Del Norte Senior wins $25,000 scholarship

POWAY — Del Norte High School student Jessica Tian has been named a finalist in a prestigious national science competition, earning a $25,000 scholarship in the process.

Tian, a senior at the Poway Unified School District campus, was one of 40 finalists selected in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, for her research on a method for infusing paper with antibacterial materials.

“I feel very blessed and grateful to have been selected,” as a finalist, Tian said. “Although yesterday I was very excited to receive the good news, the journey to this point has been just as thrilling with all of the challenges in research, through which I have learned more about myself.”

For her project, Tian, 17, studied how to apply silver and titanium dioxide to cellulose paper and textiles, as part of a summer research program at Stony Brook University in New York.

“Cellulose is very versatile,” she said. “It’s used in paper, textiles, hygiene, pharmaceuticals. But it’s susceptible to microogranisms developing on it because of its ability to retain water, and breathability. And that can be problematic – you wouldn’t want bacteria on diapers and clothing. We decided to find a simple, cost-effective method to address this problem.”

The compound titanium dioxide – used as a sunscreen and white pigment – also inhibits bacteria, she said, and works even better combined with the precious metal.

“Titanium dioxide is very cheap, nontoxic and nanofriendly,” she said. “Adding silver is more expensive, but it has been known for antibacterial properties since ancient times. It acts synergistically with titanium dioxide to produce better results.”

The combo could be applied to products such as diapers, medical equipment and scrubs, food packaging, or cleansing wipes, she said.Tian, who is vice president of the Science Alliance at Del Norte, and founder of a math club at the nearby Maranatha Christian School. She said she became interested in science after seeing the impacts of poor water quality during a family visit to China as a child.

The national finalists will travel to Washington D.C. in March, where they will give a speech, and participate in a series of interviews about their projects for a chance to win a $250,000 scholarship.

She hopes to study chemistry or chemical engineering, she said, and has received an acceptance letter from MIT, and is awaiting results of several other applications.

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