Best and brightest compete for annual Intel prize

56 teenage finalists participating in 15th annual competition; winners will be announced at the Knesset.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Intel Israel Young Scientists Competition 370 (photo credit: Judy Siegel)
Intel Israel Young Scientists Competition 370
(photo credit: Judy Siegel)
The development of a patch to give medications via electrical signals through the skin instead of swallowing them; a robotic nurse that hands out drugs to the elderly at the correct time and dosage; determination of the type of forest trees that consume less water; and a comparison of growth rates in youths who exercise or not are just some of the projects competing for the Intel Israel Young Scientists Competition.
Fifty-six teenage finalists who carried out 52 different projects in the exact, natural, computer and social sciences and humanities are participating in the 15th annual competition, whose winners will be announced at the Knesset on Tuesday. Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar (Likud), Science and Technology Minister Daniel Herschkowitz (Habayit Hayehudi) and Intel Israel president Maxine Fassberg will be on hand to give the scholarship prizes.
Posters accompanied by computer screens were set up on the top floor of Jerusalem’s Bloomfield Science Museum for the judges to study the projects.
The youths looked tense as professors from a variety of backgrounds questioned the participants about their projects, most of which were carried out individually.
Some had received high rankings at last year’s competition, but most were firsttime participants.
Other interesting projects analyzed the emergence of the Black Panther movement from the Wadi Salib riots by the socially and economically deprived nearly half a century ago; examination of gender messages from unisex clothing; and a mechanism that allocates the electricity supply at times of power shortages.
Intel officials and the panel of judges headed by theoretical physicist and former Hebrew University president Prof.
Hanoch Gutfreund noted that the level of knowledge and understanding rises from year to year.
Hundreds of youths aged 15 to 20 from around the country competed to become finalists, who worked with mentors from leading universities and their high schools. There were fewer girls than in previous years, but two Beduin boys from the Negev were among the finalists.
The top winners will represent Israel at the worldwide Intel competition for youth.