Major Accolades for FVS Science Student

Fountain Valley School congratulates Tony T. ’23 on his outstanding performance at the Pikes Peak Regional Science and Engineering Fair held on February 26, 2022 and the Colorado State Science and Engineering Fair held on April 7-8, 2022. Tony competed with his computer science project titled, “Convolutional Neural Network Based Gesture Recognition Application System.”

Tony’s project focused on “gesture recognition,” which is a widely-studied area of machine learning in which computers detect and analyze human gestures. Tony’s idea for this project was inspired by his childhood experiences playing video games that required him to move his own body in order to move his character within the game.

While learning virtually from China last school year, Tony found he had more free time working from home than he was accustomed to, and he used this extra time to delve deeper into a topic he found fascinating. After hearing about the Science Fair last summer break, Tony set his sights on attending it this school year. Tony hopes to expand his project by incorporating more gestures, or possibly move his project beyond just recognizing gestures by using the Convolutional Neural Network — a type of artificial neural network used in image recognition and processing. Although Tony has not yet determined precisely what he’d like to study after graduating, he is sure it will be something in Mathematics or Computer Science.


▲  Tony T. ’23 is presented his many awards at All School.

Tony also noted that he would like to thank his parents for supporting his interest in developing this project, as well as the teachers in China who support his research. He would also like to thank Ms. Baker in particular for her enthusiastic support.

When asked how he felt about receiving so many accolades at both Science Fairs, Tony remarked:

I was actually really surprised about all the accolades I received. I wasn’t expecting any of them, and I was even more surprised that Mrs. Baker was willing to announce them during all school!”

Tony won numerous awards at the Pikes Peak Regional Science and Engineering Fair, including:

• AFCEA, Senior Division – 1st Place
• Ascension Engineering Group Award, Senior Division – 2nd Place
• Deep Space Exploration Society Award, Senior Division – 2nd Place
• Math & Computer Science, Physics, Senior Division – 2nd Place
• Yale Science & Engineering Association Award
• U. S. Navy Science Award, Senior Division
• Colorado Associates in Medical Physics Award
• Patent & Trademark Office Society Grand Award

After his exceptional performance at the Pikes Peak Regional Science and Engineering Fair, Tony was then invited to compete at the Colorado State Science and Engineering Fair.

Tony won four more awards, including:

• Math and Computer Science, High School Division – 3rd Place
• Office of Naval Research Award (Medallion, Certificate, $50 Cash Prize)
• Colorado School of Mines ($1000/year scholarship for 4 years)
• Yale Science and Engineering Association Award for Outstanding Achievement in Science and Engineering

Once again, congratulations on your outstanding achievement, Tony!