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. “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.†More: Seventh-grader shines with solar cell research
This is not the sort of outside the box creative thinking that is fostered by standardized testing. In case you couldn't figure that out. Great job to William. He has a bright future. I think $25,000 is pretty paltry if his idea pans out. That's only one year's tuition and books at Berkley. (currently. who knows what it will be when he goes to college.)
Or - presumably - a standardized classroom environment. I have a real problem with our one size fits all educational system. It is a real challenge to educate "the masses "while ensuring that kids like this get the attention they need and "special needs" kids get what they need. There is never enough money or resources it seems. Glad somebody was able to get this kid excited about science. We need more of that!
It's rare and wonderful to see such brilliance recognised and rewarded. More power to you, William. I'd suggest there's more potential for world-changing ideas in nanotechnology than the biotechnology or medicine he's apparently considering. Maybe he could adapt 'buckminsterfullerene' into light and super-efficient capacitors, and perfect a cable for tethering geostationary satellites. Surprise us, please.
This is the direction that our educational system should be piling money into. The United States does not need 50 million english majors, 50 million mathematicians, or 50 million business graduates. Technology and medical research is the future saviour of this country.
But you could have all of that...if we didn't have one size fits all, standardized test-centric classrooms modeled after Ford's assembly line, mass basic education for the production line formed around the agrarian calendar schools systems. The form of current school systems was developed over a century ago and hasn't changed much since. And it won't as long as it is funded by a century old financial system based on property taxes and fun by elected school board members and politicians who have no training or degrees in education. School boards used to be necessary when the one room school house was run by the previous year's highest graduate. But teachers now have master's degrees in education. They don't need the local realtor, car salesman or housewife telling them how to teach. But like everything it all comes down to money. The cheapest way to educate the most kids is in a classroom of 30-45 kids all using the same textbook and reading the same chapter. This was fine training if you planned to work on an assembly line. It isn't adequate for today's needs. But no one is willing to PAY for anything better. And there's no money for anything different because of the way schools are funded. You get what you pay for. For the money, public schools are doing an excellent job. It's because of their teachers. Not their administrators, superintendents or school board members.
