Five Towns students named Siemens semifinalists

Two Hewlett High School juniors, a pair of Hebrew Academy of the Five Towns and Rockaway (HAFTR) High School students, and student from Davis Renov Stahler (DRS) Yeshiva High School for Boys in Woodmere were named semifinalists in the prestigious 2016 Siemens Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Competition.

Hewlett High students Justin Ng and Nicholas Zumba collaborated on studying the growth and development of dental pulp stem cells on 3D-printed scaffolds under their mentor, Dr. Adriana Pinkas-Sarafova at Stony Brook University’s Garcia Center, district officials said.

Rachel Sacks and Gila Schein attend HAFTR in Cedarhurst and Tzvi Heimowitz is a student at DRS.

More than 1,600 projects were submitted and 498 students have been selected as semifinalists, the Siemens Foundation reported.

Regional finalists were to be named on Wednesday. Those student will advance to the six regional competitions in November during which those winners will move on to compete in the finals at George Washington University in December, where students will compete for $500,000 in scholarships.