Indian Springs School senior Catherine Kung has received multiple awards for her ongoing research on the development of a bio-inspired artificial skin.
Published: May 7, 2022
Kung rose among a competitive pool of university students to claim first place for the 2022 SPIE Best Student Paper Award. SPIE is the international society for optics and photonics founded in 1955 to advance light-based technologies. The award recognizes research with “a demonstrated connection to smart structures and materials.”
Kung worked with Indian Springs School physics teacher Hazal Mohammed on the paper titled “Development of bio-inspired flexible artificial skin and sensory information processing using a Kohonen artificial network.” As one of six finalists, she traveled to California on March 6-9 to present her research to a panel of esteemed judges. She received a cash prize of $500.
Kung also won first place in the 2022 Alabama Science Scholar Search. The competition was held during the 99th annual meeting of the Alabama Academy of Science at Athens State University on March 17-18. She received a $4,000 Gorgas Scholarship.
At the 2022 Central Alabama Regional Science and Engineering Fair, Kung won first place in senior division engineering for her project, “Recognition of American Sign Language (ASL) trigger words using RF sensors in combination with deep neural networks.” This was a new project separate from her research on artificial skin.
Kung is one of three Indian Springs School students who will compete at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair this May. She and classmate Mayu Nakano set a school record for advancing to Regeneron for two consecutive years.
Kung scored a perfect 36 on the ACT and was named a Presidential Scholar Candidate and a National Merit Finalist.
Indian Springs School Students Nationally Recognized for Writing
Indian Springs School seniors Lucy Gardner and Sofia Monteleone have received national gold medals in the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, among many other honors.
Gardner and Monteleone advanced to the national Scholastic Arts and Writing competition after receiving numerous awards at the regional level. Gardner won a gold medal for her flash fiction story entitled “Moody Orange,” and Monteleone won a gold medal and a silver medal for her poems entitled “Despair in the Quiet” and “Wasted Time.” Gold medals are awarded for “the most outstanding works in the nation,” and the winners are recognized at a national ceremony.
Gardner also received the American Voices Medal, a “Best in Show” award that recognizes originality, technical skill, and the emergence of a personal voice or vision. A panel of esteemed judges selects only one writer from each region for this award.
Monteleone also received the New York Life Award, which provides six scholarships of $1,000 to students whose work explores personal grief, loss, and bereavement, and exemplifies how the arts can act as a positive outlet to cope with these issues.
In addition to the Scholastic Awards, Gardner was recognized in the Alabama Writer’s Forum High School Literary Art Awards for the second year in a row. She received a Poetry Certificate of Merit and the Judge’s Special Recognition in the categories of fiction and creative nonfiction. She also received the Marvin Lee Paul and Helen Scott Paul Senior Portfolio Scholarship.
About Indian Springs School
Located just south of Birmingham, Alabama, Indian Springs School is an independent, coeducational day and boarding school serving 300 students in grades 8-12.