Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science & the Public Announce 30 Finalists in 2014 Broadcom MASTERS Middle School STEM Competition

IRVINE, Calif., and WASHINGTON, Sept. 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

News Highlights:

• 30 U.S. middle school students awarded all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete for more than $75,000 in awards on October 28
• California has the most finalists with seven, followed by Florida with five, Oregon with four and Pennsylvania with three
• Sponsored by Broadcom Foundation, Broadcom MASTERS® inspires middle school age scientists and engineering enthusiasts to stay with science and math throughout high school

Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science & the Public (SSP) today announced the selection of 30 students as finalists in the fourth annual Broadcom MASTERS^® – the nation's most prestigious Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) competition for middle school students. The Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars) winners will be named on October 28 in Washington, D.C., after completion of a rigorous competition that tests their abilities in STEM subjects, teamwork and collaboration. Find the full listing of 2014 finalists at student.societyforscience.org/broadcom-masters-2014-finalists and http://www.broadcomfoundation.org/masters/winners/2014#finalists.

Finalist Overview:

• The finalists include 12 girls and 18 boys covering 13 states and representing 29 schools. California has the most finalists with seven, followed by Florida with five, Oregon with four and Pennsylvania with three.
• Finalists were selected by a panel of distinguished scientists and engineers from among 300 semifinalists and 2,054 applicants in 46 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico.
• Finalists' independent research projects include a range of topics such as:
  • A Driver's Companion: Using EEG Waves and Eye Blinks to Prevent Drowsy Driving
  • No More Oyster Roasts?: Effect of Increasing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide on Oysters
  • Deterministic and Stochastic Analysis in Biomedical Engineering: Fractal Geometry vs. Brownian Motion
  • Can Ant Pheromones Communicate Food Quality?
  • An Acoustical Investigation of Western Classical  Music Theory
  • A Low Cost, Adoptable, User Tested Add-on Device for the White Cane Facilitating Safer Mobility of the Visually Impaired
  • Improving and Testing Robotic Arm Kinesthetics with the Use of Processing, Kinect, and Arduino

"At Broadcom, we believe there is tremendous untapped talent who will be called upon to fill the thousands of rewarding high-tech jobs awaiting students who stay with STEM through high school," said Paula Golden, President and Executive Director, Broadcom Foundation and Director, Community Affairs, Broadcom Corporation. "Companies like ours are eager to support, mentor, inspire and ultimately hire young people with the 21st century attributes of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, creativity and most of all, confidence. The Broadcom MASTERS finalists represent thousands of young people who have a personal passion in science, math and engineering— and they are our future! Our 2014 finalists will inspire others to enter the STEM talent pipeline and we look forward to celebrating their achievements this October."

"Congratulations to the 30 talented young scientists and engineers selected as Broadcom MASTERS finalists," said Maya Ajmera, President and Chief Executive Officer of Society for Science & the Public and Publisher of the Science News family of media properties. "We are thrilled to meet each of these top young middle school students from around the country, learn more about their innovative research, and watch them engage in the hands-on science and engineering challenges of the national finals. SSP is honored by its partnership with the Broadcom Foundation to reward and inspire these students to continue their pursuit of STEM subjects."

During Broadcom MASTERS week (October 24 – October 28), finalists will showcase their projects for the public and compete as teams in hands-on STEM activities. The grand prize is the $25,000 Samueli Foundation Prize, a gift of Susan and Henry Samueli, co-founder, Chairman of the Board, and Chief Technical Officer of Broadcom Corporation. In addition to the grand prize, in 2012 Broadcom Foundation created the $10,000 Marconi/Samueli Award for Innovation, an honor made possible by Samueli's donation of his Marconi Society Prize winnings. There are also experiential awards and iPads for first and second place for each of the categories of STEM in addition to the Rising Star awards, in which two finalists have a chance to attend Intel ISEF, the world's largest international high school science fair in May 2015. Broadcom Foundation also recognizes the middle school teachers who have inspired and mentored the finalists and will give each finalist's school $1,000.

While in Washington, D.C., the students will enjoy an exciting introduction to the nation's capital, experiencing historical sites and organizations that celebrate innovation, science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The finalists also will visit the U.S. Capitol as well as learn how to program a credit-card-sized single-board computer called the Raspberry Pi. The week's activities culminate with an awards dinner at the Carnegie Institution of Washington on October 28 featuring keynote speaker Eben Upton, Broadcom engineer and co-inventor and chief engineer of the Raspberry Pi.

Sponsored by Broadcom Foundation, a nonprofit public benefit corporation funded by Broadcom Corporation, the Broadcom MASTERS is a program of Society for Science & the Public. SSP has run some of the world's most prestigious science competitions for more than seven decades.

For more information on the Broadcom MASTERS, visit the Broadcom Foundation and SSP websites or visit Broadcom Foundation's Newsroom and read the B-Inspired Blog. To keep up with the Broadcom MASTERS on Twitter, use hashtag #brcmMASTERS or follow Broadcom and SSP. And to stay connected, visit the Broadcom MASTERS and SSP Facebook pages.

About Broadcom Foundation

Broadcom Foundation was founded to inspire and enable young people throughout the world to enter careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through partnerships with local schools, colleges, universities and nonprofit organizations. Broadcom Foundation is the proud sponsor of the Broadcom MASTERS®, a program of Society for Science & the Public – a premier science and engineering competition for middle school children. The Foundation's mission is to advance education in STEM by funding research, recognizing scholarship and increasing opportunity. Learn more at www.broadcomfoundation.org. 

About Broadcom

Broadcom Corporation (NASDAQ: BRCM), a FORTUNE 500® company, is a global leader and innovator in semiconductor solutions for wired and wireless communications. Broadcom® products seamlessly deliver voice, video, data and multimedia connectivity in the home, office and mobile environments.  With the industry's broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art system-on-a-chip solutions, Broadcom is changing the world by Connecting everything®. For more information, go to www.broadcom.com.

About Society for Science & the Public

Society for Science & the Public is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the achievement of young researchers in independent research and to public engagement in science. Established in 1921, its vision is to promote the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement. Through its acclaimed education competitions, including the Intel Science Talent Search, the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and the Broadcom MASTERS, and its award-winning publications, Science News and Science News for Students, Society for Science & the Public is committed to inform, educate, and inspire. Learn more at www.societyforscience.org.

Broadcom®, the pulse logo, Connecting everything®, the Connecting everything logo and Broadcom MASTERS® are among the trademarks of Broadcom Corporation and/or its affiliates in the United States, certain other countries and/or the EU. Any other trademarks or trade names mentioned are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Broadcom Corporation; BRCM Broadcom Foundation