SAN JOSE (TIP): The Siemens Foundation recently announced that an Indian American student at San Jose, Calif.-based Harker School, is one of the winners of its 2016 Siemens Competition.

Manan Shah’swork “Deep Learning Assessment of Tumor Proliferation in Histopathological Images for Categorical and Molecular Breast Cancer Severity and Diagnosis” -earned him top individual honors and a$3,000 scholarship for developing a computational model that will help pathologists more rapidly and accurately assess the severity of breast cancer tumor growth and spread.

Shah now moves on to the final stage of the competition in Washington, D.C., which will take place in early December. A total of $500,000 in scholarships will be distributed to winners, and two contestants will be awarded the top prize of $100,000

“These students are truly amazing,” said David Etzwiler, CEO of the Siemens Foundation. “They are presenting cutting-edge, advanced research that is addressing some of the most critical issues facing our world today.”

The Siemens Competition, launched in 1999 by the Siemens Foundation, was established to increase access to higher education for students who are gifted in STEM and is based on the culture of innovation, research and educational support that is the hallmark of Siemens. This competition, administered by Discovery Education, seeks to recognize and hopefully build a strong pipeline for the nation’s most promising scientists, engineers and mathematicians.

The Siemens Foundation announced on Oct. 20 that Harker senior Manan Shah and juniors Randy Zhao and Rajiv Movva were named regional finalists in this year’s Siemens Competition. These three students will compete in November for a chance to move on to the final stage of the competition in Washington, D.C. One of the country’s most prestigious science competitions, the Siemens Competition rigorously evaluates individual and team research projects submitted by high school students and awards more than $600,000 in scholarships through regional and national events.

Earlier this week, 19 Harker students were named Siemens semifinalists, the most of any school in California. More than 1,600 projects were submitted for the 2016 competition, and 498 students were named semifinalists. Harker’s semifinalists make up 3.8% of the total.