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16岁,高中二年级的均怡,半年来往返于和Hamilton
1.Brantford Expositor
来源:ByHeather Ibbotson, Brantford Expositor
Sunday, March 24, 2013 9:30:38 EDT PM
http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca... science-fair-winner
Remember the name Sarah Wu.
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The 16-year-old Assumption College student from Brantford - and first-timescience fair entrant -- captured top spot in a field of some 400 studententries at the Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair held in Hamilton on theweekend.
She will be travelling to Phoenix, Ariz., in May to compete at the Intel InternationalScience and Engineering Fair.
"I was so overwhelmed I started crying," Wu said on Sunday.
Her project, with the weighty title of Colorimetric Detection of PlasmodiumFalciparum via Aptasensor Technology, wowed judges.
Wu uses terms such as antibodies, aptamer technology and gold nanoparticles indescribing her complex project. In layman's terms, she presented a quick,practical and inexpensive method for use in diagnosing malaria.
Along with the best-in-fair award, Wu also won the title of best high schoolproject.
"I've always liked science since I was little," she said.
Science runs in her blood as her father is a chemist with Apotex PharmachemInc. on Spalding Drive,
Wu took part in an enrichment program last summer that was held at MemorialUniversity in Newfoundland, where her interest in science blossomed, she said.
Far from being tied to textbooks, the students experienced a thrilling range ofscientific endeavour, from anatomy lessons involving dead bodies to learningabout the engineering involved in building a lawn mower, she said.
Then, in August, as a participant on a Feed the Children project in Kenya, Wusaid her eyes were opened to health concerns that those in North America knowlittle about, including the problem of treating malaria.
"People have to travel so far to health clinics. I wanted to do somethingabout health care," she said.
Back home in Brantford, Wu spearheaded the founding of a school science clubthat drew dozens of interested students and then she began reading aboutscience fair opportunities.
That led to speaking to a guidance counsellor about her ides and an invitationfrom a professor at McMaster University who has mentored her and her project.
Through networking, Wu was able to receive proteins from professors in HongKong to enable her to conduct the tests she needed for her project.
The weekend science fair involved setting up a display board providing asummary of her project, lab books outlining her thought processes and a photoalbum of her lab experiments.
Judges examined each student's display and asked questions. Winners wereannounced at a Saturday awards banquet.
Wu was born in China and emigrated with her parents to Canada when she wasthree. The family has been living in Brantford for the past nine years.
Wu, now in Grade 11, has not yet decided on a career path but is consideringsomething in the sciences or in international relations.
"I want to have a meaningful job where I make a difference," shesaid.
2.Brant News
Thursday, April, 11, 2013 - 10:10:51 AM
Photo by Lauren Baron, Brant News
http://www.brantnews.com/news/making-scientific-waves/
Assumption College student Sarah Wu pictured with her best-in-fair award.
Making scientific waves
Lauren Baron
BRANT NEWS
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Sixteen-year-old Sarah Wu believes we live life for a reason.
The Grade 11 Assumption College student does whatever she can to make sure hersis full.
Wu represents her grade on the school’s student council, founded the school’sscience squad, is a member of the environment and social justice committees,plays tennis and runs cross country.
She organized the school’s first dress drive and started a Best Buddies programthat pairs students from the special education department with other studentsto forge friendships.
On weekends, she volunteers at a retirement home and works as a server at hermother’s St. George restaurant, Rustic Mug.
And in her spare time, Wu has spent the past six months travelling back andforth from a lab at McMaster University, where she researched and put togethera prize-winning science project.
“Sometimes I debate what the purpose of being here is and I think if you’re notactively trying to do something you are wasting your time,” Wu said. “Justsolely doing homework, sure that’s good for your academics and you need thatfor a job, but I would feel so lost without all these things because I justfeel it’s a good way to spend the time that I have.”
Her science project, “Colorimetric Detection of Plasmodium Falciparum viaApasensor Technology,” made its debut at the 53rd annual Bay Area Science andEngineering Fair and took home the ArcelorMittal Dofasco Pinnacle best-in-fairaward.
During the competition, which was held from March 20 to March 23 in Hamilton,Wu competed against more than 400 Grade 7 to Grade 12 students from acrossHamilton, Halton, Haldimand, Norfolk and Brant for the top prize.
Wu’s project proposes an easy, cost-effective way to diagnose malaria. It’s analternative to the gold standard model that requires expensive equipment and atrained technician. It’s even cheaper than the rapid diagnosis process, whichis cost-prohibitive.
Wu was inspired to create her project after spending the summer in Kenya withFree the Children helping to build a school.
“I got to see their health care system and it inspired me because theirstandards of health care there are not nearly as high as ours,” she said.“People have to walk so far to get to the local clinic, so I wanted to dosomething to help health care there.”
Wu’s top placement at the Bay Area Science and Engineering Fair has earned hera spot as one of 24 students on Team Canada who will compete at the IntelInternational Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, in May.
“It’s really shocking but I feel blessed because so many people helped me withthis project,” Wu said. “I just felt so grateful. It was a humblingexperience.”
Teachers and students at Assumption College weren’t surprised by Wu’s success,said Arlene Cass, student services department head at ACS.
“Sarah is a completely independent thinker,” Cass said “She gets an idea andruns with it. No matter what the inspiration is, she can see something thatneeds addressing and finds a solution and then implements it. That’s justSarah.”
Wu’s drive, ambition and humility throughout her science fair win and in herday-to-day endeavours make her an inspiration to everyone at the school,principal Greg Picone said.
“She is not only inspirational to other kids but she is inspirational to eventhe adults,” Picone said. “When you see a young person with that dedication andtalent and modesty, it’s inspiring.”
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