May 30

Camas Grad Climbs 100 Highest Peaks

Camas High School graduate Andrew Okerlund (’21) recently completed the difficult Washington state ‘Bulger List’ (an ascent of the state’s 100 highest mountain peaks) during his 2023 summer break from college. The realization of his dream took careful planning and the methodical acquisition of more climbing education. Okerlund began his quest to climb all 100 Bulger List peaks in June 2023. On Sept. 11, 2023, Okerlund realized his dream and, at 20 years old, earned the title of youngest to finish the list and fifth person to ever finish the list in a single season. Way to go, Andrew!

Along the way, Andrew was supported by a host of friends and many Camas High School/MST alums who climbed with him and/or provided support on his journey. Among those who joined him were Andrew’s brother Vaughn (’12), Zach Hein (’14), and Kevin Hsu (’15), et al. Mr. Hein, the founder of Range Meal Bars, a company that makes high-calorie meal-replacement bars popular with hikers, offered to help create a documentary movie about Okerlund’s climbs. The local Camas premiere of this documentary is scheduled for June 1st  at 8:00pm at the Liberty Theater. There will be a live Q&A with Andrew after showing. Come on down to the Liberty and hear about Andrew’s quest to climb!

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/05/camas-grad-climbs-100-highest-peaks/

May 27

Elizabeth Nilles UW Class of ’24 Update

We frequently hear from our MST graduates. Elizabeth Nilles, CHS class 2020, is set to graduate in early June  from UW. Congrats, Elizabeth! Here’s the update she recently shared with us:

In addition to my studies at UW, I work in a research lab at Seattle Children’s Research Institute. For the last 2.5 years, I have been involved in a project using zebrafish to study antibiotic-induced hearing loss. After several rounds of revision, the final research paper for the project was accepted by Frontiers. It is officially published as of March 7th, 2024!

Outside of science, I have also continued my music studies and just had my senior recital! I played works by Bach, Katherine Hoover, Georges Hüe, and William Linthicum-Blackhorse. Here’s the video, if you are interested in listening:

Lastly, I want to express my gratitude for all of you. I am very lucky to have such wonderful, supportive teachers and role models in my life. I appreciate all of the work you do and I look up to each of you very much. Thanks for being part of my educational journey!

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/05/elizabeth-nilles-uw-class-of-24-update/

May 24

2024 MST Research Symposium Recap

What a pleasure it was, indeed, to see all four grades of our program together again on May 22nd, for our 17th annual MST Research Symposium. Students presented their work informally in the CHS Main Commons before migrating into the theater for formal presentations and awards. Speaking of which, we offer a hearty congratulations to the Class of 2024 and best wishes to them on the next phase of their journey! We will miss you!

 

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/05/2024-mst-research-symposium-recap/

May 19

You’re Invited: MST Research Symposium ’24

You are cordially invited to our 17th annual MST Symposium on Wednesday, May 22nd, at Camas High School. Our 9th, 10th, and 12th graders have spent considerable hours on their research this year and would love to show you what they’ve accomplished. The first hour (6:00 pm to 7:00 pm) will be an informal showcase and poster fair in the CHS Main Commons with light refreshments and some musical entertainment from some of our students. The second hour (7:00 pm to 8:00 pm) will be in the CHS Theater, with a senior panel sharing about their high school experiences, some presentations from seniors and a sophomore, and awards. We know life is busy right now, so please feel free to join us for part of the evening if you can’t stay the full two hours.

We look forward to seeing you at Camas High School on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024. Please join us in celebrating their work!

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/05/youre-invited-mst-research-symposium-24/

May 17

Caltech Summer Preview: Women in STEM

Read on for info about this Caltech Women in STEM summer program: “WiSTEM 2024, taking place August 7-9, 2024 is free and open to all students graduating in 2025 or 2026. The program will focus on the experiences of students whose gender identity has been historically underrepresented in STEM, particularly those who identify as female, non-binary, and/or gender expansive.”

Application Deadline: Sunday, June 16 at 11:59 PM Pacific Time

Click here to apply!

Note: WiSTEM is a free program to participate in. However, a limited number of overnight housing spots will be available during registration on a first-come, first-served basis. Caltech is not able to cover the cost of students’ transportation to campus.

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/05/caltech-summer-preview-women-in-stem/

Apr 25

MST Sr. Williams Gains Santa Clara Full Ride

MST Sr. Madi Williams recently earned the prestigious Johnson Scholarship to her self-declared dream school, Santa Clara University. She “competed” for six hours with other students, including the writing of a timed essay. This full academic scholarship includes a $10,000 research stipend awarded to only five students. She will be rowing for Santa Clara as well. Go Madi! Go Broncos!

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/04/mst-sr-williams-gains-santa-clara-full-ride/

Apr 24

MST Sr. Crowell Named Amazon Future Engineer!

Congrats to MST/CHS senior Ayla Crowell who was recently named as a recipient of the 2024 Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship! In her own words, “I filled out their application a few months ago with essays about my goals for the future, my idea to solve a problem I saw at CHS, and my experience as a woman in STEM. You can imagine my shock when I came home to a package from the Amazon Future Engineer team last Friday. I am grateful for the $40,000 that I will put towards studying Computer Science at UW and am excited for my paid internship with Amazon next summer!” Woot! You go, Ayala!

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/04/mst-sr-crowell-named-amazon-future-engineer/

Mar 29

MST Info Night Presentation

Thank you to those who were able to make it to last night’s Zoom Info Night Webinar for the CHS MST Magnet Program. If you were unable to make it and/or you’d like to review the presentation, see below for a recording of the event: MST Info Night, Thursday, 3/28/24.

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/03/mst-info-night-presentation-2/

Mar 28

MST Artists Strut Stuff at ESD Showcase

We are pleased to announce that a couple of MST student artists recently won awards at this year’s ESD 112 Art awards ceremony. Congrats to Laura and Ryan and all the CHS/MST students who were recently honored!

CHS/MST Senior Laura Wang won an ESD 112 Regional award for her graphite portrait of her family. Her award comes with a $3,000 scholarship to Pacific Northwest College of Art. She heads on to the state show, which will be held virtually on May 28th.

CHS/MST Senior Ryan Wang won an ESD 112 award for his heart sculpture. His award comes with a $3,000 scholarship to Pacific Northwest College of Art

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/03/mst-artists-strut-stuff-at-esd-showcase/

Mar 26

MST Students Shine at 2024 SWWA SEF!

The Southwest Washington Regional Science and Engineering Fair took place via Zoom on Saturday, March 2. Numerous MST students presented their research and received awards for their work, including being promoted to the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair. Our very own David Li was even promoted to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, held in Los Angeles, CA this year in May. In David’s own words, “I developed a novel planar robot propulsion mechanism, using a grid of electromagnets to propel permanent magnets inside each robot. My method drastically lowers individual robot complexity compared to current solutions like AMRs, increasing robot fleet size scalability for flexible industrial material handling applications.” Way to go, David.

The other MST students also received many awards and accolades as identified below:

  • Kai Pan and Sandeep Vedantham placed first in computational biology and bioinformatics with their research into using AI to count salmon. They also received a US Air Force special award.
  • Leo Zhao placed first in computational biology and bioinformatics for his research into a de novo drug design for Chagas disease using random forest regression and long short-term memory networks. He also received a US Air Force special award.
  • David Li placed first in the embedded systems category. He also received an IEEE Oregon Section and a US Metric Association special award.
  • Zaina Abu Hweij, Florence Liang, and Sophie Zhang placed first in biomedical engineering with their design for a noninvasive acute compartment syndrome diagnostic device using random forest machine learning. They also received a Regeneron Biomedical Science special award.
  • Emily Jiang and Kyla Jun placed second in environmental engineering by investigating an okra flocculant for enhanced coagulation performance in microplastic remediation. They also received a NASA Earth System special award.
  • Evan Gaasch and Edward Tang placed third in environmental engineering with their research into carbon sequestration using microalgae. They also received a NASA Earth System Science special award.

Congratulations, researchers! You make us proud. Wishing you all the best at State and beyond!

Permanent link to this article: https://chsmstmagnet.com/2024/03/mst-students-shine-at-2024-swwa-sef/