By Tien-Shun Lee
After undergoing a week of final round judging in Washington, D.C., a Bronx High School of Science student from Forest Hills placed eighth in the prestigious national Intel Science Talent Search competition.
Yi-Chen “Lilly” Zhang, 17, who worked for more than two years on a project that examined the influence of pesticides on cockroach allergens and asthma, was awarded $20,000 in scholarship money to recognize her excellence in science research and scientific thinking.
Zhang was among 40 high-school students nationwide who were selected based on their science projects to become finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search.
Finalists were invited to Washington, D.C. from March 4 to March 11 to mingle with each other and professional scientists, present their projects during poster sessions, and to be evaluated by four separate sets of judges on their scientific knowledge and critical thinking ability.
During the awards ceremony on the last day, finalists were called up to the stage one by one, where they sat on bleachers in front of 700 invited guests waiting for the top 10 winners to be announced.
“It was a really, really spectacular night,” said Zhang. “I heard my name being called for eighth place. I had a second or two to prepare, and then I shook hands with the CEO of Intel and the head judge. The big screens captured every moment.”
Zhang's adviser, Dr. Ginger Chew, an assistant professor at the Columbia University School of Public Health, and Zhang's high-school biology teacher, Richard Lee, rushed up to the front of the room when they heard Zhang's name being called.
“They raced up to take pictures, and we were on cell phones afterwards,” said Zhang. “My adviser called her friends, they congratulated us. We were pretty much close to tears. It was kind of sentimental.”
Zhang said she was surprised that she was selected as one of the top 10 winners because she thought she had not performed well during the 20-minute judging sessions, which took place during the first two days of the Intel symposium.
During four separate judging sessions, each finalist was questioned by a panel of three scientists on topics unrelated to their projects, ranging from chemistry to astrophysics to math.
“It was really intense,” said Zhang. “Some of them asked me really bizarre questions like how do birds know how to migrate? And if you connect the two points of the moon's crescent and extend that line to earth, how would you find that acute angle?”
Though Zhang did not have answers for many of the questions she was asked, she was able to show the judges how her mind was working by thinking out loud and coming up with experiments that would help determine an answer.
During free time between planned events, Zhang did not venture much out of the Mayflower Hotel in the northwestern part of Washington, D.C., where the symposium was held. Instead, she spent the time getting to know the other finalists.
Zhang's assigned hotel roommate, Jamie Elyce Rubin, 16, of Fort Myers, Fla., was chosen as the top winner of the competition and awarded $100,000 in scholarship money.
“She's incredibly funny,” said Zhang about Rubin. “They (the finalists) all are, but she's especially witty. She happens to work on the same class of protein as I do. We talked a lot. It was great.”
During trips with other finalists outside the hotel, Zhang visited Congress and had her picture taken with Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.).
Zhang was glad she was given a list with the contact information of all the other finalists.
“They're an extraordinary bunch,” she said. “All their knowledge, sophistication, people skills. I made some really great friends there. I hope to see them in college some day.”
Zhang said she plans to become a doctor in the future and has applied to combined M.D./B.A. programs. Her top choices for college are Brown, Harvard, and Northwestern.
Reach reporter Tien-Shun Lee at Timesledger@aol.com, or call 718-229-0300, ext. 155.
