UES High School Student Wins National Science Prize

Miles Wu of Hunter College High School, who combined origami (the Japanese art of paper folding) and physics to optimize foldable structures for disaster-relief shelters, took the top prize—the ASCEND (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Exciting New Discoveries) Award—at the nation’s leading middle-school STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) competition, held in Washington, DC.

The award honors the student who demonstrates mastery of all STEM fields and exemplifies how research, innovation, and teamwork come together to impact our everyday lives.

The 9th-grader was profiled this past September by Straus Media when he made the finals. For his project, the young scientist explored the power of origami-inspired engineering by testing 54 variations of the Miura-ori fold, a geometric pattern that packs flat and unfolds in one smooth motion. Miles hopes to use his insights to develop strong, lightweight shelters that can be rapidly deployed in areas affected by natural disasters.

The Thermo Fisher JIC, a program of Society for Science, reaches 60,000 middle-school students nationwide, inspiring them to pursue their STEM interests and explore exciting college and career paths.

Miles triumphed over the other 29 finalists selected from nearly 2,000 applicants representing 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico, who are counted among the nation’s brightest students.

“Miles’s remarkable blend of scientific creativity, leadership, and collaboration highlights the type of talent Society for Science is proud to support,” said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO, of the Society for Science and executive publisher of Science News. “I look forward to seeing the innovative ideas he will contribute in the future.”

Says Miles’s mother, Erin Wu: “Our family is so proud of Miles—not only for the project, which he did entirely on his own, but more important, for his humility, teamwork, and kindness, as the award was based on not only a finalist’s STEM knowledge, but also their character. Miles is such a humble, kind, and unassuming kid, so it’s extra meaningful to see him recognized in this way.”

Straus Media once again sat down with Miles to talk about his win, his goals, and plans for the $25,000 award.

What’s the first thing that went through your mind when they announced that you’d won the top prize?

As they announced “New York, New York,” I was really shocked and surprised because going into the competition, I was not expecting to win anything and was just excited to meet with the other finalists and compete with them. But it’s been an honor to have competed with so many impressive projects.

This award is especially rewarding because they chose a project like mine, which was done completely on my own without working in a lab or having a mentor.

What are you going to do with the $25,000 award? Is any of it going to go toward your, you know, continuing research or projects?

I want to go to college, so the money will almost definitely be going toward that.

So aside from the win, which is amazing, let’s talk about what the competition experience was like in Washington, DC.

The week was really jam-packed, but it was also really fun. The first day, our projects were judged, and we also had Public Day, where the [general] public could come and have our projects presented to them.

There were also two days full of challenges, during which we were testing our STEM knowledge, but also our teamwork skills. Those were fun. For example, with my team, which was really awesome, we built a hydraulic arm using biomimicry, and we also did other challenges like making a Rube Goldberg machine and coding a micro:bit (a tiny computer that can do amazing things) to help with climate change issues.

Another thing that was fun during the competition was being able to visit Capitol Hill, where I was able to talk with staff, and then, after that, we had the award ceremony.

What advice would you give to other STEM students who have ideas for experiments or projects?

My advice is to follow hobbies and any passions that you have, because you don’t know where it could lead. For example, I’ve been doing origami for a while as a hobby, and I never really knew that it could have applications in science.

What’s next for you? Are you going to continue with this research, or is there another challenge calling your name?

Continuing this research. I hope to apply the findings for my project to prototype a real-life shelter that could actually be used after natural disasters. I definitely want to continue exploring and researching other topics within the intersection of origami and STEM.

I’m really inspired by the work that’s being done at places like MIT and by people like Erik Demaine [a Canadian-American professor of computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former child prodigy]. I’m excited to keep exploring that field.

How are you and your family celebrating your victory?

Well, one way I celebrated at the competition was, after the ceremony, they had a dance party for all the finalists, and even though I’m not really that big into dancing, it was still really fun celebrating with all the other finalists.

Coming home, I have a little brother who gave me a huge hug when I got back, and [my family] ordered in as a celebratory dinner.