the individual category, Isha Jain, a senior at Freedom High School in Bethlehem, Pa., won a $100,000 scholarship for research on bone growth.

A total of 1,641 projects were submitted nationwide this year. The Enloe team made it to the nationals in New York City after winning a regional competition last month in Georgia. They'll share a $6,000 scholarship for that victory.

All three Enloe students are juggling heavy workloads full of honors and Advanced Placement courses. The academic competition is intense at Enloe, a magnet school which draws many of the top high school students from around Wake County.

All three students are also heavily involved in academic clubs at Enloe.

Vivek, 16, of Cary, is ranked first academically in the senior class. He is a member of the National Honor Society, Red Cross Club, Key Club, Science Olympiad, and Science Bowl. He has won numerous science awards, including 11 medals at the state and regional Science Olympiads. He learned to read and write before he was two.

Hao, 17, of North Raleigh, is ranked second in the senior class. He volunteers with ScienceDays, an elementary tutoring program. He has participated in the Science Olympiad and finished in second in the regionals of the National Economic Challenge.

Daniel 16, a junior from North Raleigh, is on the board of Enloe Science Olympiad and is one of the team organizers for the Science Bowl. He regularly leads his school's teams in mathematics competitions.