HS students compete at state-level poster competition
Collin Chan ‘25 and Sid Pruthi ‘25 presented at the Tennessee Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, and Collin advances to the national competition in May.
By Anne Dervan, HS Science Department Chair
Collin Chan ‘25 and Sid Pruthi ‘25 were among a select few students chosen to present posters at the Tennessee Junior Science and Humanities Symposium held on the campus of University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Collin presented his work titled “Fusion Pro: A Recurrent Neural Network-Based Program to Accelerate Construction of Fusion Proteins Toward Drug Discovery," and Sid presented his work titled, “Harnessing Adaptive AI Technology to Benefit the Future of Medical Work.”
As part of the symposium experience, participants were treated to exclusive tours of cutting-edge facilities, including the chemistry lab and a manufacturing incubator associated with the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering at UT Knoxville.
The symposium, sponsored by the Department of Defense, also served as a stage for a state-level competition.
Presentations were judged by a panel for four UTK professors, and Collin won first prize in the poster presentation category. He advanced to the national competition which will be held in early May in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Community Service Officer Rochelle Law-Wagener joined USN part-time in 2020 and transitioned to full-time in 2021. CSO Lakeith Washum joined USN in 2016. CSOs provide safety and security-related functions, including perimeter and parking lot security, traffic direction, access control, and special event staffing.
After winning the state championship earlier this year, Margot Ross '24, Xavier Warren '24, Caroline Quinones '24, Benjamin Kampine '24, Bronson Schmidt '25, Erin Joyce '25, Ophelia Cherry-Pulay '25, and Henry Gatto '25, took home seventh place the national Mock Trial competition.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.