5.05.2008 - 03:39pm ET

Left to Right: Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman, Coach Ingo Gaida, Ian Fels Scheffler, Marino Di Franco, Dimitry Petrenko, Alexandre Boulgakov, DOE Under Secretary for Science Raymond L. Orbach. (PRNewsFoto/The U.S. Department of Energy, Dennis Brack)

(CSRwire) WASHINGTON, May 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced that Santa Monica High School from Santa Monica, Calif. is the winner of the 2008 DOE National Science Bowl(R). Santa Monica High School beat Mira Loma High School from Sacramento, Calif. in the championship match today at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. Teams representing 67 high schools from across the United States competed in the National Finals.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080505/NEM113 )

"I congratulate all of the students who competed in this year's U.S. Department of Energy National Science Bowl," U.S. Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman said. "As proud as I am to celebrate the impressive accomplishments of these students-and they truly are impressive-the truth is that the National Science Bowl is more than just an academic contest. It's an important part of the effort to reinvigorate science in America, and it is my hope that these young competitors will help raise awareness of the great need to support scientific education and inspire students across the nation to pursue this discipline."

Members of the winning team include Alexandre Boulgakov, Marino Di Franco, Ian Fels Scheffler, Dimitry Petrenko, and coach Ingo Gaida.

The team won a trip to the International Youth Science Forum in London in addition to $1,000 for their school's science department. Santa Monica clinched the title by answering a mathematics question.

To ensure that today's brightest students become tomorrow's scientific leaders, President Bush announced the American Competitiveness Initiative (ACI) in 2006. This initiative increases investment in research and development, strengthens science and math education, and encourages entrepreneurship and technology discovery.

The DOE National Science Bowl exemplifies how children who are engaged, encouraged, and equipped with proper resources can succeed academically. The goal of the American Competitiveness Initiative-and the National Science Bowl-is to invest in our next generation of scientists, engineers, and educators so America can remain at the forefront of innovation and successfully compete in the 21st century global marketplace.

More than 300 high school students competed in this weekend's National Finals of the 18th annual DOE National Science Bowl. Earlier this spring, more than 12,000 students from across the country participated in regional Science Bowls for high school students. The winners of the regional high school Science Bowls received all-expense paid trips to compete in the National Finals in Washington, DC. DOE recognizes all the students who competed as true mathematics and science stars, representing the nation's next generation of scientists and engineers.

DOE created the National Science Bowl in 1991 to encourage high school students to excel in mathematics and science and to pursue careers in these fields. DOE supports mathematics and science education to help provide a technically trained and diverse workforce for the nation. More than 130,000 students have participated in the National Science Bowl throughout its 18 year history.

Placing second in the DOE National Science Bowl was the Mira Loma High School from Sacramento, Calif. Team members include: Andrew Chen, Aninda Chowdhury, Rishi Kulkarni, Edward Lee, Sriram Pendyala, and coach James Hill. The team won a trip to a nuclear science facility in France, sponsored by AREVA, Inc., in addition to $1,000 for their school's science department.

The third place team was Thomas Jefferson High School for Science & Technology from Alexandria, Va., including Meng-Yang Chen, Huanqi Deng, Bruce Sun, Jack Wang, Evan Warner, and coach Sharon Baker Webb. This team won $1,000 for their school's science department and a trip to the DOE Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News, Va., which they donated to the fourth place team.

The fourth place team was Fairview High School from Boulder, Colo., and included Marshall Carpenter, Karthik Rao, Charles Xu, Norris Xu, Michael Zhuang, and coach Tammy Van Meter.

St. Croix Educational Complex from Kingshills, Virgin Islands won the Science Bowl Ambassador Award for outstanding sportsmanship. Team members included Ninfa Barnard, Nagid Brown, Tramaine Creighton, Keywan Johnson, Terrence Nelson, Jr., and coach Joann Lewis. Each team member won an iPod, provided by IBM, and a trip to the Crow Canyon Archaeological Center in southwestern Colorado.

The top 16 teams received $1,000 for their schools' science departments. The other 12 teams winning this cash prize included:

--Albany High School (Albany, Calif.)
--Homestead High School (Cupertino, Calif.)
--North Hollywood High School (North Hollywood, Calif.)
--Terre Haute South Vigo High School (Terre Haute, Ind.)
--Lexington High School (Lexington, Mass.)
--St. Paul Central High School (St. Paul, Minn.)
--William G. Enloe High School (Raleigh, N.C.)
--State College Area High School (State College, Pa.)
--A&M Consolidated High School (College Station, Texas)
--Amarillo High School (Amarillo, Texas)
--St. Mary's Hall School (San Antonio, Texas)
--Mountain View High School (Vancouver, Wash.)

The DOE Office of Science manages the DOE National Science Bowl. The Office of Science is the principal supporter of DOE's world-class national laboratory system that will lead the way in innovations including high-end computing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy sources, and other material science research.

Photos of the top 16 teams and more information about the DOE National Science Bowl will be available at nationalsciencebowl.energy.gov. Teams may be interviewed by calling the DOE media contacts listed above.

For more information please contact: