White House Photo Gallery

2011 ISEF finalist Taylor Wilson shows President Barack Obama his project at the 2012 White House Science Fair. During his address to the students, Obama stated, “When students excel in math and science, they help America compete for the jobs and industries of the future.”

Society alumnus Benjamin Hylak listens to President Barack Obama speak during the 2012 White House Science Fair. In the 2011 Broadcom MASTERS, Hylak’s engineering project was titled “Practical Application of a Telepresence Robot”.

President Barack Obama addresses students at the 2013 White House Science Fair. Among the honored attendees was 2012 Broadcom MASTERS finalist Mabel Wheeler (top row, far right), whose project explored the impact of sunscreen on the degradation of polymers.

President Barack Obama greets 2013 STS finalist Lane Gunderman during a visit to the White House. For his project, Gunderman studied the mechanics of energy transport during photosynthesis.

President Barack Obama addresses the 40 STS finalists at the White House in 2013. The top winner that year, Sara Volz (front row, fifth from left), used artificial selection to increase algae oil yields for use in biofuel.

2013 STS finalist Jennifer Chan shakes hands with President Barack Obama at the White House. In an interview with her local paper, Chan noted that the president shook hands with each finalist and asked their names and where they were from.

STS finalist Akshay Padmanabha introduces himself to President Barack Obama at the White House in 2013. During the students’ visit, the president spoke to them about the importance of science and technology to his administration.

President Barack Obama shakes hands with 2013 STS finalist Meghan Shea. For her project, Shea developed a new water filtration method using crushed seeds of the Moringa plant, commonly grown in tropical areas for food.

President Barack Obama welcomes 2013 STS finalist Kensen Shi to the White House. Shi’s computer science project involved developing a new method for identifying collision-free paths for robots maneuvering around obstacles.

President Barack Obama gives a tour of the Oval Office to 2013 Broadcom MASTERS finalists. After greeting them in the Rose Garden, President Obama invited finalists to join him for an impromptu tour and showed them artwork and early patents.

After receiving the 2013 Broadcom MASTERS First Place Technology Award, Austin McCoy shakes hands with President Barack Obama. McCoy designed a robotic thermocycler to detect infectious diseases.

President Barack Obama meets finalists of the 2013 Broadcom MASTERS at the White House. River Grace won the competition’s top prize—the Samueli Foundation Prize—with his project called “The Rain Dance of the Radiata,” which focused on an endangered species of tortoise.