TAMS student wins national award
11:50 AM CST on Monday, December 8, 2008
By Britney Tabor / Staff Writer
(Wen and his younger brother Yieu were students in the New Testament Greek classes I taught at Denton Bible Church several years ago.)
Wen Chyan, a second year student at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas was named national champion and the recipient of a $100,000 scholarship Monday in the country's premier high school research contest.
Announced about 9 a.m. Central time Monday in New York City, Chyan was named individual winner at the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology.
The 17-year-old beat out five other high school students for the coveted title with his project "Versatile Antimicrobial Coatings from Plasma Deposited Hydrogels and Hydrogel Composites," work that could possibly help hospital patients avoid bacterial infections resulting from treatment.
In his project, Chyan developed a polymer coating for medical devices that could prevent infections caused by bacterial biofilms. Such infections affect more than 2 million hospital patients annually and kill about 100,000.
The polymer, which was created by Chyan, is adhesive and embedded with silver ions that can be used on medical devices such as catheters and breathing equipment, which require a tube to be inserted into a patient.
Broadcasted live via a press conference on the Siemens Web site, Chyan gave brief remarks shortly after the announcement in which he thanked his parents, Jin-Jian Chen and Oliver Chyan, and his mentor, the University of Texas at Arlington chemistry and biochemistry professor Richard Timmons for their support while creating such a project.
"I feel very honored to be [presented] with this Siemens award," he said.
Timmons said he was delighted with the news that Chyan earned top honors at the contest.
“It’s just a great feeling to know him,” he said of Chyan. “Sometimes teaching you get jaded with students who aren’t highly motivated, but when you come across a Wen Chyan, it makes the experience more important.”
Dr. Richard Sinclair, dean at TAMS was overwhelmed with surprise at Chyan’s accomplishment. He said Chyan is the first student from the school to go on and win the contest at the individual level. In 2002, student Charles Halford was named champion at the competition in the team category, he said.
Sinclair said having Chyan be named the 2008 Siemens champion shows what TAMS is about, the students they produce and the kind of research they conduct.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Wen,” he said. “All of us just can’t believe it. It’s just fabulous news.”
BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com
-- UPDATED/REVISED STORY --
TAMS student wins an education
$100,000 scholarship awarded for Wen Chyan’s infection-fighting project
11:57 PM CST on Monday, December 8, 2008
By Britney Tabor / Staff Writer
A Denton student at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science won a $100,000 scholarship Monday for a chemistry research project that could prevent hospital-related bacterial infections.
Announced Monday at New York University, Wen Chyan, 17, was named the top individual finisher in the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, the country’s premier high school research contest.
Wen Chyan “[I’m] definitely very excited about the turn of events,” Chyan said shortly before boarding a plane back to Texas on Monday.
Chyan is a second-year student in TAMS at the University of North Texas. Students in the program complete their first two years of college while earning a high school diploma.
In brief remarks made shortly after the announcement, Chyan said he was honored to earn the award and was grateful to his parents and mentors who’ve contributed to his success.
Chyan beat out five other students in the individual category for the coveted title. For his project, he developed an adhesive polymer coating for medical devices that is imbedded with silver ions, which could prevent infections caused by bacterial biofilms. Such infections affect more than 2 million hospital patients annually and kill about 100,000.
The coating could be used on medical devices such as catheters and breathing equipment, which require a tube to be inserted into a patient.
Siemens competition judge W. Mark Saltzman, a chemical and biomedical engineering professor at Yale University, said in a statement that Chyan’s project was a creative idea that required “a proactive approach where cross-disciplinary initiatives” such as electrochemistry, materials science and biology were explored.
“With further testing, these findings have the potential to improve a wide range of medical devices from intravascular devices at hospitals or catheters used in insulin pumps,” he said.
Dr. Richard Sinclair, TAMS dean, was overwhelmed with surprise at Chyan’s accomplishment. He said Chyan is the first student from the school to advance and win the contest at the individual level. In 2002, TAMS had a student named champion at the competition in the team category, he said.
“We couldn’t be more proud of Wen,” he said. “All of us just can’t believe it. It’s just fabulous news.”
Among other privileges, Chyan also will ring the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange in February with the winners of the Siemens team award, Sajith M. Wickramasekara and Andrew Y. Guo. The pair, both seniors at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, presented genetic research of chemotherapy.
Launched in 1998, the Siemens competition recognizes America’s top math and science students. This year, 1,893 students entered the contest with 1,205 projects. Eighteen students — 12 of whom competed on teams — advanced to the national finals after being named top finalists at one of six regional competitions.
“These remarkable students have achieved the most coveted and competitive high school science recognition,” Thomas McCausland, chairman of the Siemens Foundation, said in a statement. “There is no doubt that these scholars will change the world, starting right now, with their passion for math and science.”
BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com.
ON THE WEB
To view the press conference naming Wen Chyan as the winner of the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, visit http://mapdigital.com/events/siemens/sc08.
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