A pair of Intel semifinalists in the Five Towns

The prestigious Intel Science Talent Search announced its semifinalists for 2011 and Inwood resident and Lawrence High School senior Abraham Killanin, 18, and Nathan Akhavan, 17, a senior at Rambam Mesivta High School in Lawrence made the grade.

Killanin ‘s project “Platinum and Gold Nanoparticles Permeability and Effects on Dental Pulp Stem Cell Growth and Differentiation,” previously earned semifinalist status in the Siemens Foundation Competition in Math, Science & Technology.

His project topic was spurred by a lecture he attended at SUNY Stony Brook about stem cells and the everyday use of nanoparticles. Microscopic nanoparticles are used in MRI scanning said to highlight the differences between internal body structures.

When platinum nanoparticles were applied to dental stem cells, the cells displayed the ability to produce osteocalcin, a protein generated when the stem cells are in their early stages of changing to bone cells. “We were looking to speed up the process,” Killanin said previously.

Akhavan's project is called “Enhancing Organic Polymer Solar Cell Efficiency through the Incorporation of Graphene and Graphene Oxide.”

A profile of the students and their projects will be in next week’s Herald.