After months of hard work and planning, the annual Sentinel Science Fair became a reality on December 18th, 2023. We interviewed our passionate contestants and the people involved to take you back to when the fair took place, almost as if you were walking among the radiant scientific poster boards.
Pre-Fair Insider Information (only at the Sentinel Sun):
Before the fair started, we wanted to get that pre-storm excitement. So we interviewed Nasim Moussavi, the creative director of the Revolve Club, who took the initiative for carrying out the fair. When asked how she was feeling before the fair, her response was,
“I’m feeling pretty good! A little stressed, but everything is working pretty nice.”
When asked what groups were competing against each other, Nasim gave us a quick run-down of their objectives and topics:
“We have our biotech group, and we have a group doing nuclear fusion technology as well as another group that’s working on AI in patient care. And our final group is doing a simulation of weeds in gardens––not weed, the drug,” hysteric laughter ensuing, then she continued: “And how it affects something I don’t really know” but I guess we will find out!
That’s super unique! What is the theme they are trying to encapsulate?
“It’s modern innovation technology, so knowing that there is a lot more innovation in fields such as AI that’s become more open to everyone, and more accessible, we decided to let students explore on their own how technologies like AI or newer innovations could relate to STEM fields.”
Taking You to the Fair:
When the fair started, we went around and interviewed the contestants about what their topic was and how it related to the theme. Here is a glimpse of the conversations we had:
Group 1: Nuclear Fusion
Hey! Please give us a quick run-down of what your topic is.
“So our topic is nuclear fusion––creating energy by fusing nuclei.”
Oh okay nuclear fusion! So how does that work? What’s the specific topic being discussed here with regard to nuclear fusion?
“Driving the process using the sun, and since the sun has so much energy, fusion has the same effect. So it would use hydrogen isotopes to emit radiation and give an insane amount of energy. But the problem is, to put this into effect, all the energy comes from heat which has to be transferred into electricity”
Another group member further clarified this: “We are able to make more energy that we use to start it up [so that the net energy ends up being beneficial] but we need to be able to harvest that energy [in the first place] for it to be worthwhile. There are a lot of issues with this reaction because in order to initiate this reaction, we need to…have advanced technology to contain the temperature”
Wow! This is obviously significant to have for any type of power generation, really. But then would the issue also be that some energy is lost in the form of heat so it may end up being inefficient?
“Yeah there is a lot of research going into it and a lot of funding, but at the same time, it’s far from being implemented…[not for another] 50 or 100 years”
Oh wow!
The other contestant then enriched the information already given: “It’s kind of like solar power panels like first they did not get much energy, but over time, they got more and more.”
But I mean you’re saying it's very significant to have and yet we’re so far from implementing it––any possible solutions to make this into a reality?
“It’s very difficult to say because we don’t know how it’s gonna be in the future; it needs to continuously be researched and developed so that we can improve our technologies, And the funding is most likely worthwhile with the amount of energy it can produce”
For sure. Hopefully, I’ll be there to witness its implementation––if I’m not dead in 100 years.
Group 2: AI in Medicine and the Drug Industry
Hey! What are we doing here? What is this? Give me a run-through of what we’re seeing.
“These are examples where AI is used in medicine…so finding patterns, they got access to huge datasets and then through those they can analyze…MRI and CT scans and compare the patient’s picture with the ones they have as a model and see how they can fix it.”
“Some tools people use in their daily lives, like health apps and even trackers you put on your Mac, and they vibrate if it’s not in a good shape and you can keep track…doctors use these to see your daily habits and routines.”
And then as the final AI use:
“AI in the drug industry! There is a good example from recently with COVID-19…they used AI to see what particles can be put together to fight against this virus and take it down. They can use the datasets [referenced previously] to see what target drug to choose and see what can take over the virus…what chemicals to take down.”
Honestly, this is a personal question I’m curious to know: is this pre-programmed or is it done live as the patient is there?
“Yeah, it’s pre-programmed and then they can kind of learn from this…new chemical combinations to make a certain type of medicine and they add that to the data set…and this makes it cheaper because the drug goes straight from the factory to the hospital, testing labs and to your hands. And it would usually take time if you had to go to the lab yourself…but AI, they can use drones, order it and deliver it.”
Would you say––actually, drones…this is very interesting because we had this discussion in my seminar class last year. But drones produce a lot of sounds and can bump into things or create disturbances although they are very efficient.
“You could still go and pick it up at pharmacies, but it makes it more affordable for those in need because the process of the lab to your house is a longer process, but I don’t think this is a direct solution”
I mean yeah, of course, all of these things need fine-tuning, hence we are talking about them to raise awareness! Thank you.
Group 3: Biomedical Engineering
Tell me a bit about this biomedical engineering project you guys have been working on
“Just the general idea: Biomedical engineering is the gadgets used in the medical field [contrary to the biological technology aspect of working with the human body directly] and so we looked at the historic, futuristic, political and scientific field, and the reason we looked at the historical is that we wanted to see how [it connected] to the future. And our conclusion was that the doctors have been focusing on the gadgets [such as] the comfort of people and doctors, and my partner will tell you a bit about the history of it?”
Yeah for sure!
“First they developed X-rays, and that was mostly in the 1800s when people started exploring [Biomedical Engineering] and we have a timeline here”, referring to the poster below, “Of the events, and so one of the main things, basically x-rays and then more advanced technologies”
Okay, super cool! And then what’s the connection to the theme here? Is there some sort of issue with efficiency, or cost?
“Yeah, we realized that the cost for MRI scans––you know how it’s 30 mins––and it’s almost slowing us down. We found that a lot of people doing scans on their backs, brains, etc…every single day and we thought that fitting 3 people into one duration so then 10 mins each, then it would have a bigger benefit”
So you break it down into different time slots? Sounds like an idea to ponder on––maybe some privacy issues if it's a lot of bodily exposure? But you guys are gonna slay this, good luck!!
In the end, the “Fan Fave” winner is the Biotechnology group, and the winner as chosen by the judges is the Model Creatures team! Unfortunately, we were not able to get an interview with the winner, but their project was centred around creating a mathematical model to simulate different plant species growth rates within the Vancouver climates––super cool.
It’s always great seeing Spartans get on the train of scientific progression, and so eager about thinking outside of the box about current societal trends.
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