Shining Stars

» Paul John, a Punahou School student, is among more than 1,600 black American high school seniors who have been designated as semifinalists in the 51st annual National Achievement Scholarship Program recently announced by National Merit Scholarship Corp. officials.

The semifinalists may continue in the competition for about 800 Achievement Scholarship awards worth about $2.5 million that will be offered next spring. About 80 percent of semifinalists are expected to attain finalist standing, and more than half of the finalists will win a scholarship.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program is a privately financed academic competition that operates without government assistance. It was initiated in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to the most outstanding program participants. To date, about 33,500 young men and women have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth about $105 million.

Semifinalist selection is based on Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) scores. The highest-scoring entrants within geographic regions are selected.

To advance to the finalist level, semifinalists and their schools must submit a detailed application in which they provide information about the student’s academic record, participation in school and community activities, demonstrated leadership abilities, employment, and honors and awards received. Semifinalists must pre­sent a record of high academic performance throughout high school, be endorsed and recommended by a high school official, write an essay and earn SAT scores that confirm their PSAT/NMSQT performance.

» The University of Hawaii at Manoa’s microrobotics team placed third in the mobility event of the 2014 Mobile Microrobotics Challenge, held in Hong Kong in May as part of the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation.

The competition is designed to promote innovation to overcome the challenges facing microrobots, or microscopic tools useful for a variety of applications, a news release said.

The UH microrobot consisted of a small air bubble inside of a microchamber. Light from a laser was used to heat the surface of the microchamber, which generated a force that moved the microrobot around.

The microrobot was smaller than half a millimeter in diameter; thus, it could be used to move around objects that were also smaller than a millimeter in size. It is useful for building structures made up of living cells, which can help grow tissues and organs outside of the human body, the news release said.

All the microrobots in the Mobile Microrobotics Challenge were smaller than 0.5 mm and operated in miniature arenas under a microscope.

The UH microrobotics team has historically done well, finishing second in the 2012 and 2011 competitions.