ONSITE Registration (7:30a.m.-2p.m)
Location: Outside Main back loading zone
Coffee, tea, water available throughout the day
Snacks for purchase throughout the day
Research Symposium
The annual Harker Research Symposium showcases the discoveries of Harker's young scientists and alumni, honors the work of career scientists and entrepreneurs, and celebrates Silicon Valley's innovative spirit.
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Research Symposium
Sat., April 15, 2023 | "STEM for All. All for STEM."
Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity in STEM
The research symposium, held each year in the spring on the upper school campus for the entire Harker community, includes displays of Harker students' often award-winning projects, talks by alumni involved in research, and corporate exhibitors.
Watch videos of 2022 keynote talks. See below for last year's schedule.
Symposium Schedule & Abstracts
Sat., April 16
7:30a.m.-2p.m.
8a.m.-4p.m.
Poster Sessions (8a.m.-4p.m.)
Locations:
Zhang Center & RPAC Gallery: Poster Sessions
Exhibitors: Nichols Atrium
Presenters will be available to present their posters at The Athletic Center and the RPAC lobby during the following times:
8-8:45a.m.
11:30-1:00p.m.
1:10-1:55p.m.
8a.m.-2p.m.
Corporate Exhibitors (8a.m.-2p.m.)
Location: Nichols Atrium
Corporate exhibits throughout the day
8a.m.-2p.m.
Student Exhibitors (8a.m.-2p.m.)
Location: Aux Gym
Students exhibits throughout the day
8:45-8:55a.m.
16th Annual Harker Research Symposium Opening (8:45-8:55a.m.)
Locations:
Patil Theater RPAC
16th Annual Harker Research Symposium Opening
Anita Chetty: Opening Announcements
9-10a.m.
OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr. Kamini Varma (9-10a.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
The Covid-19 Diaries
Dr. Kamini Varma
VP R&D, Thermofisher Scientific
10:10-10:30a.m.
BREAKOUT SESSION 1: Amruta Dharmapurikar ‘23 (10:10-10:30a.m.)
Location: Nichols 309
Predicting Lead Contamination in School Drinking Water Using only Publicly Available Data
Research Conducted at: Harker Labs
Research Mentor: Dr. Eric Nelson
BREAKOUT SESSION 1: Varun Fuloria ‘24 (10:10-10:30a.m.)
Location: Nichols 307
The Geography of Partisanship: A Twitter Sentiment Analysis of American Senators' Attitudes towards Immigration
Research Conducted at: UC Santa Barbara, Dept. of Political Science
Research Mentor: Dr. Ingmar Sturm, Ph.D.
Research poster was judged "Excellent" during Sigma Xi Student Research Conference, held in November 2021.
Research was selected for the 2022 JSHS Northern California & Western Nevada Regional Competition, to be held in March 2022.
BREAKOUT SESSION 1: Nidhya Shivakumar ‘23 (10:10-10:30a.m.)
Location: Nichols 303
Real-Time Analysis of Aerial Images Using Deep Learning to Identify Critical Areas Requiring Immediate Assistance in Natural Disasters
Research Conducted at: Home and Harker Labs
Research Mentor: Kaushik Shivakumar, Anu Datar
10:05-11:05a.m.
MORNING KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Yanbing Li (10:05-11:05a.m.)
Location: Nichols AUD
Delivering a Self-Driving Future - Safely, Quickly and Broadly
10a.m.-12p.m.
STEM Buddies (10a.m.-12p.m.)
Location: Nichols Hall
STEM Buddies Activities
10-10:45a.m.
Lower School Workshop: Harker AI Club (10-10:45a.m.)
Location: Nichols 301
How is Your AI Intelligence?
We hope that through this workshop, students can catch a glimpse into the world of artificial intelligence and how powerful AI can be. Participants will be introduced to what AI is and some cool real life examples, play games to help understand concepts behind AI, and brainstorm their own AI solutions to current problems. We highly encourage any lower or middle school students to attend this session if they would like to learn the fundamental basics of AI! No experience needed.
11:30-11:50a.m.
2022 REGENERON FINALIST TALK: Rishab Parthasarathy ‘22 (11:30-11:50a.m.)
Location: Nichols AUD
A Novel Combination of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Pathway Analysis for Predicting Oncogenic Mutation Progression and Recommending Targeted Therapies
Research Conducted at: Stanford University School of Medicine, Lab of Dr. Achin Bhowmik
Research Mentor: Dr. Achin Bhowmik, Dr. Eric Nelson, and Mr. Chris Spenner
2022 Regeneron Finalist
11a.m.-12p.m.
ALUMNI PANEL DISCUSSION: Alumni (11a.m.-12p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Steven Botte ‘82, Ashley Morishige ‘07 (via Zoom), Amy Rorabaugh ‘10, Simar Bajaj ‘20, Jasmine Wiese ‘20, Allison Sommers ‘21, Daniza Rodriguez ‘13
Moderated by Butch Keller, Upper School Head (via Zoom)
11:10-11:30a.m.
BREAKOUT SESSION 2: Ashley Ruan ‘23 (11:10-11:30a.m.)
Location: Nichols 309
Genetic Study of Relationship Between TGF-β Signaling and Development of Endocrine-Sensitive Breast Cancer
Research Conducted at: Home
Research Mentor: Michael Pistacchi
BREAKOUT SESSION 2: Prakrit Jain ‘22 (11:10-11:30a.m.)
Location: Nichols 307
Scorpions and Desert Ecology in the Southwestern U.S.
Research Conducted at: California Academy of Sciences
Research Mentor: Dr. Lauren Esposito, Chris Spenner
Research Paper accepted with revisions @ ZooKeys
BREAKOUT SESSION 2: Natasha Matta ‘22 (11:10-11:30a.m.)
Location: Nichols AUD
Evaluating News Outlets' Adherence to Suicide Reporting Guidelines Across Social Media Platforms
Research Conducted at: Center for Youth Mental Health and Wellbeing, Stanford University
Research Mentor: Vicki Harrison, MSW (Program Director), Chris Spenner
12-1p.m.
LUNCH FOR ATTENDEES: Private Invitation Lunch (12-1p.m.)
Location: Aux Gym
Luncheon Keynote: Rishab Parthasarathy
Private invitation lunch
LUNCH FOR ATTENDEES: General Lunch (12-1p.m.)
Location: Manzanita Hall
Exhibitor and Poster Sessions
General Lunch & Exhibitor and Poster Sessions
1-3p.m.
STEM Buddies (1-3p.m.)
Location: Nichols Hall
STEM Buddies Activities
1-2p.m.
ALUMNI KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Senan Ebrahim ‘08 and Hassaan Ebrahim ‘11 (1-2p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Democratizing Digital Health: Lessons Learned Launching a Tech Nonprofit
Senan Ebrahim ‘08 and Hassaan Ebrahim ‘11
Co-founders of Hikma Health
2:10-3:10p.m.
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr. Hari Mix (2:10-3:10p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Leave a Trace: Sustainability and Ethics on the World's Highest Mountain
Dr. Hari Mix
Explorer and Scientist
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Upendra Mardikar (3:20-4p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Be Cyber Smart!
Upendra Mardikar
Chief Security Officer, Snap Finance
3:20-3:40p.m.
BREAKOUT SESSION 3: Sasvath Ramachandran ‘22 (3:20-3:40p.m.)
Location: Nichols AUD
Genomic Reconstruction and Phylogenetic Analyses of Cycloclasticus, a Dominant Microbe at the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Research Conducted at: University of California Santa Barbara, Dept. of Earth Science (Valentine Lab)
Research Mentor: Eleanor C. Arrington, PhD Candidate, Michael Pistacchi
Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS) Semifinalist & Top 300 Scholar
BREAKOUT SESSION 3: William Zhang ‘24 (3:20-3:40p.m.)
Location: Nichols 307
Cyclic Base Orderings of Certain Classes of Graphs
Research Conducted at: West Georgia University, Dept. of Mathematics
Research Mentor: Dr. Xiaofeng Gu
BREAKOUT SESSION 3: Leisha Devisetti ‘23 (3:20-3:40p.m.)
Location: Nichols 303
Importance of Local Adaptation in California Poppies for Ecological Restoration
Research Conducted at: UC Santa Cruz, Dept. of Environmental Sciences
Research Mentor: Justin Luong, Ph.D. Candidate
3:20-4p.m.
AFTERNOON SPECIAL PRESENTATION: Upendra Mardikar
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Protecting ourselves from the Cyberstate
Upendra Mardikar
Chief Security Officer, Snap Finance
4:10-5p.m.
Research Panel: Research Students (4:10-5p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
The Harker Research Program:
A Path, A Plan, and the Real Prize
Research students:
Alice Feng ‘22, Sasvath Ramachandran ‘22, Prakrit Jain ‘22, Harsh Deep ‘22, Angela Jia ‘22, Natasha Matta ‘22
Research teacher Mr. Spenner,
Harker parent Mani Ramachandran
Keynote Addresses
OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr. Kamini Varma (9-10a.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
The Covid-19 Diaries
Dr. Kamini Varma
VP R&D, Thermofisher Scientific
MORNING KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Yanbing Li (10:05-11:05a.m.)
Location: Nichols AUD
Delivering a Self-Driving Future - Safely, Quickly and Broadly
ALUMNI KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Senan Ebrahim ‘08 and Hassaan Ebrahim ‘11 (1-2p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Democratizing Digital Health: Lessons Learned Launching a Tech Nonprofit
Senan Ebrahim ‘08 and Hassaan Ebrahim ‘11
Co-founders of Hikma Health
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Upendra Mardikar (3:20-4p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Be Cyber Smart!
Upendra Mardikar
Chief Security Officer, Snap Finance
AFTERNOON KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Dr. Hari Mix (2:10-3:10p.m.)
Location: Patil Theater RPAC
Leave a Trace: Sustainability and Ethics on the World's Highest Mountain
Dr. Hari Mix
Explorer and Scientist
Abstracts
- Poster Sessions
Pavitra Kasthuri ‘26, Shloka Chawla ‘26
Auribus: An AI Device to Abade ICU/Patient Room Alarm Fatigue
Research Conducted at: Harker Labs
Research Mentor: Kristen Morgensen
- Poster Sessions
Audrey Yang ‘26
A Thermal Imaging-Based Methodology to Predict Plant Stress
Research Conducted at: Harker Labs
Research Mentor: Kristen Morgensen
- Poster Sessions
Mikhil Kiran ‘26, Krish Nachnani ‘26
Ceye: The app to assist the visually impaired with currency differentiation
Research Conducted at: Harker Labs
Research Mentor: Kathy Peng
- Poster Sessions
Lily Shi ‘26
Developing an Early Diagnostic System of Breast Cancer Using a Hybrid Deep Learning Architecture
Research Conducted at: Harker Labs
Research Mentor: Kristen Morgensen
- Poster Sessions
Jack Yang ‘24
Using Technosignatures to Discover Evidence for Extraterrestrial Civilization
Research Conducted at: Science Talent Training Center
Research Mentor: Jian Ge PhD
- Student Talks
Rishab Parthasarathy ‘22 (11:30-11:50a.m.)
Location: Nichols AUD
A Novel Combination of Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Pathway Analysis for Predicting Oncogenic Mutation Progression and Recommending Targeted Therapies
Research Conducted at: Stanford University School of Medicine, Lab of Dr. Achin Bhowmik
Research Mentor: Dr. Achin Bhowmik, Dr. Eric Nelson, and Mr. Chris Spenner
Symposium Program Includes
- Dozens of talks by Synopsys and Regeneron participants
- Talks and panel discussions by Harker alumni
- More than 50 poster sessions by middle and upper school students
- Pre-registered workshops
- STEM Buddies science activities for young scientists
- Student panels discussing technical writing, research internships and research competitions
- Interactive displays by corporate exhibitors
How You Can Participate
The Harker Research Symposium is for the entire TK-grade 12 Harker community, but we welcome outside organizations as exhibitors - come showcase your products!
- For exhibitor information, contact symposium@harker.org.
Keynote Speakers
Sponsored by Harker's upper school science department and organized by Harker's WiSTEM Club (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ), the event has drawn top names in technology, including Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy; Salman Khan of Khan Academy; Nobel Laureate Dr. David Baltimore; Dr. Fei-Fei Li, chief scientist of AI/ML at Google Cloud, and Jeff Dean, Google's senior fellow on the Google Brain Team.
This year's keynote speakers are Dr. Wayne Liu, senior VP of Perfect Corp, which revolutionizes beauty and personal care through AI and AR technologies; Chelsea Finn, research scientist and assistant professor, computer science & electrical engineering, Stanford University; Dr. Benjamin Chung, director of robotic surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine; Ryan Calo, professor, University of Washington School of Law and co-founder of the university's Tech Policy Lab; and Yi Sun '06, associate professor of statistics at the University of Chicago.
Corporate Exhibitors
Previous exhibitors have included Autodesk, HP, Microsoft, eBay, IBM, Ericcson, Google/YouTube, Marvell Semiconductor, Nvidia, Tesla and Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Center.
- For exhibitor information, contact symposium@harker.org.
Student Abstracts
The research symposium celebrates the curiosity, scientific thinking and communications skills of Harker students in grades 8-12. Poster sessions and formal talks demonstrate high caliber student research and world-class science and academic programs at Harker.
About the Research Symposium
The annual Harker Research Symposium showcases the discoveries of Harker's young scientists and alumni, honors the work of career scientists and entrepreneurs, and celebrates Silicon Valley's innovative spirit.
Upper school science department chair Anita Chetty, advisor for WiSTEM (Women in STEM), capitalizes on Harker's proximity to world class technology development to boost the symposium beyond a showcase for student projects into the realm of opening visitors' minds to new ideas as they emerge.
"This is one of Harker’s hallmark events where our community comes together for one day to celebrate curiosity and discovery," Chetty said. Watch this space for updates!