The Siemens Competition is a science competition funded by the Siemens Foundation, which was administered by the College Board from 1999-2013 and by Discovery Education starting in 2014.
Contents
Eligibility requirements
The Siemens Competition is open to high school students who are citizens or permanent residents of the US. Students must be in good standing and attend a
Students submitting an individual project must be enrolled in and attending their last year of high school. Team projects may have two or three members and must be enrolled in and attending high school (9th through 12th grade).
History
Siemens AG purchased Westinghouse Electric Corporation's power generation unit in 1997, but sponsorship of the Westinghouse Science Talent Search (now the Regeneron Science Talent Search) was not part of the deal. When Siemens lost the bidding for the competition to Intel, Siemens decided to create the Siemens Foundation to continue the tradition using the well-known Westinghouse name, calling the new competition the Siemens Westinghouse Competition (SWC) and, later, the Siemens Competition. The first awards were given in 1999.
The competition has the same goals as the old Westinghouse Competition, but there are several added dimensions, most notably awards for team projects and regional awards. The regional finals are held in cooperation with six partner universities: MIT, Georgia Tech, Caltech, University of Texas at Austin, the University of Notre Dame, and Carnegie Mellon.
2007 was the first year that women won the top prizes in both the individual and team competitions at Siemens. The individual winner was Isha Jain of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the top team winners were Janelle Schlossberger and Amanda Marinoff of Plainview, New York.
Selection process
Each year, research reports submitted before a late-September to early-October deadline are subjected to a blind reading. 300 outstanding research reports, from more than 1600 entries, are selected as semifinalists. All semifinalists receive a special recognition package, with their names announced in a full page USA Today advertisement.
From the pool of semifinalists, 30 individuals and 30 teams (2-3 students) are selected as Regional Finalists and are invited to compete during the month of November at one of the six partner universities (Caltech, UT Austin, Notre Dame, Carnegie Mellon, MIT, and Ga. Tech). In addition to project content, judging is also based on the oral presentation, poster display, cited references, and the question and answer session. All regional finalists receive $1,000 scholarships and bronze medals. One individual and one team from each region advances to the National Finals. These Regional winners receive $3,000 (individual) or $6,000 (total for teams) scholarships, and silver medals.
The National Finalists (6 individual and 6 team projects) receive an all-expense paid trip during the first weekend of December to Washington, DC. Winners of the Nationals receive scholarships ranging from $10,000 to the coveted $100,000 grand prize for the top individual and top team.
Winners
Below is a list of the winners for each year of the Siemens Competition.
Individual Winners
Team Winners
High schools with the most finalists
Several schools have been consistently successful in producing Regional and National Finalists. By far the most finalists have come from North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, and many finalists have also come from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, Troy High School, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and Oak Ridge High School. The schools listed below have produced double-digit regional finalists.