RICHARD WANG

URBANA — Senior Richard Wang has been named a regional finalist in the 2008-09 Siemens Competition in Math, Science, & Technology for his work in the field of biochemistry.

The Siemens Foundation, established in 1998, annually provides about $7 million in scholarships and awards in support of educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math.

The foundation's largest program is the Siemens Competition, which is administered by the College Board.

In order for students to participate, they must submit a research report on a scientific topic. Only 30 individual regional finalists are selected from across the nation, and Wang was one of them.

"I'm actually a bit surprised [to be selected], since there are just so many good research projects," said Wang. "I investigated the mechanism by which mechanical forces are translated into biochemical responses at the cellular and molecular level through the study of the protein Rac, which is a small guanosine triphosphatase (GTPase) that has been shown to be important in many cell functions such as cell protrusion, migration, and proliferation."

The Siemens Foundation will award Wang a $1,000 college scholarship for being a regional finalist and will present a $2,000 award to Uni High to be used for science and math equipment.

From Friday to Sunday, Wang will participate in the regional competition at the University of Notre Dame. He will give a 12-minute oral presentation and be asked questions by a panel of judges.

The individual winners of the six regional competitions around the country will each receive a $3,000 college scholarship and advance to the national competition at New York University.

The national contest will take place from Dec. 4 to 8 and will offer scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

The other regional competitions will be held this month at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, Carnegie Mellon University, the California Institute of Technology, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

This year 1,893 students registered to enter the Siemens Competition, with a total of 1,205 projects submitted. This represents an increase of more than 10 percent in team and individual project submissions and more than 16 percent in the number of registrations.

An advertisement listing Wang and the other regional finalists and semifinalists appeared in USA Today on Oct. 30.

Nov. 10 update: Richard Wang did not advance past the regional competition at Notre Dame.