Tabor Student Earns Second Place at International Science and Engineering Fair

Photo credit: Chris Ayers Photography/Society for Science

Seawolf Q&A with Huiyi "Ari" Wen '24

Question (Q): Can you tell me a little bit about the competition you entered and the prize you won?

Ari (A): Of course! The competition I entered is the International Science and Engineering Fair, or the ISEF for short. It is the largest, and the only, science fair for high schoolers around the world to participate. This year, to qualify for entering the fair as a finalist, over three million students competed at their regional, state, national fairs, or some additional selection process, and their top winners became the 1,637 finalists from 63 countries and regions. There are 21 categories in the fair. Students conduct individual or team research (no more than 3 people) and present their work with their posters. Grand awardees and special awardees are presented to the most impactful and insightful research projects.

It was my first time competing at a science fair, so I was quite surprised by the results! On March 4, I first competed at Region V Massachusetts Science and Engineering Fair and won top award, as well as a special award, which allowed me to advance to a “Judge-Off” with a fifty-fifty chance to qualify for a spot on the Massachusetts Delegation. Then I received an email notifying me I won and became part of the MA delegation! I gasped in my math class – it was such an unexpected pleasure! On May 5, at the Massachusetts Science & Engineering Fair at MIT, I won first place and a full-ride scholarship to a summer program. Then, I went on a trip to Dallas on May 14-19, where I won Second Place at the International Science and Engineering Fair in my category, Materials Science.

Q: What made you want to enter the competition?

A: For the experience, maybe. In my free time, I have worked on STEM research throughout my high school career. I have always wanted to meet likeminded peers, befriend them, exchange our ideas, and work on something that interests us all. I have been making friends with people from the regional fair all the way to the international fair. I love seeing how much passion they possess while they work on their projects. Their curiosity, perseverance, and wide knowledge of science propels me to make greater progress as a student and as a researcher.

Q: What sparked your passion for science?

A: I started to explore nature when I was young. I enjoy learning about the characteristics of animals and plants, and I love reading articles about the universe. In middle school, I began to hear biased statements, especially in the environment I grew up in, about female students’ general weaker performance on STEM subjects, like math and physics. I was so eager to prove that females are equally intelligent, that I forced myself to spend more time studying STEM subjects. Learning and digging deeper into these subjects made me discover how fun they are. When I started to realize that STEM research can pragmatically solve humanitarian issues that I care about, such as poverty, discrimination, pollution, and hunger, I became absolutely fascinated by it. I started to read all the latest research papers, send out cold emails, and think about what I could potentially do I if I were given the opportunity to start my own project.

Q: What was your project about? What was the inspiration behind it?

A: Our world is far from granting universal access to safe drinking water. People living in undeveloped areas and people in poverty cannot afford conventional water supply systems, and the freshwater source has become more and more scarce. Therefore, in this research, I designed a mesh to capture fog as an affordable water supply in applicable communities. I was inspired by observing the water capturing mechanisms of three creatures. I simplified their structures and combined them together, so that the final product is efficient and significantly more cost-effective compared to other meshes in recent studies.

Q: Can you describe the working process for this project?

A: It was a stretch balancing my time in my junior year. It was 100% worth it, but it took so much energy; I spent most of my time during my Thanksgiving and Winter Breaks on it. Confirming the topic was exciting, but reading papers, repeating experiments, and writing research papers while I also had a mountain of homework to do was not easy. My playlists and coffee made me survive this process!

Q: What was the most challenging part of this experience?

A: My virtual judge-off was scheduled a day after I returned from Spring Break. However, as I arrived at my room, I found that my display board disappeared! It wasn’t anywhere in the dorm, and it turned out that it was discarded while I was away since it was considered trash. I had less than a day to reprint and reset everything, and it was very hard to ask my dorm parents, my counselor, and my school mentor to sacrifice their free time to do these things for me. After a lot of tears and asking for help, I finally reset my booth before the judge-off time. It was certainly a hard time, but I would really like to thank Ms. Calore, Mrs. Nadeau, Mrs. Cunha, and Mr. Wellstead for their support.

Q: What was the best part of this experience?

A: I made lifelong, sincere friends. A lot of them. I felt the passion and the need for me to pursue my STEM career. And, hilariously, my picture was featured on the official website of the ISEF. It was a heart-attack surprise!

Q: What lessons did you learn from this experience?

A: Push yourself to take every opportunity available! Self-advocate and grind out things hard. Don’t hesitate to ask for help. So that when you look back at this experience, you can really say, “There is nothing that I regret about it!”

Q: Can you describe what it felt like to receive the award?

A: I was shocked. ISEF announced the awardees in the order from fourth award to second award. It was a breathtaking process. I held my friend’s hand with my left hand and crossed my fingers with my right hand, while murmuring “Materials Science, Marion, Massachusetts.” It looked like a ritual! My self-expectation was fourth place, or at most third place, because there were so many great projects, and winning second seemed nearly impossible. So, when they finished going through the fourth and third awardees’ names, I accepted my total failure. When “Marion, Massachusetts” was called, the entire Massachusetts delegation shrieked and screamed, and with my mind floating elsewhere I sprinted to the center of the podium. It was so exciting, it felt surreal.

Q: Did you collaborate with anyone on your work? Is there anyone you would like to thank? If so, what would you say to them?

A: While I worked on this project with my own idea, I would love to express my gratitude for Dr. Cao and my mentor Haoyu for offering me the opportunity to work at his lab over the summer. I got to have hands-on experience and learn what advanced research was like. I cannot be more grateful for my parents for always supporting me to pursue whatever interests me. I also would not have accomplished this without the teachers who understood my situation and always gave me enormous support, especially Mr. Reydel who generously gave me extensions that helped me survive competition season. And finally, I have a special shout-out to my mental health counselor Mrs. Nadeau and my college counselor Mrs. McDermott, who were always so caring, supportive, and bright. Their encouragement made me always push myself to do my best.

Q: What are your career aspirations? How will this affect your senior year at Tabor?

A: I find pure joy learning about science and engineering, so I would expect to see myself in laboratories, maybe completing my PhD degree in the future! In my senior year I will continue to elaborate my project and take more advanced science courses, so I might begin my next research in a completely different field.

Q: Do you think you will enter more science competitions in the future? What would you say to other Seawolves who are interested in entering a science competition?

A: Yes, I will! Now that I have started, I cannot stop! I would say, to whoever wants to try research competitions in the future, that our generation has our mission. Research what truly holds an important meaning to you and what interests you. I would also tell them my favorite fortune cookie quote— “All the effort you are making will ultimately pay off.” (And also, start early.)

Album Photos courtesy of Huiyi Wen and Chris Ayers Photography/Society for Science