Magnet News: Spring 2009

Magnet accomplishments over the past year:

• • Biology Olympiad Gold Medal: On July 20, 2008, Jonathan Gootenberg won a gold medal at the International Biology Olympiad in Mumbai, India. Team USA finished in third place, and all four members received gold medals for scoring in the top 10%. https://silverchips.mbhs.edu/inside.php?sid=8431

  • Physics Olympiad Gold Medal: On July 29, 2008, Edward Gan won a gold medal at the International Physics Olympiad in Hanoi, Vietnam. Team USA finished in second place, earning four gold medals. http://www.gazette.net/stories/09172008/gaitnew215317_32488.shtml

  • Siemens Competition: On October 24, 2008, Tai Zheng was named a Regional Finalist in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology. Seven other Blair students were named Semfinalists. List of Finalists: (pdf). List of Semifinalists: (pdf).

  • HiMCM: In November 2008, the Blair team of Jacob Hurwitz, Nils Molina, Anand Oza, and Will Shepherdson win Regional Outstanding in the Eleventh Annual High School Mathematical Contest in Modeling (HiMCM). http://www.comap.com/highschool/contests/himcm/2008results.html

  • Intel Science Talent Search: On January 14, 2009, twelve Blair students were named Semifinalists in the Intel Science Talent Search. Blair had the second-most semifinalists in the nation. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/press/index.aspx?pagetype=showrelease&id=2448

  • 2009 Maryland Science Bowl: In January 2009, a team from the Blair Magnet took first place in the 2009 Maryland Science Bowl at Montgomery College. Team members were Jacob Hurwitz, Benjamin Shih, Anand Oza, Benjamin Shaya, and Charles Kong. The Science Bowl, cosponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and Montgomery College, is a competition in which Maryland high schools, represented by teams of four or five students, answer questions concerning biology, chemistry, earth science, math, and physics. Congratulations to the students and thank you to Mr. Tran Pham, the Magnet teacher who sponsored the team. http://www.gazette.net/stories/01272009/montnew162603_32493.shtml

  • Presidential Scholar Candidates: In February 2009, the following nine seniors in the Blair Magnet were named Presidential Scholar Candidates: Jessica Chen, Edward R. Gan, Jonathan S. Gootenberg, Akimitsu G. Hogge, Sneha T. Kannan, Willy W. Li, Daniel Stiles, Monica Wei, and Henry T. Zhang. Presidential Scholar Candidates must have scored exceptionally well on either the SAT or ACT college admission test. http://www.gazette.net/stories/02182009/montsch233703_32473.shtml

  • Loyola College 2009 High School Programming Contest: In February 2009, a team from the Blair Magnet came in first in the Loyola Programming Contest, winning $400 for Blair. Team members were Andrew Das Sarma, Anand Oza, Rohan Puttagunta, and David Kaufman. Teams were provided one computer, seven problems and three hours to solve them. Solutions were to be written in Java. Congratulations to the students and thank you to Ms. Karen Collins, the Magnet teacher who sponsored the team. http://www.cs.loyola.edu/~jglenn/Contest/2009/fullnums.html

  • Siemens Award for Advanced Placement: In February 2009, Jonathan S. Gootenberg and Sneha T. Kannan received Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement, which are awarded each year to students with the greatest number of scores of 5 on eight AP math and science exams. http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/siemens/37164/ (pdf)