Three Shady Side Academy Senior School Students earned First Award honors at the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Sciences (PJAS) State Competition, held on Monday, May 20, at Penn State University.

The students earned a spot to compete at the state level based on their strong showing at the regional competition in February. They were among approximately 3,000 of the best and brightest science students from Pennsylvania's 12 separate PJAS regions.

Earning First Awards were: junior David Liang in the Computer Science category for his research project, "Using Deep Learning to Detect Malicious URLs"; freshman Gloria Mancilla-Balog in the Zoology category for "The Effect of Grooming Techniques on Equine Heart Rate"; and freshman Steven Liu in the Engineering category for "Electronic Prevention of Rust - The Enemy of Steel."

The Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) is a statewide organization of junior and senior high school students designed to stimulate and promote interest in science among its members through the development of research projects and investigations.

Congratulations to the team and to faculty coach Dr. Jill Schumacher!