Eleven Chinese Americans of 40 granted Intel Science Talent Search Awards


On January 26, 2005, Intel Corporation recognized the 40 finalists who will vie for more than $530,000 in scholarships in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS), America's oldest pre-college science competition for high school seniors. Chinese Americans who received the prestigious awards are:

FLORIDA

David Qianli Ying, 16, of Miami, was named a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search for his botany project on fortifying a sweet potato cultivar, the purple-skinned Picadita, against viral infection, which could improve yield in this staple crop of southern Florida. Initially begun three years ago in his garage lab, his research focused on a novel process for propagating sweet potato plants using the topmost meristematic portion that outgrows its own existing pathogens. Using this pathogen-free meristem-tip insures that the new plants will be virus-free, thereby reducing susceptibility to pests, fungal and bacterial attacks. Implementing David's methods could benefit sweet potato agriculture worldwide, improving the quality of the global diet. First in his class of 700 at Coral Reef Senior High School and founder of its peer tutoring program, David began his first math lessons with another's help: his grandmother in their native China. He also cultivates a passion for his Asian roots as president of the Asian Heritage Society and is an award-winning table tennis player. The son of Dr. Zhentu Ying and Lisa Wang, he would like to attend Harvard and conduct cancer and AIDS research after medical school

GEORGIA

Sisi Monica Chen, 17, of Duluth studied the growth rate of the function g(n), the least number of 1's needed to express n using only addition, subtraction and multiplication for her Intel Science Talent Search project in mathematics. For positive n she gives upper and lower bounds for this function in terms of n, and shows that g(3k) = 3k. A related function f(n) counts the least number of 1's if one does not allow subtraction, just addition and multiplication; the behavior of f is relevant for computation, but difficult to understand. Sisi shows that f(n) > g(n) for infinitely many choices of n, and she shows that f(n) = g(n) infinitely often. Sisi attends Northview High School where she is co-captain of the Science Olympiad team and, for the past two years, has been co-president of the Beta Club, which raised over $3,000 toward a cure for cystic fibrosis. She has earned awards for her performances in both viola and piano, and was nominated as the 2004 "Poet of the Year" by the International Society of Poets. Born in China, she is the daughter of Dr. Guantao Chen and Daoling Bi. Sisi plans to study mathematics and genetics at Harvard.

MARYLAND

Sherri Yifan Geng, 18, of Rockville, created an automated detection system to identify seizure patterns in digital EEG (electroencephalograph) data for her medicine and health entry in the Intel Science Talent Search. She spent two summers at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, working to eliminate the time-consuming manual process of scanning large amounts of continuous EEG recordings through automation. Her solution - a novel computerized detection algorithm based on principal and discriminate analyses - may also be used to analyze other types of time series-based physiological information, such as electrocardiogram (EKG) data, and she is applying for a patent. At Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Sherri is an editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, co-president of the physics team and president of the science club. A published author and poet and an accomplished musician, she has perfect SAT scores and has received numerous awards for academic achievements and top honors as a world-class table tennis player. Born in China, Sherri is the daughter of Drs. Zheng Geng and Jennifer Xie and plans to study at Harvard.

MASSACHUSETTS

Albert Tsao, 17, of Brookline, designed, fabricated and studied the optical properties of silicon nanofiber ring resonator loops that are thinner than the wavelength of light and almost long enough to fit around a strand of human hair for his Intel Science Talent Search materials science project. Albert is one of only a handful of researchers worldwide who can pull ultrathin silica nanofibers with a diameter smaller than 100 nanometers. Albert's fibers are so narrow that light does not fit inside them and must travel along their exterior surfaces, a phenomenon known as the evanescent field. When the fiber forms a loop, it selectively filters out certain colors of light through interference, a property that may be used in future applications as optical logic gates for super-fast computers. He hopes one day to find a way to manipulate nanofibers using magnetic bacteria. Last summer, Albert transferred to Brookline High School from his Maryland school to continue his summer research at Harvard. He hopes to attend Caltech. His hobbies include football, violin and reading. The son of Dr. Thomas Tsao and Susan Chung, Albert cites his sister as the most influential person of his scientific career.

NEW YORK

Shan Yuan Huang, 17, of Coram, entered the Intel Science Talent Search with a physics project that reflects his fascination with the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Ben's research there focused on the PHENIX experiment, an international collaboration of more than 400 scientists probing nuclear matter under extreme conditions comparable to the state of the universe a few microseconds after the Big Bang. Ben's work resulted in a new technique to measure the number of particles of a given type produced during high energy nuclear collisions that is simpler, more reliable and less time-consuming that methods previously used in the PHENIX experiment. His technique is expected to supplant older methodologies for all future analyses. At Longwood High School in Middle Island, Ben is captain of the varsity math and academic bowl teams and captain and co-founder of the varsity chess team. An accomplished pianist and trombonist, he has received numerous awards for his musical abilities. Other interests include origami and horticulture. He is the son of Tien-Wei Huang and Mei-Mei Huang and hopes to continue his studies at Harvard.

Yingqiuqi Lei, 18, of Flushing, researched trace element geochemistry in fossil teeth from 57 archaeological sites for her earth and planetary science entry in the Intel Science Talent Search. Chelsea developed and manipulated a database with 48 different variables and analyzed 14 elements in 1,560 fossil teeth and sediment samples. Her neutron activation analyses (NAA), revealing fossil paleoenvironmental conditions, have broad application in both geoarchaeology and paleontology. A paper based on her work is being prepared for publication in a peer review journal. Chelsea is first in her class of 111 at Robert F. Kennedy Community High School, and hopes to continue her studies at Harvard. Her many honors include a Third Place Grand Prize Award in the 2003 Intel ISEF. Chelsea is a pianist, tennis player, reporter for the school paper and special overseas correspondent for China's Youth Daily. The daughter of Xiaoming Lei and Jie Liu, she is a recent emigrant from her native China, where an Eightfold Maze she designed - consisting of massive circular concentric walls programmed to open and close at random - is expected to be erected in Kumming, the City of Spring.

Stanley Shang Chiang, 17, of Great Neck, researched quantum bits (qubits) and superconducting materials for tunable transformers for his Intel Science Talent Search physics project. Qubits, the fundamental units of the theoretical quantum computer, have been fabricated individually, but currently there is no mechanism to couple them in pairs so they can act in unison, as they would need to do in a quantum computer. For his project, Stanley designed and fabricated a tunable transformer to couple qubits, and he tested the resulting Josephson junctions in liquid helium at 4.2° K (-452° F). He concluded that the junctions are suitable for the transformer and could eventually serve as part of a quantum computer. At John L. Miller-Great Neck North High School, Stanley is co-captain of the chess team and co-editor of the yearbook. An accomplished pianist, he has performed at Carnegie Recital Hall and Steinway Hall. He holds numerous math, science and engineering awards, speaks Mandarin Chinese and Spanish fluently and is a former captain of the school's Spanish Jeopardy team. The son of Dr. Chien Kuo Chiang and Judy Chiang, Stanley hopes to attend Harvard or MIT.

Ling Pan, 18, of New York, submitted a biochemistry project to the Intel Science Talent Search researching opioid receptors and ways of increasing drug effectiveness. Ling studied the Oprm gene, the only gene for the mu opioid receptor that has been isolated across the mouse, rat and human species. These mu opioid receptors are essential in mediating the ability of opium-derived drugs, such as morphine and heroin, to manage pain. Ling isolated six new splice variants from the human Oprm gene and explored their abilities to absorb drugs into the body based on their differing intracellular structures. Ling's efforts may ultimately assist in developing drugs that control pain and control opioid addiction. Ling is co-first author of a paper published in Journal of Neurochemistry. At The Brearley School, Ling participates in the Asian Awareness club, the service committee and the art club and has studied drawing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She has played the violin for a dozen years and performed as a solo pianist with the school orchestra, where she serves as concert mistress. A native of China, Ling is the daughter of Dr. Yingxian Pan and Dr. Jin Xu and hopes to attend Harvard.

OHIO

Joline Marie Fan, 17, of Columbus, studied the drag reduction phenomenon created by the interaction of acoustic waves on the motion of mesobubbles in both reactive and non-reactive flow systems for her engineering project in the Intel Science Talent Search. Her previously patented "Gas Ejector" system design and its accompanying drag reduction application enable the production and injection of microbubbles into a gas-liquid system. Used in combination with an acoustic transducer in both vertical column and horizontal pipe flow systems, Joline was able to excite the mesobubbles attracted to the node region of the wave (unlike the smaller microbubbles), thereby increasing the bubbles' transport activity and the flow rate of the system. Her findings could increase efficiency of heating and cooling systems, chemical reactors and the de-oxygenation of water in fruit juice production. The daughter of Drs. L. S. Fan and Sue Weng, Joline is first in her class of 482 at Upper Arlington High School, where she is winner of numerous awards in music, fencing and debate. Co-author on two journal publications, Joline plans to attend Princeton, study chemistry and pursue a doctorate.

TEXAS

Jimmy Chen Yang, 17, of Plano, studied the potential ability of combination therapies to improve cancer treatment for his Intel Science Talent Search project in medicine and health. His two-part study examined the effects of combination therapy on breast and cervical cancer cells. Telomerase is an enzyme that gives cancer cells the ability to divide indefinitely. Jimmy demonstrated that long-term inhibition of telomerase in combination with radiation and/or chemotherapy increases the cancer cell kill rate and reduces treatment time, and that treatment order may change the number of cells killed. He believes combination therapies could lead to better treatment for cancer. First in his class of 1,122 at Plano Senior High School, Jimmy is active in Key Club and LASER (Learning About Science and Engineering Research). He participates in Plano Teen Court, plays violin in the All-Region Philharmonic Orchestra and raises orchids. Jimmy placed second in the 2000 Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge, and he is listed as an author on a paper published in Rejuvenation Research. The son of Dr. Juei-Mao Yang and Li-Shang Chen Yang, Jimmy is eager to study biology at Harvard.

WISCONSIN

Po-Ling Loh, 18, of Madison worked in finite group theory for her Intel Science Talent Search project in mathematics. The group H is said to be a closed subgroup of a finite group G provided any homomorphism of H into G extends uniquely to all of G. Po-Ling studies the group D2p of symmetries of a regular polygon with p sides, where p is an odd prime number. She shows if D2p is closed and properly contained inside a finite group G, then G must be rather complicated. In particular she proves that G cannot be solvable. She further conjectures that for any p > 3 there exist such G whose commutator subgroup is nonabelian finite simple. Ranked first in her class of 523 students at James Madison Memorial High School, Po-Ling has perfect SAT scores. She has been a gold prize winner in the USA Math Talent Search for three consecutive years, has won awards in music and forensics and is copy editor of the school newspaper. She hopes to pursue a career in teaching after receiving her degree in mathematics from the University of Chicago. The daughter of Dr. Wei-Yin Loh and Theresa Loh, she enjoys singing, cross-stitching and playing frisbee.


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