David Liang, a junior at Carmel High School, and Catherine Ariadne Mytelka, a senior at Park Tudor School in Carmel, today were named the Indiana state winners of the 2012-13 Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement, a signature program of the Siemens Foundation administered by the College Board. The awards recognize the nation’s top achievers in Advanced Placement Program® (AP®) courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) with a $2,000 college scholarship to one male and one female student in each state. Two national winners (one male and one female) are also recognized, each receiving a $5,000 scholarship. This year, 101 high school students in all 50 states – including 93 seniors and 8 juniors – were honored.
“We commend this year’s Siemens Awards for Advanced Placement winners on their hard work and dedication to STEM subjects, and we thank the teachers, parents and schools who supported their scholarship,” said Jeniffer Harper-Taylor, president of the Siemens Foundation.
“We are proud to join our partners at the Siemens Foundation in recognizing these exceptional students. Today’s award-winners have the foundation to achieve great success in some of today’s most exciting, innovative careers,” said David Coleman, president of the College Board.
- Total AP Courses Taken to Date (all disciplines including STEM): 15
- Favorite AP Class: Calculus BC
- Advice to other AP students:“Step up to the challenge and take the AP courses in the subjects that interest you.”
- Proudest Accomplishments: Winner of 2011 USA(Junior) Math Olympiad (top scorer in the nation); top 20 in the nation on 2012 US National ChemistryOlympiad test; USA(J)MO qualifier for four consecutive years
- Plans for College Study: Math, Science, Economics
- Anticipated Career: Something related to mathematics, science or business
- Favorite nonacademic pursuits: Math club president; varsity soccer player; Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis volunteer; math tutor
- Total AP Courses Taken to Date (all disciplines including STEM): 15
- Favorite AP Class: World History
- Advice to other AP students: “Make study guides as you go through the material so you’ll have them for reference when the AP test comes along. Be sure to do all the homework, even if it seems excessive.”
- Proudest Accomplishments: “My first AIME qualification and first time reading a full novel written entirely in Spanish.”
- Plans for College Study: Engineering, Computer Science, or Applied Math
- Anticipated Career: Engineer, statistician, or computer programmer
- Favorite nonacademic pursuits: Violinist in a small honors ensemble; mentoring other high school students in computer science; UNICEF club
