Photograph by George Sakkestad
Saratoga's Teresa Lee (left) and Angela Tsai will take their science project to state and international competitions.
Lee, Tsai discover the science of winning
Saratoga pair advances to state, international science competition
By Rebecca Ray
Teresa Lee and Angela Tsai had no idea what to expect when they entered the countywide Synopsys Silicon Valley Science and Technology Championship.
They especially didn't expect to win the grand prize for having the best biological sciences project and earn trips to the state and international science fairs.
"We were shocked to get anything," Lee said.
"We're still dazed," Tsai added.
With their project, "The Myth of T-Cells," Lee and Tsai, both 16-year-old juniors at Saratoga High School, discovered that T-cells--cells in the immune system that fight diseases--also carry the virus that causes chicken pox. In fact, they found that T-cells carry the chicken pox virus to the skin layer, spread it throughout the skin and then fight it off.
Lee and Tsai will enter their project at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Louisville, Ky., which runs May 12-18. Then they will enter it at the California State Science Fair, May 20-21 in Los Angeles.
Neither Lee nor Tsai had ever entered a science fair, except when Lee entered one in fourth grade. They admit that when they first arrived at the county fair, which took place on March 12 and 13 at San Jose McEnery Convention Center, they were intimidated when they saw the tables upon tables of boards that explained impressive experiments. In fact, Lee says, she and Tsai were so nervous they couldn't eat.
But once they met the judges, Tsai says, her apprehension disappeared.
Entering the science fair was optional in Lee and Tsai's advanced placement biology class. However, Tsai's mother thought it was mandatory and found her daughter a mentor. But even after they discovered that the project was optional, Tsai decided to do it because she thought she'd like to try something new.
Lee and Tsai chose their project when their mentor, Dr. Chia-Chi Ku, a neurologist in Stanford University School of Medicine's department of pediatrics, told them about various projects she was working on.
The students chose Ku's project that had to do with T-cells and chicken pox because T-cells had hardly been explored, Tsai says. Also, she added, she and Lee found chicken pox interesting, given the preponderance of people who develop it as children.
Tsai and Lee first looked at normal human skin cells through a microscope, and then at human skin cell implants that had encountered T-cells, and noticed a subtle change. The virus had ruptured the skin cells, which confirmed Lee and Tsai's hypothesis.
The students worked with Ku at a lab at Stanford, where, Lee says, there was a lot of equipment that she and Tsai hadn't touched before. Although the lab work was tedious, it was also fun, they said.
Tsai says she and Lee may enter more fairs and study T-cells in the future. Although Lee says she's unsure what she'd like to study in college, Tsai says she's thinking about majoring in biology.
Lee and Tsai's classmate, Allan Chu, qualified for both the state and international fairs, as well. However, Chu, who is scheduled to take five advanced placement tests around the time of the fairs, decided not to attend the state fair because he was too busy.
At the county fair, Chu won $200 from Symbol Technologies, Inc., a certificate of achievement from NASA, as well as a tour of NASA Ames Research Center, and the best-of-championship award in the physical sciences category, plus the $100 Hostmind Award for having the best technical paper.
Chu's project, "Digital Audio Enhancement via Harmonic Relationships," involves achieving better sound quality with MP3s while using fewer kilobytes per second.
Chu, who won a top award at the state fair and several special awards at the international fair last year, says he hopes to win first place in the computer science category at the international fair this year.
Lee, Tsai and Chu's classmates, juniors Elizabeth Howe and Ashley Louderback, will compete at the state fair. At the county fair, their project, "The Effect of Environmental Stress on Gene Expression in Yeast Cells," won a grand prize alternate award for biological sciences.
Another local student who qualified for the state competition is Redwood Middle School's Anthony Chong, who completed a project called "Electromagnetic Brakes." He won the $100 Castro Family Award at the county fair for having one of the six best physical science projects among sixth- through eighth-graders, as well as a $50 award from the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc.
At the state fair, Redwood Middle School students Stephen Chu and Robert Paolini will also enter their project, "Torque and Speed."
Other Redwood students who won prizes in the county fair but did not qualify for the state or international fairs include Amit Arunkumar, Arvind Chari, Michael Germeraad, Sivakami Sambasivam and Nickesh Viswanathan.
Saratoga High students winning county awards were Paula Cymbal, Emily Fletcher, Grace Hsu, Ching-Yu Hu, Christina Kaspar, Sonja Kaspar, Megan Li, Justin Liang, Ken Lin, Mitra Lohrasbpour, Joy Su, Nena Talreja, Michelle Totman and Yizhuo Wang.
Saratoga High also won an "outstanding school" award from the county fair association board of directors, while Saratoga High science teacher Robert Kucer won a Horace Lucich Award for being an "outstanding teacher," which included a prize of $900.
Saratoga, California Since 1955
