3 North Shore Seniors Named Regeneron Science Finalists

By Ishan Shah

Three Long Island high school seniors - all from north shore high schools - have been recognized as finalists in the National Regeneron Science Talent Search competition.

The three are from Syosset, Jericho, and Roslyn High Schools: Natasha Kulviwat of Jericho High School; Vincent Huang of Syosset High School; and Jacob Gross of Roslyn High School.  The three were the local finalists out of 40 nationwide

Each finalist will earn a $25,000 award, and will be given the opportunity to travel to Washington D.C. for the competition in March , where they will be put in a pool to win over $1.8 million in prizes. 

Natasha Kulviwat completed most of her research at Columbia University where she would frequently arrive early, and leave late.

“I told my parents … I really want to be able to do good things for the world, hopefully," said Kulviwat. "To see all this pay off — my dad cried and he is not an emotional person.”

Jacob Gross spent countless hours on his project at Columbia University and credited his research teacher Allyson Weseley, at Roslyn. 

“He was such a standout in this class,” said Weseley, noting that she thought at the time, “This kid could really be a Regeneron finalist. It was noticeable from the very first day. It’s richly deserved.”

Vincent Hunang completed his research at Stony Brook University. Huang's work was completed under the direction of two mentors at Stony Brook University, and he conducted much of his research on his home computer.

All students have displayed incredible efforts in all their projects resulting in their distinction in these awards. We look forward to seeing what they accomplish in March up in Washington.