Taxes fund many vital services and infrastructure, such as education and roads. The question is how much tax can be raised without sacrificing growth--or taxes will even cause a loss of growth at all. This project looks at the impact of these taxes on a good measure of the economy, the GDP.

Yoga is a common exercise people do to improve their physical strength and become aware of their own nature. I plan to build a classifier to identify whether or not a yoga pose is correct using pose estimation. I plan to implement this practice through a mobile app.

Accessibility to healthcare and medication is an ongoing problem. This issue impacts developing countries in particular, as their standards of living may not be as high as in more industrialized countries such as the United States. I will be researching the affordability and accessibility of brand-name prescription drugs within Thailand, in order to study some of the possible similarities and... Read More

This project aims to explore the social justice issue of teacher turnover, which contributes to inequity in education by disproportionately affecting minority and low-income students. This project will examine how teachers' relationships with administration, colleagues (other teachers), and students relate to their turnover potential. Specifically, this project will examine whether there is a... Read More

I am building my own sensor fusion comprised of ultrasonic, sonar, and infrared sensors. Afterward, I will build my own stealth aircraft from scratch and tweak the structure to test methods for helping the aircraft evade detection by the sensor fusion. Aerodynamics, engine emission, and skin coating will be the three main factors I will be testing.

I am researching what self-folding robots are being used for and how they work. I am also making my own model of a self-folding robot using cheap and easily accessible materials that can be found in many local and online stores. My goal is to understand the mechanics of these robots and ultimately how they will be applied in science and everyday life.

The aim of this project is to figure out if there is any overlap between three fields of nanotechnology: 4D printing, self-assembly, and smart materials. 4D printing is the process of 3D printing objects that change shape as the conditions of the object's environment are changed. Self-assembly is the process of engineering conditions so that certain organic molecules come together to form... Read More

I am exploring measurement collapse, where a particle tends to instantaneously fall into a definite state only after being observed by a measuring device or conscious being. Since the 1920s, many interpretations on how to explain how and why this behavior occurs have been presented. However, the quantum mechanics community has not been able to determine which interpretation is most accurate.... Read More

This research is focusing on the dispute between the Palo Alto Unified School District and the Palo Alto community over the installation of solar panels. The panels were installed without advising the people first, which led to a conflict. Now, there is a heated debate over whether or not installing the solar panels was a good move, and my research seeks to provide evaluation of the aftermath... Read More

I am studying the effects that trade war with China has on the United States, particularly our economic standing. Research of current events will be used to extrapolate likely outcomes. Maintaining an unbiased stance in collecting U.S. trade data is challenging, since the U.S. is so politically polarized, so I will draw equally from "conservative" and "liberal" sources.

In this project, I am researching and analyzing different prime factorization algorithms. After making a list of different algorithms, I will figure out the time complexity. Then, I will code the algorithm and retrieve real running time on variously sized input data sets. After collecting my data, I will compare each algorithm and extrapolate the existence of "fast" factorization algorithm.... Read More

In PAUSD, 85% of white students are meeting the standards for English and Math, while only 45% of African Americans are meeting the English standards and 35% are meeting the standard for Math (Kolar, 2017); one of many examples of the achievement gap in the district. Social dynamics between races are one cause of this achievement gap; these race-based social stressors, such as stereotype... Read More

This research introduces the relationship and the ratio between sound frequency and pitch. By providing information and conclusion from articles written by experts in the field, this research also investigates why the ratio between sound frequency and pitch is inconsistent, as well as the psychological influences that affect how human beings hear certain high-frequency sound.

During the past couple of seasons, the NFL has gone through much controversy regarding Colin Kaepernick and other players kneeling during the national anthem. He sat during the national anthem because he isn't "going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.” After 2 years of being out of the NFL, Nike chose Colin Kaepernick for their... Read More

The goal of this project is to build a computational model to predict how many “likes” images will get from users of social media. The model will be trained and tested for accuracy by using data sourced from social networks. This data may be collected automatically with a computer program. This work is intended to help content creators improve their products.

Do Americans and Europeans have drastically different ideas about the idea of a "gap year" between high school and college? Why is it so much more popular in the rest of the West than it is in America? Is the American opinion changing?

Death is inevitable, and along with it, so is grief. The process of grieving encompasses a large range of emotions. The experience is different for everybody and continues to change as we age. Multiple studies have found that the grieving process is significantly different in adults than in children, for a variety of reasons. However, many of the authors did not study the adults' experiences... Read More

With a sport as popular as soccer, it is crucial that “the beautiful game” is accessible to all, no matter one’s economic status. Soccer is a global phenomenon, but the “pay to play” system has shifted the dynamics of the sport in the U.S., so that youth soccer is now focused on generating profits from this “business” even as these payments bar many kinds from being able to participate. This... Read More

Social media has made its way into nearly every aspect of the livelihoods of adolescents. From influencing behaviors to serving as a platform to socialize, it has its share of positive and negative effects, and when it comes to the mental health of younger users, the negative aspects of social media manifest itself. The American Academy of Pediatrics released a clinical report surrounding the... Read More

While films, television shows, and theatrical productions are popular sources of entertainment, audiences often do not realize what is happening behind the scenes. Racial discrimination in the workplace is something that society has been dealing with for generations. The Film and Theatre industries are no exception to this; historically, Asian and Asian American actors have been offered... Read More

“The conversion of socialized people into dedicated combatants is not achieved by altering their personality structures, aggressive drives, or moral standards. Rather, it is accomplished by cognitively restructuring the moral value of killings, so that the killing can be done free from self-censuring restraints” (Bandura, 1990). This research project will investigate different backgrounds that... Read More

Living in California, we all know what fire season means: lots of smoke and many homes lost. My goal is to determine if there is a correlation between income level and the impact of the wildfire, and to use that information to determine the role of community engagement.

There is a problem with a lack of political representation for the bottom 80% of the U.S. population, despite the fact that the United States considers itself a democratic society. Since Presidents continue to be elected through the Electoral College and not the popular vote, society is negatively affected because “middle America” does not believe that their needs and voices are heard. A... Read More

My research project is about understanding how the media, specifically the TV industry, portrays people with "invisible disabilities," which are defined as physical, mental, or neurological conditions that limit a person’s movements, senses, or activities but is invisible to a casual observer. I want to understand how the actors' performance of these roles affects the audience, and if it is a... Read More

Automobile accidents are an ongoing epidemic in the United States. Pedestrian death rates and total automobile-related death rates have increased in recent years. Autonomous cars are the most anticipated solution to this problem; however, it will take a long time until all vehicles on the street are autonomous. I propose a secondary solution: to build a portable warning system (PWS) for... Read More

This summer, while visiting a poor village in rural China, we saw the severe problems that a lack of clean drinking water created for the villagers who lived there. These problems include a variety of waterborne diseases that may greatly harm work productivity. We are working on bringing accessible, clean drinking water to the village through designing and implementing a water filtration... Read More

There is a problem with the perception of post-high school options despite the fact that many other nations encourage their students to “follow their own pathway,” which includes trade school. This problem negatively affects American high school students because the message is that “no child should be left behind” and thus every student should be ready to attend a 4-year college. However, this... Read More

The Los Angeles Police Department has a long history of racism, leading to racially motivated police misconduct. This racially motivated police misconduct is still happening today, but there are also police officers whose actions are justified. The goal of this project is to identify a way to discern racially motivated police misconduct within the Los Angeles Police Department from justified... Read More

Dioxin is a dangerous environmental toxin that is a byproduct of chemical manufacturing processes. Notoriously known as a component of Agent Orange, an herbicide used to clear out trees during the Vietnam War, this chemical has been found to cause health defects in Vietnam War veterans and Vietnamese civilians even to this day. I am researching how dioxin suppresses the immune system and what... Read More

My study will analyze perceived social support in SELF ambassadors. Information will be collected on feelings of being supported by SELF mentors as well as feelings of being a support to mentors and students in the cohort. In addition, my study will analyze factors that influence this sense of perceived social support.

My project involves simulating RNA cotranscriptional folding to find certain conditions that allow folding into specific shapes. These shapes can be used to create nanoscale devices such as motors or logic gates. They have implications in the industrial and medical fields, such as for manufacturing or drug delivery.