Alec Zhang, grade 11, and Jingjing Liang, grade 9, were recently awarded Project of the Year in the senior division at the California Science & Engineering Fair. Their project, titled “Development of an Innovative Eye-Tracking and Audio Hybrid System for ASD Early Detection,” won the pair the top prize of $5,000.

“We really appreciate the wonderful research programs at Harker, the intellectual vitality of the environment and the amazing mentors and peers at school to support us along this journey,” Zhang said. The two students plan to donate half of their winnings to science fairs serving underprivileged communities and the other half to youth with special needs.

Many other Harker students also performed well at CSEF.

Junior Division:

Brandon Labio, grade 8, Honorable Mention, Applied Mechanics and Structures

Nathan Yee, grade 8, Honorable Mention, Applied Mechanics and Structures

Anish Kosaraju, grade 8, Honorable Mention, Behavioral and Social Sciences

Daswani Siddhartha, grade 8, Fourth Place, Environmental Engineering

Venice Parnell, grade 8, Third Place, Materials Science

Claire Xu, grade 8, Third Place, Materials Science

Anya Bharti, grade 8, Fourth Place, Product Science

Nicki Yazdi, grade 8, Fourth Place, Product Science

Reshma Kosaraju, grade 11, First Place, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology

Sasha Masson, grade 11, First Place, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Ryan Zhang, grade 11, Honorable Mention, Environmental Engineering

Ella Yee, grade 11, Third Place, Mammalian Biology

Michelle Wei, grade 11, First Place, Mathematical Sciences

Kaitlyn Wang, grade 11, First Place, Physics and Astronomy

Andrew Liang, grade 10, Second Place, Zoology