Brandon Recce ’22 Named Top 300 Regeneron Science Talent Search Scholar

Newark Academy senior Brandon Recce ’22 has been named a top 300 Scholar in the 81st Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) — the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and mathematics competition for high school seniors. With this recognition, Recce becomes the first NA student to reach this level of the competition, earning the accolade for his project “Quantitative Analysis of the Impact of Highly Skilled Immigrant Workers on American Innovation.”

“Being named a Regeneron STS scholar is an affirmation of my work as much as it has given me a lot of confidence to continue pursuing ideas and research that inspires me,” Brandon says.

As a second-generation immigrant, Brandon found a passion in evaluating the impact that immigration has on the economy. After reading published works on the impact of immigration on innovation, Brandon realized he could extend the prior work. He downloaded several online datasets (USPTO/USCIS) from public government sources and was able to show a causal relationship using instrumental variable analysis between issued H-1B work visas and the number of patents produced. He also used machine learning-based topic analysis to identify sectors where immigrants had the largest impact. The two areas of largest impact were computer science and optoelectronics. 

Regeneron STS recognizes and empowers the most promising young scientists in the U.S. who are creating the ideas and solutions that solve our most urgent challenges. A total of 1,805 students around the country entered the competition this year. As a scholar, Recce will receive $2,000, and Newark Academy will also receive $2,000 to use toward STEM-related activities. 

Recce is now in the running to be named as one of 40 Finalists, who each receive $25,000 and participate in the final competition in March 2022. The top prize for the most promising emerging STEM leader in the United States is $250,000.