By Staff Writer Dempsey Bilotta

One of Naperville North’s own is already earning national recognition within the science world. Senior Claire Liu was chosen as one of Intel’s Science Talent Search semifinalists.

Liu is one of 300 high school seniors in the United States to be chosen as a semifinalist in this pre-college competition. To be a candidate for the competition, each student must submit a scientific project. With University of Chicago professor David Mazziotti’s guidance, Liu created a project that revolved around harnessing the energy of sunlight.

“My project is a theoretical and computational study in quantum chemistry. At the molecular level, I looked at the process in which sunlight is converted to electricity and how to improve the efficiency of that process,” said Liu in an instant messenger discussion with the North Star.

As her mentor, Mazziotti helped her along the way and was eager to start the project with her.

“Claire contacted me about the possibility of working on the theory in my group.  I was thrilled to work with her and accepted her into my research group,” said Mazziotti in an email with the North Star. “We started work on the project in May, but we made rapid progress in June, July, and August.”

The Intel STS program is one of the oldest and most prominent competitions in high school science. It is both sponsored and funded by Intel.  From the selected 300 semifinalists, 40 will be invited to Washington D.C. later this March for a final judging process. The overall winner will receive a $100,000 prize and award.

Because Liu was selected as a semifinalist, she and NNHS will receive $1,000. Liu plans to set aside this money for her future.

“I am definitely going to use the money to help pay for college,” said Liu. “The $1,000 for North is hopefully going to be used to help the chemistry department with whatever they need.”

In the future, Liu plans to move forward in the science field. She hopes to pursue a science degree in college.

“I definitely want to go into the science field in the future. In college, I will probably major in chemical or molecular engineering or maybe chemistry,” said Liu. “As to which college I’m going to, I still have to hear back from a couple of other colleges so I’m not entirely sure. Right now, the University of Chicago is at the top of my list.”

Mazziotti, along with many others, are very proud of Liu’s dedication and achievement.

“She has great talent for scientific research, and I believe that this work is just the beginning of her contributions to science,” said Mazziotti. “Her [project] is quite interesting as it explores how we can use the fundamental properties of electrons to enhance the flow of energy in materials.  The work has ramifications for a more efficient harvesting of solar energy.”