Two Long Island Students Win STEM Competition

Women are traditionally underrepresented in STEM careers, but two Long Island female students are turning tradition on its head. On July 12, Audrey Shine of Plainview-Old Bethpage JFK High School, Plainview, New York and Danielle Kelly of Friends Academy, Locust Valley, New York took first place in the international Spellman High Voltage Electronics Clean Tech Competition, the only outcome-based STEM competition of its kind in the world, for the second consecutive year.

During the event, held at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, NY, Shine and Kelly beat out nine others teams of high school students from five nations, including four from the United States, three from Singapore, and one each from Australia, Ireland, and Peru. 

As first place winners, Kelly and Shine were awarded a $10,000 prize for their project Application of Graphene Oxide/Amine Functionalized Graphene Oxide onto Polymer Electrolyte Membranes (PEM) and Electrodes to Optimize Hydrogen Fuel Cell Performance. The project focused on enhancing the efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells to help solve climate change—the theme of this year’s competition.

The women will also have the opportunity to attend and present at The World Congress on Climate Change in Rome, Italy in September. To support the students’ trip to Rome, please visit: https://www.cstl.org/clean-tech-donation/. They will also continue their relationship with a professional mentor, who will advise them regarding their work and education.