A University High School senior has been named a semifinalist in the annual Intel Science Talent Search, America’s oldest and most prestigious high school science competition. Sumit Mitra is among 300 seniors from 175 high schools across the country to advance in this year’s contest. He and the other semifinalists will each receive a $1,000 award from the Intel Foundation, with an additional $1,000 going to their respective schools. From this exclusive group, 40 finalists will be invited to Washington, D.C., in March to show their work, meet with notable scientists and compete for the top award of $100,000. By now you may be wondering about the subject of Sumit’s project. We can report that the title is, “The Effect of Photosensitization of Fullerene-based Nanoparticles on Reactive Oxygen Species Generation and Toxicity to Viruses in Various Aqueous Environments." As this seems fairly self-explanatory, we’ll leave it at that. According to the Intel website, the Intel Science Talent Search encourages students to tackle challenging scientific questions and develop the skills to solve the problems of tomorrow. Projects submitted for consideration cover all disciplines of science, including biochemistry, chemistry, physics, mathematics, engineering, behavioral science, and medicine and health. Last year, Uni’s Nitish Lakhanpal traveled to Washington, D.C. as a finalist in the competition.