Culver student wins $600 for 4th-place finish in international science fair

Carl (Feiqi) Chen ’27 placed fourth in the biomedical engineering category at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, matching the best finish by a Culver Academies student in the prestigious competition.

Chen won a “grand award” of $600 for inventing a device designed to improve early cancer detection by isolating tumor cells in the bloodstream. His fourth-place finish in Phoenix matched the finish of William (Minran) Wang ’25, who two years ago also placed in the biomedical engineering category for a dynamic robotic spinal brace with adaptive treatment for spinal deformities. 

Chen said he was excited by his fourth-place finish.

“It is a great achievement and I am really actually grateful for that,” he said.

More than 1,700 high school students from more than 65 countries competed for more than $7 million in awards. There were 22 categories, with first-prize winners earning $6,000, second-place finishers earning $2,400, third-prize winners earning $1,200 and fourth-prize finishers earning $600.

“A lot of the projects at ISEF are cutting edge, so a fourth-place finish is amazing work,” said David Lawrence, a senior instructor in computer science and engineering at Culver and adviser to students entering the competition. 

Chen said his interest in the project was partly inspired by conversations with his sister, a physician who sees firsthand the cost and complexity of cancer detection.

“I was just trying to find a way that's more efficient and not as time consuming and less expensive than current techniques,” Chen said.

Chen’s device aims to address a challenge in cancer detection: finding tumor cells in a patient’s blood without relying on costly or invasive procedures. Current methods often depend on imaging or biochemical analysis, which can be expensive and sometimes less reliable.

Chen’s project focuses on identifying circulating tumor cells that travel through blood, using a combination of microfluidics and acoustic technology.

“This project basically just works on the size difference of the particles instead of just relying on biochemical substance,” Chen said.

Chen’s approach uses a microfluidic chip, a small device with channels that guide liquid samples combined with sound waves to separate cells by size. Because tumor cells are typically larger than normal blood cells, the device can isolate them more efficiently.

A key innovation is Chen’s use of a “trifurcation” system, which divides the flow of cells into three distinct pathways rather than two.

“Once you have that particle in its proper oscillation with the sound waves, it will go directly in the middle path while the red and white blood cells will go off to the other sides,” Lawrence said.

Chen said his next goal is to validate his device using real biological samples.

“So I would say next step is probably work with a lab to verify this device and then see if I can continue to improve this,” he said.

The project represents more than a year of work, much of it completed outside the classroom. Chen said he dedicated at least two hours each day to simulations and design, beginning in the summer.

Lawrence emphasized that commitment as a defining characteristic of Chen and other top ISEF competitors.

“If you just have the entire summer you want to dedicate to science, then that allows you to do a lot more,” Lawrence said.

In addition to his ISEF performance, Chen also won the Indiana Young Scientist Award, the state’s top honor for student researchers, another milestone for Culver. He won $300 for that.

At the state level he also won $300 in Excellence in Chemistry, $100 for the Biophysical Society Award, $50 for the In Vitro Biology Award and a $3,000 renewable scholarship to the Indiana University-Indianapolis School of Science.

Culver also had some other students win prizes at the state level. Winnie Ma ’27 won $100 for the Do It Yourself Engineering Award, Kevin (Yicheng) Shao ’27 won $75 for the Office of Naval Research - Naval Science Award and Sophie Xu ’28 won the American Psychological Award and the Statistics Award.

This was Chen’s second year in a row advancing to ISEF. Last year he advanced for his project called: “Biorock Grip: A Bio-inspired Gripper With Integrated Rock Hardness Sensing for Extreme Terrain Navigation.” He said he was inspired by seeing workers where his father works using ropes to lower themselves along steep rock walls to determine the best positions to place explosive charges.

He decided to mimic a beetle’s claw to climb rough surfaces.

Chen, who plans to take Honors in Engineering next year, has not yet decided whether he will try to earn a third straight berth to ISEF next year.

“I might,” he said. “I might.”

Chen plans to pursue biomedical engineering in college, with an interest in medical-device development.