In the Hollywood spotlight: Chattanooga-area students shine on the global stage

A pair of local high school students entered a competition hosted by the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in an opportunity to showcase their talents in an international competition.

McCallie School Rising Joshua Kim and May 2024 Baylor School graduate Rachel Chen this spring's Senior Division winners Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair (CRSEF)recently presented their innovative research at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Los Angeles.

Organized by Society for Science, Regeneron ISEF 2024 featured approximately 2,000 young scientists representing 49 US states and nearly 70 countries, regions and territories around the world. High school scientists won almost $9 million in awards and scholarships at the event, which took place May 11-17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Both of our ISEF finalists represented the Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair with the utmost dignity, honor and respect, said UTC School of Education Clinical Instructor Rachael Davisthe organizer of this CRSEF competition. The two project winners were blessed and fortunate enough to compete at ISEF. They put work and determination into their projects.

Kims project, Accelerating Breast Cancer Diagnoses: Using Machine Learning to Accurately Predict Breast Cancer, earned him an ISEF Special Award full scholarship to a summer 2025 research camp hosted by the University's College of Engineering North Carolina State. He was one of eight students selected to participate in the week-long camp.

Chen, heading to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland in the fall to major in biomedical engineering, presented her project titled Transgenerational Effects of Atrazine on Caenorhabditis elegans Litter size. Her research, which investigated the environmental impacts of the chemical Atrazine on future generations of a specific species of small earthworm, demonstrated her commitment to solving pressing ecological issues.

The ISEF journey for Kim and Chen began at the CRSEF competition at the Marchan event that brought more than 100 Chattanooga-area middle and high school students to the UTC Maclellan Gym. Kim won first place in the Senior Division with his project in the Biomedical and Health Sciences category, while Chen placed second with her project in the Animal Sciences category.

During the spring, Kim also participated in the Tennessee Junior Academy of Sciences competition in Nashville, where she was selected as one of two winners and a Tennessee delegate to the 2025 meeting of the American Junior Academy of Sciences. He will present his research at the February 2025 meeting.

Davis said UTC has hosted the annual CRSEF event for decades because we want to promote scientific research and collaboration among middle and high school students.

We need them to see that they have a place in the STEM field and that their research is valuable to us, she said. It's not just something to do for a class or a science fair project, but it's something that helps them reach beyond the school walls and meet other students from all over.

CRSEF covers 18 counties between Tennessee and Georgia, and it's great for our students to see that their STEM projects and research matter.

Assistant Professor of Education Stephanie Philipp, who also serves as interim director of the UTC STEM Education Program, and her husband, Assistant Professor of Chemistry Craig Philipp, accompanied the students to California as chaperones.

The only thing about ISEF dates is that students sometimes have to juggle exams (advanced placement), finals and graduation, but they were really good travelers, Stephanie Philipp said. Joshua was only a sophomore so he didn't have to worry about graduation, but I think he took three AP exams the next week. And I know that Rachel, who was a senior, had to go back and get ready for her prom trip and then her exams and graduation and everything else.

Despite these challenges, Philipp urged students from the local area to participate regionally in CRSEF next March, which will give them the opportunity to advance to ISEF.

There is great scholarship involved, she said, and many of these students will go on to possibly patent some of this work. They are doing top notch stuff.

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Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair (CRSEF)

Fuel innovation and STEM exploration: UTC hosts the Chattanooga Regional Science and Engineering Fair