Slashdot Mirror
7th-Grader Designs Three Dimensional Solar Cell
Hugh Pickens writes "12-year-old William Yuan's invention of a highly-efficient, three-dimensional nanotube solar cell for visible and ultraviolet light has won him an award and a $25,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development. 'Current solar cells are flat and can only absorb visible light'" Yuan said. 'I came up with an innovative solar cell that absorbs both visible and UV light. My project focused on finding the optimum solar cell to further increase the light absorption and efficiency and design a nanotube for light-electricity conversion efficiency.' Solar panels with his 3D cells would provide 500 times more light absorption than commercially-available solar cells and nine times more than cutting-edge 3D solar cells. 'My next step is to talk to manufacturers to see if they will build a working prototype,' Yuan said. "If the design works in a real test stage, I want to find a company to manufacture and market it.""
Mod parent up.
Makes me feel stupid for spending my childhood throwing rocks at cats.
Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
William Yuan's bright idea to create a new, more efficient solar cell earned him top honors as Oregon's only 2008 Davidson Fellow.
As part of the honor, the 12-year-old Bethany boy will be flown to Washington, D.C., for a reception Sept. 24 at the Library of Congress where he will receive his award and a $25,000 scholarship from the Davidson Institute for Talent Development.
"William's work was evaluated by university professors and environmental scientists," said Tacie Moessner, Davidson Fellows program manager in a call from Reno, Nev. "They look for the project's potential to benefit society and make sure it is socially relevant. Generally, the projects need to be at the graduate level."
Yuan worked on his project for the past two years with the encouragement of his science teacher Susan Duncan; support of his parents Gang Yuan and Zhiming Mei; and counsel of professional mentors Professor Chunfei Li of Portland State University's Center for Nanofabrication and Electron Microscopy, Fred Li of Applied Materials Inc. and Professor Shaofan Li of the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of California - Berkeley.
"He is our youngest fellow in science that we've ever had," Moessner said. "He is really spectacular.
"His project will really make a difference in advancing the technology of solar cells. You would never know he's 12 looking at the quality of his work."
Young talent
William Yuan is a seventh-grader in Meadow Park Middle School's Summa options program.
He is an active member of the school's Math Engineering Science Achievement (MESA) Club, First Lego League team and participant in the Science Bowl and MathCounts programs. He is also a two-time, second-place chess champion for the state.
Recognizing his interest in science, math and engineering, Yuan's science teacher encouraged him to tackle a challenging engineering project for the Northwest Science Expo after introducing him to nanotechnology and renewable energy research.
"We learned about some great energy and environmental issues," Yuan said. "To try to help, I researched the application of nanotechnology and renewable energy.
"I felt they would best complement my background knowledge and experience. After extensive research and community outreach, I wanted to work on a project to find a solution for some of the problems of the world."
Yuan decided to focus his project on finding the most efficient way to harness the sun's energy.
"I felt solar energy had large potential but it was underused," he explained. "Fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas are only finite and are slated to run out by 2050.
"We need to make solar energy more cost effective and efficient."
With that thought in mind, Yuan got to work.
"Current solar cells are flat and can only absorb visible light," he said. "I came up with an innovative solar cell that absorbs both visible and UV light. My project focused on finding the optimum solar cell to further increase the light absorption and efficiency and design a nanotube for light-electricity conversion efficiency."
Yuan invested countless hours in his research, seeking out new resources in the field to find a workable real-world solution.
"He has worked very hard in the past couple years," his father Gang Yuan said. "We're grateful that he had great mentors and teachers to guide him.
"When he started on his research, he had great curiosity and wanted to dig into it more. As his parents, we looked for experiences to help him."
Watching his dedication impressed William's parents.
"This generation's sense of urgency is much stronger than my generation's," his father said. "They are thinking about the future and want to know how environmental issues will impact their generation."
Promising future
Tapping into that talent and giving gifted youth the opportunity to excel is what the Davidson Institute is all about.
The national nonprofit organization recognized 20 students this year for their
the good ground has been paved over by suicidal maniacs
That's what you think. Last year some 8 year olds invented wedgie-proof underwear.
From the synopsis on the Davidson Institute website, it sounds like he simulated the design with computer models but did not actually build it.
I suppose his dad plays his chess matches and practices his Taekwondo for him too? He sounds like a genuinely extremely talented kid:
Honors/Awards
* 2008 Davidson Fellow
* 2008 Northwest Science Expo, Second Place
* 2008 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Best Engineering Project
* 2008 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search, First Place in Oregon
State (Verbal)
* 2008 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search, First Place in Oregon
State (Quantitative)
* 2008 High Tech Kids First Lego League First Lego League (FLL) International Open
(team), Second Place Champion\u2019s Award
* 2008 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Team Championship, First Place
* 2008 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Second Place
* 2007 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search, First Place in Oregon
State
* 2007 Intel Oregon FLL Champion\u2019s Award (team), First Place
* 2007 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Team Championship, First Place
* 2007 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Second Place
* 2007 World Taekwondo Headquarters: Poom Certificate
* 2006 Intel Oregon FLL State Tournament Young Team, First Place
* 2006 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament, Team Championship, First Place
* 2005 Intel Oregon FLL Regional Tournament (team), First Place Award
* 2005 Oregon Chess for Success State Tournament (team), Second Place
I call shenanigans. Current standard solar cells are more than 0.2% efficient, so a 500x improvement would capture more energy than the sun puts out.
While this could certainly improve the energy budget, it has the minor problem that it violates the laws of physics.
Hi. I am also a Davidson Fellow (Billy Dorminy, won $10k about two years ago, I forget the award cycle). Let me tell you: while I can't vouch for any year but the year I was a winner, the Davidson Fellow award-winners I know are fully smart enough to do such things, and while some do have scientific parents, I can say I do not have scientific parents and thus cannot have had parental help. Thus, I understand why you'd claim it's just the parents, but it's not always true and can be offensive.
Swirly in a urinal? You're doing it wrong.
I keep trying to pick fights, but I can't shake this Excellent karma.