White House Photo Gallery

President Barack Obama smiles for a photo with the 40 STS finalists at the White House in 2011. Finalist Carrie Cao noted that the president seemed “genuinely interested in science” while talking with the students.

President Barack Obama speaks to 2011 STS finalists in the East Room of the White House. The president asked the finalists about their future plans and congratulated them for being role models in STEM education.

STS finalist Amy Chyao shakes hands with President Barack Obama at the White House in 2012. For her project, Chyao developed a new photosensitizer to help treat cancer using photodynamic therapy.

President Barack Obama greets 2012 STS finalist Anna Sato at the White House. Motivated by the Fukushima disaster in 2011, which released dangerous particles into drinking water, Sato developed a membrane that can filter iodine and cesium from water.

2012 STS finalist Jiacheng (Ben) Li meets President Barack Obama during a visit to the White House. Li’s computer science project proposed a new way to detect and correct data transmission errors.

President Barack Obama speaks to STS finalists at the White House in 2012. “[The president] told us how much education was important to him and how he would continue to support us in our future endeavors,” recalled finalist Anirudh Prabhu.

2012 STS finalist Sayoni Saha shakes hands with President Barack Obama at the White House. For her project, Saha studied the self-concepts of children with Down syndrome.

President Barack Obama welcomes 2012 STS finalist Xiaoyu He to the White House. For his project in mathematics, He studied rotor-routers—deterministic algorithms for moving particles in a network—and gained new insights into their structures.

STS finalist Zizi Yu meets President Barack Obama at the White House in 2012. Yu’s project investigated whether early exposure to food allergens can help prevent the development of food allergies later in life.

2012 STS finalists pose for a photo with President Barack Obama at the White House. During their visit to Washington, D.C., the students also met with members of Congress from their home states.

2011 Broadcom MASTERS finalist Benjamin Hylak explains his engineering project to President Barack Obama at the 2012 White House Science Fair. Hylak was one of 10 Society alumni invited to attend the fair.

2012 STS alum Samantha Garvey describes her environmental sciences project to President Barack Obama at the 2012 White House Science Fair. After her family lost their home, Garvey conducted her research while living in a homeless shelter.