Dec 12, 2013 02:46 PM EST By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

A student from California claimed the top honor in the 2013 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology for his research on drugs to combat a flu pandemic, LiveScience reported.

Eric Chen, a high school senior at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, Calif. took home a $100,000 scholarship from the Siemens Foundation which announced contest winners Tuesday in Washington D.C.

Twenty students who won regional competitions in November took part in the finals this past weekend at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., LiveScience reported. Finalists presented their work to a panel of judges that consisted of renowned scientists and mathematicians.

"These students represent the future of our competitive global workforce and will propel our nation toward continued economic growth and success," David Etzwiler, chief executive officer of the Siemens Foundation, said in a statement. "We look forward to seeing their future accomplishments in college and beyond."

Chen's discovery of influenza enzyme inhibitors, which could be used to develop anti-flu drugs, won him the individual category in the contest.

In his project, he used computer modeling and lab experiments to screen more than 100,000 drugs "in order to identify a few that effectively blocked influenza viruses," LiveScience reported. His work could be used by scientists to develop anti-flu drugs to protect against future flu pandemics.

According to LiveScience, Chen's inspiration to pursue flue research drew from the 2009 swine flu outbreak in his hometown of San Diego.

Earlier this year, Chen won the Google Science Fair Grand Prize and was a finalist at the Intel International Science and Engineering for the same work on influenza.

Chen wasn't the only one to receive top honor. A team of New York students from George W. Hewlett High School in Hewlett N.Y. shared a $100,000 prize in the group category for their study on ozone resistance in plants.

In their project, Priyanka Wadgaonkar, Zainab Mahmood and JiaWen Pei characterized the gene for a protein that creates resistance against ozone pollution in ferns. 

The Siemens Foundation awarded smaller scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 to the remaining finalists. The organization has held the Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology since 1998.

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