On March 11, 2003 Intel Corporation and Science Service awarded the top 10 college scholarship awards for the Intel Science Talent Search (STS) at a black-tie banquet in Washington, D.C. Two Chiense students among the 10 finalists are:
Tianhui "Michael" Li, Oregon, Second Place: $75,000
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Li, 17, of Portland, submitted a physics entry to the Intel Science Talent Search based on his three-year study of inertial-electrostatic confinement (IEC), a radically different and significantly less costly way of confining nuclear fusion than conventional methods. Michael had already built two IEC reactors prior to the most recent phase of his research, which was conducted at the Propulsion Research Laboratory of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. As a student volunteer, he worked on developing a proton detection system and collimator-a device for producing a parallel beam of radiation. At the Oregon Episcopal School, Michael founded the school's DOE Science Bowl team and a geopolitical club focused on world affairs. He is the author of award-winning essays for competitions sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace and the World Affairs Council, and a recipient of the Young Artists Concerto Competition. An accomplished classical pianist, who has performed with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, he has also studied Afro-Caribbean music forms. Michael is the son of Zaiyi Chen and was born in China. He hopes to study computer science in college.
Yi-Chen Zhang, New York, Eigth Place: $20,000
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Zhang, 17, of Forest Hills, submitted to the Intel Science Talent Search a medicine and health project examining the influence of pesticides on cockroach allergens associated with respiratory disorders such as asthma. In working with a research team at the Columbia University School of Public Health, Yi-Chen ("Lilly") maintained experimental colonies of German cockroaches, which she exposed to non-lethal doses of boric acid and hydramethylnon gel pesticides. She used immunological assays and statistical analyses to measure fecal allergen concentration, and concluded that cockroach ingestion of low concentrations of boric acid pesticides increased their production of a major allergen, while ingestion of the other pesticide did not. Lilly was the first author of an abstract of this study, which she presented at the 2002 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology conference. After graduation from The Bronx High School of Science, she hopes to pursue research in immunology at the University of Chicago. Born in China, Lilly is the daughter of Jian-Jun Zhang and Xiao-Yuan Tang. Her hobbies include painting, papermaking, photography and writing.