LAHS junior Daniel Kim placed 3rd in Environmental Engineering at the 2023 ISEF in Dallas, Texas. Courtesy/LAHS
LAHS News:
Daniel Kim, a junior at Los Alamos High School (LAHS), placed 3rd in Environmental Engineering at the 2023 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Dallas, Texas.
His project, Engineered Underwater Vehicle for Ocean Litter Mapping, was one of 86 competing in this category.
“In my project, I engineered an underwater vehicle to collect footage of the ocean, and a machine learning computer program to analyze the collected footage for ocean trash,” Kim explained. “Using this tool, litter at all depths of the ocean can be tracked and mapped to aid in cleanup efforts in the future. I tested my underwater vehicle in local bodies and water, and validated my machine learning program using several hours of open-sourced footage – detecting over 170,000 pieces of trash off the coast of Japan.”
The ISEF draws high school scientists from around the world. This year’s winners shared nearly $9 million in awards.
“ISEF was an experience unlike any other,” Kim said. “Being able to connect to the top minds all across the world and make so many new friends really makes me excited about what the future has for science.”
In addition to participating in science fairs, Kim is a member of the 2023 State Champion LAHS Track and Field Team. He placed 2nd in the 300-meter hurdles at the state competition. He also placed 2nd in the Supercomputing Challenge and garnered first place in the New Mexico Junior Academy of Science Paper Competition, held in April in Socorro.
Click here to learn more about the Regeneron ISEF
