 And we're back with our live Tuesday show here on Think Tech Hawaii. We are young talents making way, and I'm Andrea Gabrielli, your host. Involvement in the Hawaii science sphere can take young science talents on incredible journeys of discovery, growth, and even, you know, around the world. So today I don't have just one young talent. But two of them making way, ladies and gentlemen, Brandon and Ryan Nguyen. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having us. And so you are brothers, and you got interested in the Hawaii science sphere, the science sphere where students compete with science projects and, you know, get involved in all sorts of activities. Since you've been involved since 2015. Yes. But why? Well, if I'm being honest, I actually didn't want my parents to find out about it at the very beginning, because at the time I had a very basic project. And then I'm really glad I actually talked, well, I didn't talk to them about it. My dad looked in my backpack and found out, found the foreigners for the science sphere. And from there, I actually got to have a project with dentistry involved in dentistry and teeth. Why? And then from there, I actually got to go to ISAF, and that's where this whole journey began. And that's how we met Harry Davis. And yeah. What is ISAF? Yeah. For those who don't know, yeah. ISAF is the International Science and Engineering Fair. Oh, okay. It's held in three places. Every time. Yeah, yeah. And Ryan, how did you get started with the science sphere? Well, I started after Brandon, and we both ended up having pretty personal topics, and this gave us a lot of interest past accidentally getting into the science sphere like he did. Right. So, science sphere, basically, what are your experiences? What do you think about it in terms of experience for students, even other students that would like to participate in the science sphere? Well, I think it's great. There are so many things you can do as a result of the science fair. There are many things that we have done because of the science fair. And I think, well, really, everybody should try to take this opportunity. And well, first of all, learn, meet new people, figure out new things, and do science. Great. And, Brandon, what kind of opportunities, you know, since Ryan mentioned it, what did it give it to you? Well, first off, going to ISF is a great opportunity, period, because... That's the international science sphere, yeah. And then, from there, you make connections with people. You get to meet future PIs. You get to meet people who bring you to other people and introduce you and put in a good word. And then, also, you get to go to other conferences. I went to the International Aid Society Conference last summer, and hopefully I'm going to be... I'm going to be going to it again this year in Amsterdam. And opportunities like that only came about because I was able to talk to people and we made connections with people, and we are introduced. You have traveled the world, yeah, as well. For going to these conferences, you've been to Pennsylvania, you've been to Europe, you've been to L.A. as well. You've been to a variety of places, you know. How does this experience of science and traveling, sharing your research, sharing your results, what do you learn about from these experiences? We do end up learning a lot, seeing, especially with many of these conferences and fairs that we go to, there are so many other projects and so many other people. And we get to learn a lot from these other people, and we also get to learn from researchers and actual, say, higher-up people who have done their work in this field for a long time. So you have participated into this year's science fair, is that right? Yes, that's right. And so you are, Ryan, you are the first place, overall best in category for... Biochemistry. Bio-medical. Bio-medical and biochemistry. And you, Ryan, are the second place, overall best in category for cellular and molecular biology. For molecular biology, so you've been involved with this. But I'm just curious to learn more about your journey since 2015, all the way to today, and it's continuing with more projects I understand as well. So let's see some pictures of you doing the science fair. Let's see the first pictures. Oh, okay, so this first picture, this is from the beginning today. Yeah, yeah. I love this picture because they were both at the state science fair. One was in 2015, and then one was recently. Oh, okay, 2015. This is the Hawaii Convention Center? Yeah, that's the convention center. So that's the state science fair. Yeah, we're at the Hawaii Convention Center, and we decided to try to recreate a picture this year in front of the fountain because Mom had just sent it to us, so we're like, oh, hey, look, let's try to do the same thing in front of the fountain, and we can use it as sort of a progress pic. So every time I look at it, I sort of swat. It's a beautiful picture. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So from 2015 all the way to today, what has changed? You know, in terms of your experience, in terms of, you know, what you have learned, in terms of... So I guess my question might be, how does the science fair help you to grow? In terms of, yeah. Well, as I said before, there are a lot of different experiences and things that we can learn, but the progression that you can see in our actual projects is very, very apparent. I started out, well, in that first picture in 2015, I didn't make it very far because what I did was, I'm pretty sure it was a, I grew sugar crystals or something, and now I'm up to doing MRI research, and well, I'm sure that's part of the growth. Yeah, let's talk about more about your, because you are in Kaiser High School, but you are also taking college-level classes at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. This is, I believe, is a very good opportunity for you to, you know, experience college when you're still in high school. Is that right? Yeah, that's right. Okay. And so... Well, what it's been about is getting these credits and interacting with even more people. It's opening our opportunities up. Because you get access to the labs, yeah, as well. We have one of your mentors here who's going to be joining us, Dr. Harry Davis, from... What do you really... How is it, you know, for a high school student being involved in cutting-edge research and learn about methods, you know, to do science, actually? Yeah. It's exhilarating. Basically, being able to play with these toys... I guess, yeah, because you do experiments and everything. Exactly. And last, my project was on, my last project was on using embryos and plasmids. I thought of it as playing with Legos, where instead of, you know, tiny Lego blocks who are playing with genes and putting those together and trying to affect the development of something, trying to... I don't want to make a mess with them, though. Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, very much. Right. So let's see more pictures, yeah? So what was the first project that... This, I believe, is that one of the very first projects of yours, and you began with Vogue. Is that right? That's right. For Vogue. For Vogue. The very first thing that we did, the first actual science project, was something to do with Vogue. So tell us what you're doing here. Well, in this picture, I think... On the left is Ryan. Yeah. Okay. So I'm actually holding a few of our Vogue samples that we pulled from Kilauea, I'm sure, the plume, which we can also see in a later picture. Yeah. And I was just culturing cells, I think. Yeah. I was just culturing cells. Your culture is cells on the white pictures, yeah? Okay. So for that project, our goal is just to see how Vogue affects the viability of cell lines. Let's see one more picture, so we can see... Okay. So this is... So you didn't go there, yeah? Yeah. Yeah, we didn't go in. Yeah. But we put a sampling machine, a kind of sampling machine that we created there, and we gathered Vogue samples. Okay. Okay. So that's Ryan overlooking with one of the binoculars on the summit of Kilauea volcano, overlooking the area where you place this Vogue to collect Vogue. That's right. Yeah. So for that particular project, for this Vogue project, which is the first that you decided to do, why did you actually do it? The project sort of came about when we were... Once we actually had contact with Harry through the International Science Fair and lots of people through that, and being able to expand from just a teeth project to what I considered an actual science fair project, something that really excited me. We were trying to just browse through things that really hit home for me. The thing that resonated was when I was around five or six, we used to live on the big island. And I was in and out of the hospital for... Where on the big island? Oh, Kona. We lived in Kona. Well, Kona saw the Vogue is... Yeah. I was very sensitive to the Vogue. And even when we were doing that project, we would make sulfur dioxide and things like that to try to emphasize, make something that resembled the Vogue. And I was sensitive to that for a while too. So a lot of times it was an emotional connection to the Vogue and trying to make sure it didn't happen to anybody else. And that's what drove that project. Right. Now, Ryan, we mentioned that you've been involved with this early college program, where you basically could take classes, credits and everything. One question that I would like to ask you, because the audience might be interested in as well, is can everybody do this? Can everybody be involved with early college when you are still in high school? Well, I sure, I believe so. There are many different programs that you can enter into. And all of these are... I'm sure all of these are great. I know many of my friends who are trying to get into it. And somebody in my chemistry class at KCC, or Capulani Community College, was... I actually met her again at the science fair, and it was kind of funny. So there are already plenty of people who are doing this kind of thing. And I think that's great. Right. Okay. Let's see more pictures. Of your activities. Oh, wow. This looks like Paris. This wasn't Paris. This was last year's summer. Yeah. The first time we actually left. So we're looking at... Well, that's the Eiffel Tower on the left. And then on the right... Oh, well, there is Brendan with... Who is the... Is that the scientist? That's my mentor for this year. She works at JABSOM. Her name is Ivo Sa Banda. Banda, yeah. Dr. Yeah. And she works with HIV and epidemiology, which is what that conference was actually about. It was the International AIDS Society Conference. Did you go with her? Yes. I went with her as an observer, as a student. And from there, that was basically where I got most of my education in HIV. A more in-depth look at what's going on now. How are people pioneering the field? And what are the constant advancements that were... So now, I understand you are more interested in HIV and this epidemiology for future projects as well. Currently, I'm looking at trying to identify patterns in epidemiology. In these viruses as well. In how HIV is developing and the distribution of subtypes in various locations. That's what my project will be on next year. Right. Okay. But, Ryan, you have also traveled around. I understand that you are going to Europe in a couple of weeks, yeah? Actually, we're flying out tomorrow. Tomorrow. And what's the destination? I believe we're starting in... I'm not sure, but eventually we're going to Amsterdam for this next similar convention. For this convention, yeah. Okay. So last year's Paris, this year it's Amsterdam. Both times we got to go and hopefully this time, Ryan will be coming with me. Yeah. So we'll have a picture with both of us. Right. Okay. Well, up next, we're going to meet one of your mentors, Dr. Harry Davis. We're going to share a little bit with us a little bit more about the science fair as an opportunity, you know, for our young talents to really max out and, you know, become ambassadors for science. So stay tuned. We'll be right back. When I was growing up, I was among the one in six American kids who struggled with hunger and hungry mornings make tired days. Grumpy days. That kind of days. But with the power of breakfast, the kids in your neighborhood can think big and be more. We're not hungry for breakfast. We're hungry for more. More ideas. More dreams. More fun. When kids aren't hungry for breakfast, they can be hungry for more. Go to hungarees.org and lend your time or your voice to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. My name is Stephanie Mock and I'm one of three hosts of Think Tech Hawaii's Hawaii Food and Farmer series. Our other hosts are Matt Johnson and Pomei Weigert. And we talk to those who are in the fields and behind the scenes of our local food system. We talk to farmers, chefs, restaurateurs and more to learn more about what goes into sustainable agriculture here in Hawaii. We are on at Thursdays at 4 p.m. and we hope we'll see you next time. And we're back. We're young talents making way here on Think Tech Hawaii. And now we have a new guest joining us for the second part of the show, Dr. Harry Davies from the University of Hawaii at Minoa. Welcome to the show, Harry. Thank you. Yeah. Nice to be here. Thank you. I'm going to enter to Brendan and Ryan, but you're also a judge at the state of Hawaii science and engineering here. You've been a judge this year as well. What kind of opportunity does the science fair present for young students? And also as a judge, what kind of students can join, you know? Well, you know, a lot of people think that, oh, science is hard and all that kind of stuff. But no, science is this common sense. This is like, here's a problem I'm going to find out that I apply common sense to try to figure out that problem. The scientific method is simply common sense. So it teaches any student how to think, how to use common sense, how to solve a problem, and how to focus on a problem. And this is like a life skill. It can be any problem. A life skill that everybody should have. So it's not just for scientists. It's not just for people who are exceptional in any way. It's for everybody. Right. And then, you know, you see some of the opportunities that can present themselves when students really put in the effort. And I don't think it's, you know, from my experience of 30 years in teaching and everything else, I don't think it's like the exceptional kids that make all the big discoveries. It's the ones that will work hard. The ones that become dedicated to the topic. Right. And when you're judging the science fair, personally, I'm not looking for who's the best. I want to find out what do these kids, I ask them, how do you get started on the project? And there's really interesting stories like Brian and Ryan have. And then I want to find out, well, what did you do? And then when you ask them, what do they do? Not what their mentor did, not what their parents did, what they did. And you see that the ownership that they get over it and that they're proud of something that they can create. They created this on their own. And without them, it wouldn't happen. Right. And in terms of mentors, you know, it's also important for the students to have a guidance, yeah? Because they want to basically access this problem. They want to address it. They want to try and find a solution with scientific methods, as you mentioned. But also, do we have enough mentors for the science fair? Because it's growing every year. Absolutely, we don't have enough people. We don't have enough teachers in the schools that really will have the time or propensity to help a student. And then we don't have enough people in the university and in the private sector to act as mentors. So I can't tell you how many students have contacted me. Well, I tried to get a mentor, but I can't find one. So I didn't do science fair last year because I couldn't find a mentor. And this is really this, you know, how do you say, dampening their interests. Because if you keep turning the kid off on what they want to do, eventually they're going to find something else to do. Right, right. And so we're losing potential scientists, we're losing potential people who could go into science and learn about science, then contribute to the overall knowledge of, you know, science literacy in our country. So we really need more mentors, more scientists as well. We do. How many students did you mentor, Brandon and Ryan, or you have more? Last year, I think I had about a dozen. Wow. Some of them were in groups, they were, they come in pods. You've got more. They come in pods sometimes. Right, right. Yeah. And no, it is a disruption to the lab, but I think it's worth it. Absolutely, yeah. You're investing in somebody's future. Our future. Our future as well, absolutely. You're still young. I'm not. I need to find a replacement. So we're training our replacements and we're contributing to the overall science literacy of our nation, which is really, really low at this point. Take an example like GMO. The average person has no idea what GMO is. All they know is that it's bad. But... So GMO is what we need to feed the rest of the world to cure diseases, all kind of stuff like this. And most of the GMO is totally not even considered GMO. But the people who don't know anything can drive the whole conversation, so now everybody's against GMO as being banned by politicians, and they don't even know what it is. When the public is not literate about science, that gives opportunity for predators to come in and just tell us anything and we believe it. And they're all trying to make it buck. But in terms of science fair, because GMO, we could talk about, provide, exactly. Science fair is also very important for them to learn actually how to present science. And we want to be literate about this. We want to be able to talk about science and to... Vayan, how was working with Dr. Harry Davis here to learn about science? Because you spend a lot of time and Brendan as well, yeah. How was it, yeah? It was very helpful. He was one of our first big, big mentors that we worked on for a while. And he helped us with many different facets of the project. Definitely one of them being how to present, how to talk. And this is extremely important for not only the science fair and doing well in the science fair, but life. You're going to need to learn these talking skills. You're going to need to interact with many different people. Brendan, how about you? I'd like to preface by saying it would be very difficult for us to have gotten where we are now without the help of Dr. Harry Davis and his wife, Bibi, who was on the show with Ryan. Who had them, yeah. Because of them, we opened up to so many opportunities with the early college and meeting other mentors, stuff like that. We wouldn't have been able to have a project as stable as ours was, even with the drive to do things like that. A lot of people have that drive, but it's very difficult to find a mentor who's accommodating and really patient with you and willing to help you along the path of achieving your goal. Right, right. Harry, how was working with Ryan and Brendan? They were okay. I actually had to teach them how to squirt each other with water bottles. They wouldn't do it. They was like, well, the lab is very serious, so I'm like, okay, here's the water bottle. Learn how to use it. But no, they learned a lot, and at first, you know, they're very cautious and everything, and they don't know that they can do this. They don't know that they can mix these things, and yeah, so you have to teach them that, you know, it's, once you learn about the background, and they were very good. They were very cautious. They would, you know, they would Google things and stuff like that, and what you're really doing in science oftentimes is trying to gather resources. So you're teaching them, or they're learning how to be resourceful. Right. So one question that, you know, some people occasionally ask me or ask us as well. How do you get involved in the science sphere? We've been talking about the journey that Ryan and Brendan had, the growth that they, you know, were able to sustain by joining the science sphere. But how do you actually join it? Is that something you do with your school, where you're... Yeah, so, you know, the White Academy of Science, which I'm a member, and my wife is a member. So one of the major goals of White Academy of Science is the science sphere. Right. So they're affiliated with the international science sphere. But you have district science fairs, and you, well, first of all, you have school science fairs. And you start with your own school. Yeah. If it's, if there's enough kids, you can have a school science fair. And then there's a district science there, like the Honolulu district that they're in, which has only been around for maybe three years, maybe three years, something like that. Right. You guys are one of the first ones in that. Honolulu district. And you won at the district, yeah? You were... This year. First place winner this year. Yeah. That was first and right in the second. Right. At the top together. District fair, and obviously, they're going to go to the international science fair. And then ones that make the cut at the district fairs go up to the state science fair. So I've been judging the state science fair, I don't know, maybe 30 years, 20, 25 years, something like that. And... You've seen numbers of students going up. Yeah. It's getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Yeah. More opportunities. And a lot of this we have to give credit to for the Department of Education. Right. Right. I remember when my wife was teaching at Farrington, she had a hard time getting students to be able to leave Farrington and go to HCC to take college-level classes. It was like there wasn't a mechanism to do that. But now this is becoming standard. And so... And it gives more opportunities. Yeah. Yeah. But I guess one question. How did you find Dr. Harry? How do you find a mentor, maybe Brandon? Yeah. For us, we were really lucky to have gone to ISF that first year and being able to interact with lots of scientists, especially Dr. Harry Davis and his wife. But for a lot of people, it's just a matter of reaching out. Through teachers, through, in our case, professors, you get to meet PIs, people with open research projects, things that you're interested in. And that's where you start developing a project. So you did it together. Brian, you did it together to find a mentor. Yeah. I guess, in a way. We did have to knock on a few doors and stuff, but it was easier for us since we had already had these open doors with us. Okay. So, Eric, basically every student who joins the science fair has a mentor and it can be, you know, he or she can be this mentor either in the school or researchers in universities. Is that right? Well, unfortunately, I would say that probably most don't have a mentor. So say you're a high school or an intermediate school kid. So your only way to even know about this would be maybe something on the news or maybe a think tech program. Yeah, sorry. And maybe your teacher would know something about it, right? Right. And so it has to start with the teachers. So oftentimes the teachers are really busy. They've got so many kids in the classroom and they've got all kinds of behavior problems they're dealing with. So it's really hard for someone to find someone who can really mentor them and show them where the doors are, show them what the opportunities are. So the teachers that are really well known at doing this have been recognized by Hawaii Academy of Science, several of them. So we have guys from like Waipahu have who mentor like dozens of students. Such as you do, for example. Yeah. And the reason is because they're really dedicated to it. But the other reason is that no one else is doing it. They want to see the opportunities given to these students. We mentioned that there is scarcity. We need more of these people. And so that's where it has to come from is grassroots. It comes from the classroom. It comes from the school level. And then you just dovetail in with the district level. And now it's really hard to get a mentor at the University of Hawaii if you live in Waipahu. You've got school activities all day and then just a one-hour drive and another one-hour drive back. How is that going to happen? Not only that, you can't find mentors. I can't tell you how many students have told me, oh, I called everybody in the department. I left everybody emails and never heard back from anybody. And so we need to get more dedication from my peers at the University. Yeah, this not getting back is somehow common and can be frustrating occasionally. Very common. Yeah. Very common. OK, we have about one minute left in our conversation today. But I guess one question may be, for you, Harry, how do you see the future of the science sphere? Well, what I would like to see is all the doors be open for all the kids. So nothing to hinder them. When they're ready for college classes, they should be able to go to college. When they're ready to do a high-level research stuff, they should be able to find a mentor in the University, get access to the machinery and the equipment necessary to do higher-level stuff. To do the research. Yeah, OK. And for you, Brandon and Ryan, what do you see for your future now? Brandon, maybe. Well, we're both looking into medicine and research. And for me, personally, I'm trying to keep all of my options open. It may be a little greedy to put it this way. But I'd like to just see everything, try to experience everything. And then once time comes to make the decision, I make a good one. How about you, Ryan? Well, I guess I'm not as open as Brandon. There are a few things I'd really like to do. One field. And those are, well, in my case, really either research or becoming a doctor or something. But still, I'm not too sure, I guess. Thank you very much for being with us today. Thank you, Harry. Thank you, Andrea. Thank you, Ryan. Thank you, Brandon. Thank you for coming. And so you've been watching Young Talent's Making Way here on ThinkSack Hawaii. And next Tuesday, we'll be back for more. Stay tuned.