Cal High seniors Esha Maiti and Kathy Camenzind were announced as finalists of a national science fair last month and will be heading to Washington, D.C., in March to meet President Obama.

The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) is a national competition for high school seniors that focuses on research. Every year, 40 finalists out of about 2000 students present their research to a panel of judges in nation’s capitol for the chance of winning $100,000.

Maiti and Camenzind’s area of research for Intel STS has a very different focus. Maiti’s project focuses on cancer, while Kathy’s project was geared toward engineering.

Maiti developed a computer program that could help diagnose cancer by predicting the spread of tumors in vital organs.

“For my project, I used Stochastic Monte Carlo Simulations to create a mathematical model that predicts the presence and size distribution of secondary tumors around the body from only on the diameter of the primary tumor,” said Maiti.

Camenzind created a device using laser beams.

“My project was called ‘Quantifying Forces in a Simplified Optical Tweezers Setup,’” said Camenzind. “I designed and built a device that uses a tightly focused beam of laser light to trap microscopic particles in three dimensions, and then motorized the microscope stage and came up with a method of video analysis that allowed me

to see how strong the trap was.”