June 20, 2017
The awards ceremony for the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF 2017), where high school students from around the world compete based on their research in science and technology, was held on May 19 in Los Angeles, California. Nodoka Fukumitsu (1st-year student, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) won the Grand Award Second Place in the Animal Sciences category.
Ms. Fukumitsu participated in this contest after winning the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award at the 60th Japan Student Science Awards (sponsored by The Yomiuri Shimbun and supported by Asahi Kasei) held in 2016.
Ms. Fukumitsu won this award for her research, "Red and blue silk threads obtained from silkworms reared on artificial diets containing rhodamine B and methylene blue (Red and Blue Cocoons from Rhodamine B and Methylene Blue)," which involves artificially coloring cocoons. She was recognized for the originality of her research in an unexplored field.
Over 1,700 participants from 78 countries and regions took part in Intel ISEF 2017.
Comment from Nodoka Fukumitsu
I am both surprised and very happy to have participated in Intel ISEF 2017 and received the Second Award. I have been raising silkworms since I was in elementary school and continued my research through high school. By participating in the competition, I saw that there are many people of my generation around the world conducting fascinating research, and it has renewed my motivation to keep striving. I hope to build on this experience and continue to engage in my research.
Photo courtesy of NPO Japan Science Service (NSS)