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Gary Montelongo, a 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge Finalist among 30 of the top young scientists in the nation, competed in Washington D.C. and brought back lifelong experiences and the $10,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award.
From Sullivan City, Montelongo is a ninth grader from Thelma R. Salinas STEM Early College High School at La Joya ISD.
Montelongo spoke to The Monitor before leaving for the competition and discussed his journey into the world of engineering, his time interning for the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley University Transportation Center for Railway Safety and how he hopes his achievement inspires his community.
As a finalist, he attended the Thermo Fisher JIC Finals Week in Washington D.C. from last Friday to Wednesday where he competed for more than $100,000 in awards.
The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is the nation’s premier STEM competition which aims to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators who will solve the challenges of the future.
The 30 finalists were selected by a nationwide panel of scientists, engineers and educators based on the student’s scientific research projects.
For the competition, Montelongo was grouped with students from New York, California and Texas. The group would work together in several competitions such as a biology and coding challenge.
“We built a circuit and we coded it to do like little things and also coded a motion sensor too, so every time we passed by it, it turned off,” he said.
Montelongo also visited various landmarks around the city such as the Einstein Memorial and Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters.
At first, thinking he would win an award in the STEM category but after not hearing his name, he had given up hope of receiving an award.
“I hear ‘La Joya’ and I thought it was another person from La Jolla, California … but then I heard La Joya, Texas and I was like ‘There’s no way,’” he said. “I was in a lot of shock.”
The Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award celebrates students who use coding to solve a community problem.
Montelongo’s research project that got him into the competition was about a train’s suspension system, an understudied aspect of the train derailment that happened in East Palestine, Ohio.
Returning to school today, he said his friends and teachers were happy about his award.
“Before the competition we talked about it like ‘Oh, what if you win?’ But we kind of just joked about it,” Montelongo said. “So, whenever they heard that I won, they were really happy and excited.”
The $10,000 reward that comes with the award can be used for anything Montelongo wants to do but he is deciding to save it for future college expenses.
“I’m thankful for actually being able to go to Washington,” he said. “I did not expect myself a year ago to be doing what I’m doing right now.”
