By Scott Brinton
Just 40 students from among thousands reach the final stage of the contest. They are now competing for $530,000 in scholarship prizes, with the top prize a $100,000 scholarship. The second-place finalist receives a $75,000 scholarship, and the third-place finalist earns a $50,000 prize. At the very least, finalists receive $5,000 scholarships.
"While as a nation we continue to struggle to improve science and math education, these students give us hope for our future," said Intel Chairman Craig Barrett.
Solomon studied dwarf stars for his honored Intel entry. He caused quite a stir earlier in the year when he placed third in the nation in the equally prestigious Siemens-Westinghouse Science Research competition with the same project.
Russo conducted research with Harvard's Dr. Alvaro Pascualo-Leone, looking at ways to improve a medical technology for the blind that is under development at Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital's Laboratory for Magnetic Brain Stimulation.
