91导航

By Caitlin Jennings, Communications Specialst, 91导航 & the Public

When Todd Rider (Society Alumn:  1986;  1983-1986) made it to his first ISEF as a freshman, he had such a rewarding experience and was so impressed with the other projects, he rededicated his efforts to his research to make sure he could successfully compete and come back every year. 鈥淚t was very influential to be able to conduct research at that young age and go from having an idea to doing literature research on something, doing experiments on it, writing it all up, and presenting it,鈥� he says.

Years later, he鈥檚 still impressed with the projects he鈥檚 seen at the , where he has been judging for 15 years, and now with , where he judged projects at a national level for the first time this Fall and really enjoyed it. 鈥淭he caliber of the students is just so impressive,鈥� Todd says, and he is also impressed by their enthusiasm for science.

What exactly makes a good science fair project though? 鈥淚t鈥檚 very important, especially from my perspective as a judge, for it to be student led, student driven,鈥� Todd says, adding that he is especially impressed with students who build their own tools. 鈥淚 think that really shows much more initiative and helps the student gain a much better understanding of the science.鈥�

Todd also emphasizes the importance of original research. 鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 have to be earth shattering; you don鈥檛 have to really come up with the cure for cancer or something. But I think it鈥檚 really important for students to do something that鈥檚 at least somewhat different than what people have done before,鈥� Todd says. 鈥淚t might come out of their own interests, maybe they see some sci-fi movie that features something in it and they want to try to do a much simpler version of that, or maybe it鈥檚 a student who just loves gardening and wants to do something with plants.鈥�

Todd knows firsthand that somewhat simple high school research can lead to big advances down the road. He recently invented the 鈥淐ANARY鈥� (Cellular Analysis and Notification of Antigen Risks and Yields), which serves as a canary in the coal mine for pathogens by detecting bacteria. It has many possible applications, Todd says. 鈥淯ltimately, you might imagine walking into a doctor鈥檚 office and, if you鈥檙e sick, you just cough on this thing and within a minute it would tell you exactly what you have.鈥�

The CANARY spurred another project when he considered the different ways in which bacteria and viruses are treated. 鈥淚 wanted something that would be as broad spectrum for viruses as antibiotics are for bacteria,鈥� he says. That鈥檚 where DRACOs (Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizers) came in, and early testing is promising.

Perhaps someday soon the CANARY and DRACOs will be staples in medicine.  For now, it is interesting to wonder if they would have ever come to fruition had a high school freshman in 1983 not been so inspired by the ISEF projects he saw.

• Read about Todd鈥檚 work on  and 
• Ask Todd to 
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