Judging at Intel ISEF 2017

“Science’s rightful place is in service of society” (D. Sarewitz, 2013) has always been a core belief of mine. This past summer, I was incredibly fortunate to participate as a Chemistry Grand Awards judge at the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), the world’s largest pre-college science competition.

Although science fairs were a significant part of my high school experience, I never quite reached the heights of many of my classmates. ISEF 2017 was my first time seeing such a high-level competition, and I was genuinely impressed by:

• One high schooler’s perseverance in identifying an undocumented ferric sulfate compound, derived from the reaction of sulfuric acid with gold ore he obtained from hiking.
• The applicability of an algorithm developed by another student to filter and assign signals in high-dimensional protein NMR spectroscopy, aiming to accelerate drug discovery (and by his smartness, too!).
• The usefulness of silk fibers as moisture-activated torsional actuators, a discovery by yet another student.
• And many, many other inspiring projects.

The judges’ caucus was another unique experience. Our group consisted of industrial scientists, university professors, researchers, postdocs, and PhD students. Some had far more science fair judging experience than others. We thoroughly discussed all(!) the projects, trying to persuade our colleagues why one project deserved to be ranked higher or lower. The voting and discussion cycle repeated again and again until all the prizes were ultimately decided. (Students who received awards, you truly owe a big thank you to the eloquent and passionate judges who advocated for your projects!)

Overall, judging ISEF was a fantastic experience, especially witnessing and feeling the pure enthusiasm for science from all the students. I’m very glad I could contribute and help. A special thanks to my grad school friend, Grace, for the invitation!