04 Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, Shane Torbert and student editorial team
Award of Distinction, Best of Show
Contributors: Daniel Huffman, Isabella Deng, and Samuel Kim, Adviser: Dr. Shane Torbert
Presenting team: Isabelle Deng, Shan Lateef, Sahana Ramesh, and Karen Song; Lilia Qian, and Danny Huffman (now in college)
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), Alexandria, VA, (informational)
About Isabelle Deng: My favorite article is a piece I wrote on the chemistry of Korean Skincare, because it was a great example of the interdisciplinary approach that we value at Teknos (and I love skincare and makeup). After high school, I'm planning on studying English, Psychology, and Computational Biology. I wrote for Teknos because Teknos is an amazing platform for students to discuss scientific topics and hone their technical communication skills. An issue I'm passionate about is bridging the gap between the science community and the general public because sharing the science will only serve to enrich our society.
About Shan Lateef: Last year I published a paper in the TEKNOS journal about my research on traumatic brain injury. I really enjoyed writing this article as it gave me the opportunity to share my results with scientific and general audiences. After high school, I wish to combine my passions for neuroscience and public health and continue my research at the university level. I write for TEKNOS because I believe that research and scientific pursuits should be elaborated and communicated to the community.
(From left to right) Lilia Qian, Isabella Deng, and Daniel Huffman
Dr. Shane Torbert holds a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Virginia, and an M.Ed., M.S., and Ph.D. from George Mason University where he conducted research in the Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics. He has been at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology since the summer of 1999 and full-time since 2001, having taught all levels of Math and Computer Science. He is the author of the textbook Applied Computer Science published in 2011 by Springer.
Since 2004, he has been the lab director of TJ's Computer Systems Lab. He was a consultant for the College Board in Computer Science, served as a grant review panelist for the National Science Foundation, and has given presentations at the local, regional, state, and national levels including JOSTI, NCTM, NCSSS, and CSTA. He has run workshops for Computer Science teachers sponsored by both Google and ACM. Introductory materials in Java developed by Dr. Torbert continue to be used by hundreds of beginning students each year.
At the advanced level, his post-AP elective courses attract talented high school Computer Science students with a research interest in algorithms, optimization, agent-based models, search, parallel programming, computer vision, and machine learning. Students from the lab have consistently placed well in Science Fair and contests including Intel, Siemens, and ISEF.
In addition, each fall Dr. Torbert coordinates the research efforts of TJ students working at external sites for a substantial portion of their school day, and directly alongside professional mentors from academia and industry.
