Schwenksville Student Wins Second Place and $175k in National Science Competition

Aaron J. Yeiser from Schwenksville won second place in the national Regeneron Science Talent Search, taking home the award of $175,000.

Schwenksville

Aaron J. Yeiser from Schwenksville has proved that studying science and using that knowledge really does pay, writes Tom Avril for Philly.com.

The young Perkiomen Valley High School student recently won second place at the national Regeneron Science Talent Search and took home $175,000 in prize money.

“I’m very, very excited,” enthused Yeiser. “I really thought that all of the projects were really amazing.”

Over 1,700 high school seniors entered the competition and in January, 40 of them were selected for the finals. The finalists spent several days in Washington for the final round of judging and got the chance to present their projects to the public at the National Geographic Society.

The $250,000 first prize was won by Indrani Das for work on a potential treatment for brain cells that are dying due to an injury or neurodegenerative disease.

Yeiser won second place for the work he did as part of MIT Primes, a highly competitive research program which pairs high school students with mentors from universities.

“Aaron did everything,” said mentor Alex Townsend, an assistant professor of mathematics at Cornell University. “I just prod him and make sure he stays on the right track.”

Read more about the young scientist at Philly.com by clicking here.