This spring, MdBio Foundation is continuing its partnership with the Biotechnology Institute to bring the BioGENEius Challenge to Maryland high school students. Two Maryland students will be selected to travel to San Diego, CA to compete in the international competition focusing on original research in biotechnology.
Last year’s finalists, Joy Zeng from Poolesville High School, and Havisha Garimella from Mount Hebron High School, say that the competition was a great place to connect with other students who share their same interests. “It was so inspiring to go to nationals and learn about all the amazing research that students, just like me, were involved in,” said Ms. Zeng. “That, compounded with the BIO convention [host of the 2013 awards], definitely reinforced for me just how exciting the field of biotechnology is.”
Ms. Zeng was the first place winner of the 2013 Maryland BioGENEius Challenge and was one of two Maryland representatives at the 2013 National BioGENEius Challenge in Chicago, IL. Her first place project was titled Targeted Thermal Ablation of Cancer Cells Using Biosurfactant Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes.
Ms. Garimella, Maryland’s second representative presented her project titled, Protein Assemblies in Health and in Diseases: Biological AFM and Related Studies. Ms. Garimella said, “It was just really cool to meet and network with students from across the nation and share your research with everyone. The BIO International Convention, which we all went to, was huge, and just made you feel very big. You could visit all these exhibits from different countries, and see what advancements they have made in biotech.”
MdBio Foundation will be giving two (2) Maryland students the same exciting opportunity this year. Two winners will receive an all-expense-paid trip to the U.S. National competition held in San Diego, CA on June 20-24, 2014. The top three (3) projects in Maryland will also receive a cash prize.
The Maryland BioGENEius competition is virtual; students will complete a web-based form and upload their project, which will then be submitted to a panel of expert judges. The deadline for students to submit their projects is April 21, 2014.
More information on the challenge can be found by visiting the Biotechnology Institute website or by contacting MdBio Foundation by email.
