Staples Senior Semifinalist in Siemens-Westinghouse Science Competition

A Westport Staples High School senior, Shane Mulligan, is one of only five Connecticut high school seniors to be named a semifinalist in the prestigious Siemens-Westinghouse Science competition, the school district announced today.

The competition attracted approximately 2,000 entries nationwide. Shane’s entry was among the top 300 projects as judged by a panel of internationally known scientists. Top prize in the competition is a $100,000 scholarship.

At Staples, the 17-year-old studies under Dr. A J Scheetz who established a three-year science research course at the high school soon after joining the Westport school district in 2001. 

Scheetz said he is very proud of Shanes accomplishment and also the work of several other of his students who entered the Siemens competition this year.

Every Sunday, for more than a year, Shane has done research work at New York University in the chemistry department. There he has been developing DNA structures that could be used to deliver drugs to specific parts of the body, a district news release said.

He designed a group of small pieces of DNA that formed hexagons that could be used to “coat” drugs to be activated only when needed. To prove that hexagons were formed, Shane used atomic force microscopy.

Staples High School seniors have had a remarkable record in the Seimens-Westinghouse competition.  Last year, four of them were semifinalists. And in December 2000, Mariangela Lisanti won the national first prize of $100,000.

The Seimens-Westinghouse competition divides the nation into six regions.  Semifinalists from Connecticut compete in the New England Region.  Six winners from each region will be announced next Monday.

A competition among the six regional winners will be held Nov. 5. Shane will compete at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

The one winner of each of the regional contests will become one of six national finalists who will compete for the top prize. 

The national finals will be held Dec. 4-6 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC.