Tag Archive for 'life'

Adventures in Atlanta – Intel ISEF 2008

Published on May 17, 2008 in life. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .
Intel ISEF 2008

Yesterday I returned from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Atlanta, GA. This was an amazingly fun trip; not only was it an opportunity to present my work to many researchers and professionals in my field, but I also made so many new friends from traveling with a great group of people. See the photos of my trip.

Lobby of Hyatt Regency Atlanta

We arrived on Saturday night, and we walked into the grandiose lobby of the Hyatt Regency. The open-air lobby was 22 stories high with glass elevators.

Stocking up on snacks

Sunday: We went touring near Marietta, Georgia, and visited museums and parks in the area. We went grocery shopping to get candy, chips, soda. That evening we returned to trade pins with people from all over the world. I got some very interesting pins, like a frog from Puerto Rico, a panda from China, and a leaf from Costa Rica.

International Shout-Out at opening ceremonies.

On Monday, we set up our projects. In our free time, we hung out at the E-Lounge, surfed the web, and watched The Italian Job in the home theater setup there. At the opening ceremony, we were treated to an amazing drum performance and an “International Shout-Out”, in which students representing 51 countries carried posters onto the stage.

Lost in Atlanta

That night we also ended up getting lost because we needed to take a detour around construction work. During our journey back to the hotel, we experienced city traffic, at its best: we encountered dead ends, accidentally went the wrong way on a one-way street, and almost got hit by someone speeding through a red light.

Left to right: Justin, me, Manali, Jeanni

Tuesday night we visited the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola, as a welcome by the host committee. The World of Coca-Cola had free soda tasting stations, with hundreds of different Coke flavors and brands from the world. After getting back, we practiced our presentations and went to bed early in anticipation of judging day—Wednesday.

Looking down the row in the exhibit hall

The morning of judging was tense. This was it: the big day, the culmination of a year’s worth of work. The opportunity to present and impress. After putting on formal clothes and buying a Danish pastry from the hotel cafe, I walked to the convention center. I talked to many, many judges who came to my display, and it was a great experience to discuss my project with them. I felt much more confident after having learned many tips on presenting.

My project display

They were impressed by my demo, and I got many positive comments about the monitor built into my display board. Though it lasted from 8:30 in the morning until 6, the hours went by so quickly. After the final announcement of the day, a wave of applause rushed through the exhibit hall, increasing in intensity until the room was filled with cheering. It was satisfying to know that it was finally over—we could relax!

Climbing to the roof of the hotel

Just for fun we decided to explore the hotel, and climbed the stairways. We were surprised when the “alarm” door to the roof was open. The roof was covered with skylights, and we could see the executive penthouse on the top. We were a little nervous about standing on the non-concrete rubbery white tiles, but we were surrounded by a magnificent view of the city, no guardrails, and nothing separating us from the air.

Thursday and Friday, we had the special awards, and then the grand awards ceremonies. This has been the most successful year for me yet; I received a total of $9,500 in awards:

  • Third Place Grand Award of $1,000 in Computer Science
  • Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence – Second Place Award of $500
  • Office of Naval Research on behalf of the United States Navy and Marine Corps – Tuition Scholarship Award of $8,000

On the flight back Friday night, we watched the sun set in slow motion as the plane flew west against the Earth’s rotation. It was an incredible experience, and I could only wish to stay longer. I’m looking forward to participating again next year!

First week in China

Published on December 26, 2005 in life. 0 Comments Tags: .

[pictures coming soon]

I’m spending winter break in China to visit my relatives, who I’ve never met. The last time my parents saw them was 16 years ago! Last Saturday (12/17), we took a 13-hour flight from San Francisco to Shanghai, China.

I thought the initial experience of being in another country was interesting–everything is written in a language I can’t read or write. In addition, Shanghai had their own dialect which is unlike anything I’ve heard before. It’s a shock when you can’t understand anything around you.

As a friend drove us from the Pudong International Airport to a Holiday Inn near the train station, I noticed how advanced and industrialized everything was. The highways were all perfectly lit with strings of yellow street lamps. Huge billboards hang over the road at regular intervals. On local roads, most of the traffic lights have timers counting down next to them. It’s very different from our streets, most of which are at least two or three decades old.

Continue reading ‘First week in China’

Bought a PSP!

Published on November 29, 2005 in tech. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

I bought myself a sleek, black PSP over Thanksgiving break! It’s my early Christmas present to myself since I’ll be spending winter break in China. This is another great gadget! :-)

The $250 bundle from Fry’s came with the PSP Value Pack, a starter kit, and the games GripShift and Frantix. The first thing everybody notices about the PSP is its wonderful design (like all Sony products). It’s glossy black, with a large screen flush with the entire front of the PSP. There’s the standard cross-square-triangle-circle PlayStation buttons and four-button D-pad, and there are two clear shoulder buttons! And the low-profile analog stick does not protrude from the body because it’s flat–it slides when you push it around. The speakers are hidden in two small holes, and the headphone and power connectors are tucked neatly away on the bottom. Overall, the PSP is pleasing to the eye and its artful design stands out.

The 4.3″ widescreen LCD is bright and crystal-clear. The games are in full 3D, which looks impressive on a handheld. Movies play sharp thanks to it’s 480×272 resolution. The games come on UMD discs, which are small cartridges with what looks like a miniature CD inside. Each holds 1.8 GB of data!

The only drawback I see with UMDs is that recordable versions aren’t available. That means that any content like movies, pictures, and music must go on the Memory Stick. I ended up ordering a $50 Lexar 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo just for this purpose.

Despite what I’ve heard about the battery life, it seems acceptable but I don’t have any super-graphically-intensive games yet. Still, I think 3-6 hours is still a reasonable battery life. After all, it has a super-bright, high-resolution screen, wireless capabilities, and spinning optical media! My starter kit included a car charger so I wouldn’t run out of power on a long road trip. Overall my experience with the PSP so far has been excellent.

Now, some games I’d like to get soon, most wanted first:

  1. Wipeout Pure – a futuristic racing game
  2. FIFA 2006 – soccer
  3. Ridge Racers – car racing game with great graphics
  4. SSX – extreme snowboarding
  5. Twisted Metal: Head On – a car/shooter game

Trick-or-treat!

Published on October 31, 2005 in life. 1 Comment Tags: , .

For Halloween this year, I dressed up as part of Nick and Alex’s rock band. I had a red inflatable guitar and a wig which looked really silly on me. (It made me look almost like a girl!) Alex had this freaky looking witch wig with spiky long hair, and a neat inflatable keyboard. Nick decided his hair was long enough as it was (laugh) so he just took a guitar. It’s too bad I didn’t get a picture of the three of us together.

The school Halloween parade took place at lunch. We were going to go for “Best Group,” but decided not to participate at the last minute because we thought everyone would laugh at us. Now that I think about it we probably should have joined anyway. The best costume I saw there was probably Danny P’s–he was a street lamp that actually lit up! LOL

Earlier this night, I went trick-or-treating with five other people. Ryan was a human skeleton; Sydney, Lisa, Lauren were explorers wearing black garbage-bag robes, feather hats, and plastic swords; and Karen (Sydney’s friend) was a Chinese guy. Zack didn’t come with us; he decided to go trick-or-treating in his friend Matt’s neighborhood instead.

Thanks to daylight savings, which ended yesterday, it was completely dark outside by the time we left at six-thirty. According to Google Earth, our complete route was around 3.4 miles! That doesn’t even include the distance walking to and from each house. Over three hours, we had each collected about nine pounds of candy!

When we got back, my ankles and feet throbbed painfully whenever I took a step. I rushed inside and dumped the whole pillowcase-full of candy on the floor to count and sort them. Just for fun, here’s a pie chart showing the different types of candy I got.

It’ll take me all year to eat all that candy. Come to think of it, I still have ten or twenty pieces of candy from last year stashed in my closet! Happy Halloween, everyone!

Named a semi-finalist in the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge!

Published on August 26, 2005 in life. 4 Comments Tags: , , .

The list of semi-finalists for the Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge (DCYSC) has been published! Check it out, I was named one of the semi-finalists! They mailed me a certificate as well as a nice DCYSC water bottle.

The DCYSC is a nation-wide science competition for students in grades 5-8. They seek out and recognize young scientists who show extraordinary talent in the “exploration, understanding, and communication of science.”

In just a few more weeks, (September 14), the top 40 finalists will be announced. They’ll receive an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C. for the final competition! I’m holding my breath for now. If I get selected as one of these forty, I’ll have the chance to compete for the top prize–a $20,000 scholarship as well as the recognition of being “America’s Top Young Scientist.” See Discovery’s press release for more information.

The countdown to choosing America’s top young scientist continues next month, on September 14, when the field of 400 semifinalists is narrowed by the DCYSC judges to the “Final Forty.” These 40 finalists will travel to Washington, D.C. October 15-19, where they will take part in the DCYSC finalist competition at the Cole Field House at the University of Maryland. The finalists will compete in team-based, interactive challenges designed around the theme of “Forces of Nature.” The young scientists will have to use their scientific know-how to find solutions to some of Mother Nature’s most extreme challenges. The students will compete for more than $100,000 worth of scholarships and special prizes, as well as the title of “America’s Top Young Scientist of the Year.”