We asked ISEF's Canadian winners about the inspiration behind their work and their experience winning at the "Olympics of science fairs."
This generation’s science fairs have come a long way from the typical baking soda volcanos. Recently, Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) hosted its annual fair virtually, due to the ongoing challenges of the pandemic, and over 2,000 young scientists and engineers got to put their skills to the test.
Throughout the week, the students got to connect with their peers and global experts in the STEM field. Not only did they get the chance to win $5 million in awards and prizes, but the finalists also participated in virtual social events and video conferencing interviews. It was said to be the Olympics of science fairs, the largest-ever competition in ISEF history.
During all this excitement, we sat down with the top Canadian winners to pick their brains about the development of their projects, experiences at ISEF and the lessons they learned throughout the entire process. Specifically, we spoke to:
- 1st Place: Tienlan Sun, who presented an automated diagnosis system using telemedicine and fundus photography.
- 2nd Place: Rylan Donohoe and Julia Seymour, who researched the process of converting lignocellulosic biomass, such as crop residues and herbaceous biomass, into bioethanol.
- 3rd Place: Caroline Huang, who created a statistical reconstruction to predict the flood vulnerability of the recently affected Vietnam.
- 3rd Place: Dheiksha Jayasankar, who continued her study of antibacterial compounds in soursop to investigate whether the leaves of A. muricata contain antibacterial properties.
- 3rd Place: Becca Barbera, who experimented to determine the diffusion coefficient of Pu+3 through MX-80 clay.
- 4th Place: Jason Junwen Teng and Haolin Li, who looked into new strategies to enhance immunotherapy for prostate cancer.
What Was the Process Behind Creating Your Award-winning Project?
Sun: I started this project when my mom couldn’t access critical eye exams for diabetes-related complications during the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, I found that one billion people are blind or visually impaired due to a lack of access to eye care. Turns out, early detection is the key to solving the global vision crisis (according to the WHO), as [most] eye diseases are irreversible and incurable. So, I created TeleAEye, an artificial intelligence (AI) fundus camera system capable of diagnosing a wide array of eye diseases in seconds. TeleAEye consists of two novel components: multi-step transfer learning trained diagnosis models and a low-cost, smartphone-integrated fundus camera. The most difficult challenge was training the eye disease diagnosis models to reach the minimum effective benchmark for population screening. The challenge was compounded by my limited financial resources, processing and disease data as a high school student… Despite the uncontrollable challenges and restrictions, I never truly considered giving up on TeleAEye. It’s my baby… and who would give up on their baby?
Donohoe and Seymour: Our project investigated a novel approach to the pre-treatment of lignocellulosic biomass (LCB). We researched the relationship between microwave irradiation and submerged ultrasonication to identify the combination of values that would result in the greatest bioethanol recovery from corrugated fiberboard. Our novel approach was inspired by the current shortcomings in industrial LCB pre-treatment… With further research, we believe that our method is truly promising on the industrial scale while being environmentally sustainable.
Huang: During 2020, Southeast Asia has been affected with flooding disasters and a problem that I saw was that there wasn’t enough information to predict the flooding [since Southeast Asia] does not have enough localized gauging facilities as we have in North America and, in general, the facilities are not equipped to the same extent that we have here. So, I [started] exploring the NASA worldview portal. I love this tool so much because you can look at all these different satellite products, and they give you a comprehensive picture of what’s going on in the world… I used the geospatial data to fill in those gaps.
Jayasankar: This was the second part of a two-year study. In 2020, I discovered the presence of antibacterial properties in the leaves of the soursop fruit; however, I didn’t get to present it anywhere because of COVID. This year, I identified the two compounds are antibiotics. This project was really combining plant sciences with microbiology. It was certainly harder to [find] the materials during COVID, but I feel like the challenge allowed me to grow as a scientist and expand my thinking.
Barbera: Using Materials Studio, a molecular dynamics simulation program, a montmorillonite (MMT) unit cell was constructed and then optimized using DMol3 module’s GGA-PBE functional. A Pu+3 ion was optimized following the same process… This study has many valuable applications and provides nuclear waste management organizations with specific data regarding location and storage methods, which will both ensure public protection and support clean-energy production… Due to limited access to computing power as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, I had to run every simulation on my own 4-core computer, which spanned up to 60 hours per simulation run. The long simulation durations, in combination with online school, were difficult to manage, so I would run as many as I could during the weekend and wake up in the middle of the night to start the next simulations and analyze my new data.
Li and Teng: We started around last summer because we were all in quarantine, so we thought, “Well, let’s use what resource we have to make the most of an unprecedented year.” So, we promised each other to take this summer to further our knowledge. We chose the topic for our project because of our personal connections to the field of oncology and prostate cancer. Statistical analysis, specifically for prostate cancer, is such a novel field. During the first round of analyses, we didn’t find any promising leads because none of them were statistically significant. We were a little frustrated, but we decided to inflate the composition of the tumor microenvironment and began the second round of analysis.
How Was Your Experience at the First-ever Virtual ISEF Fair?
Sun: During ISEF week, I honestly kept pinching myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming. By the end of ISEF week, I had formed a group of friends from Canada, Macau, Taiwan, and the United States. Watching and celebrating at the awards ceremony with them was incredible. We already have many plans to meet up when the COVID-19 situation allows for it. ISEF judging day was also particularly memorable. Though I was sweating through my shirt and lost my voice by the end of the judging sessions, I was overwhelmingly happy about all their interesting questions and advice.
Donohoe and Seymour: This was our first time competing at ISEF. Since [we] are both senior students, it will also be our last. We were both disappointed to find out that we will never have the chance to experience the thrill and excitement of competing in person… From the virtual pin exchange to the guest speakers, it was amazing getting to meet and interact with some of the brightest and most innovative scientists from around the world… We were able to meet the other finalists from our category, Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design… It was amazing to connect with a network of people who are also passionate about advancing the energy industry.
Huang: I loved it. There was so much resiliency this year because normally it is supposed to be a physical event. After all, you get to meet face-to-face with other finalists and talk face-to-face with judges. They’ve done their best to simulate that in an online environment. I was able to meet with other competitors through avatars… [During] the award ceremony, [I was] able to see all these different faces pop up from all across the world. It was inspiring to see that there are so many other youths like me who are passionate about research, science and other different projects… It was also really nice to have my work validated and recognized. It’s great to see what I communicated really resonated with the judges.
Jayasankar: I did enjoy how the ProjectBoard platform tried to make it as connected as possible with the students. My favorite part would probably be the public viewing and answering everyone’s questions. The Event Farm platform we used was like a video game. The students were all characters running around this small island. It was interesting communicating with the kids from Canada but also kids from around the world. We realize some of the similarities within our project and differences as well as how we thought of our own ideas.
Barbera: Overall, I felt that the ISEF fair was very well done. I appreciated all of the efforts to engage the participants and overcome any barriers that virtual platforms may present. The opening and award ceremonies were exceptionally well done, and truly communicated a sense of importance and excitement, as though one was watching a television award show. My most memorable part of the event was the Kominer’s Conundrums that were provided to finalists. I had a lot of fun solving the logic puzzles and thought that that was a nice touch to make the virtual fair seem more immersive.
Li and Teng: If I were to describe [the fair] in one word, it would certainly be innovative. I was not expecting to use such platforms. It was like a virtual chat room with an avatar. I got to meet some other people from different countries, and I got to exercise my Mandarin a little. It was really fun to just learn about what schools expect students to do. I also liked browsing through all the different projects, seeing the different innovations and the level of rigor.
How Did You Feel About Your Big Win? What Are You Taking Away from This Experience?
Sun: It’s still surreal. Winning first place in Translational Medical Sciences was a fantastic milestone for my TeleAEye project. After pouring over a thousand hours into it, I’ve learned that with a bit of luck and a lot of good old-fashioned hard work, we high school students are capable of a lot more than we believe. I’m hopeful about the future of TeleAEye, and I’ll be working toward my goal of developing TeleAEye to achieve early detection through population screening to prevent blindness and visual impairment in developing regions… We can always make up for our lack of experience and expertise using our time and curiosity.
Donohoe and Seymour: When I heard that [we] won second place in our category, I was initially in shock. The caliber of the projects this year was truly amazing. It is an honor to have placed among so many other amazing youth scientists. I had to rewind the awards ceremony live stream to make sure that I heard our names right. Prior to the fair, I did not realize how many different areas of science there really are. I found it very interesting to look through the 21 different categories at ISEF and read about the types of projects within each… Through ISEF, we learned a lot about presentation skills and communicating our scientific methodology and findings to the judging committee.
Huang: In creating the project, I learned that it requires deep learning and care because inherently you’re doing something that hasn’t been done before and, of course, it’s going to be difficult. All the difficulties and challenges that I came across along the way didn’t seem so hard in the long run and, eventually, it was just a matter of how I would problem-solve to get there. I’ve never talked with STEM industry professionals in that way before, so being able to present to them and have a discussion, I learned that these people were invested in my learning.
Jayasankar: I was really happy with my result because it was a two-year project, and it was really rewarding after going through all those challenges and hardships to be awarded for it. One of the main lessons I learned was that science is everywhere and the whole idea of curiosities is very powerful. I like to thank my dad, sister and mom as well as my teachers at school for helping me with my project. I couldn’t have done it without them.
Barbera: I was very excited and honored to have won third place in my category. I went into the award ceremony not expecting anything as there were so many talented individuals competing, so it was a wonderful surprise and a very proud moment for me and my family. The biggest takeaway that I got from presenting at ISEF was becoming more comfortable and skilled at having a conversation with people that are more experienced than I, whether they be judges, interviewers, etc. After having spoken with 10 highly respectable judges within three hours, I felt that I had gained a sense of confidence in my ability to answer questions, explain and defend my project, which is a skill that I will value for the rest of my life.
Li and Teng: We thought we did not win a special award; however, we were contacted afterward. It was amazing seeing how many other people, similar to me, are working hard to try to achieve great things. I have to try harder myself. I’ve always had this suspicion that rigor is above all, and this affirms that. Looking at all of the different projects and how they approach the problem really inspired me. We call ourselves the next generation of potential scientists, which is very encouraging for the future.
While this is only a percentage of what today’s generation is working on, it confirms that the future is equally as bright as all the candidates mentioned in the article. ISEF awarded grand awards in 21 different categories, which included virtual reality, sustainable energy, machine learning and more. We took a deeper look into more award-winning projects, here.
