Madison County High School (MCHS) student Drew French returned home from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF), in Phoenix, Az., on Monday, May 16 with a massive win under his belt.
The win itself is remarkable, as French received a $48,000 scholarship to the University of Arizona, but beyond his remarkable performance at the competitive fair, is French’s commitment to making a change in the world.
The experiment that French brought to the fair was a prototype product that he hopes to develop into a system that will alert diabetics if they're at risk of foot ulcers.
French says that the concept is one that isn’t currently on the market, and it interested him, as he has family members who are diabetics. “It interested me,” said French. “So I wanted to use that.”
French was awarded the opportunity to bring his project to Intel ISEF after placing first in engineering during the Suwannee Valley Regional Science Fair that was held on Feb. 17 – 18 in Lake City; French also won Best In Fair, the Intel Excellence in Computer Science Award and the Yale University Science and Engineering Award at that time.
The competition at Intel ISEF was fierce, as it was open to students around the world to compete against one another – but also to advance each other’s ideas.
“It wasn’t like any other competition I’ve been to,” said French. While the competitive streak for every student was strong, French also stated that there was an air of companionship as every student shared the same goal: trying to better the world.
French’s project was all the better for the competition too, as the suggestions and input of other competitors helped hone points of his project that he hadn’t thought of before.
Even without the suggestions and fine-tuning of other competitors, French’s ingenuity and project cleared space for him amongst the finalists, and French was awarded his scholarship.
Now back home, French says that his next step is to complete his prototype and turn it into an actual marketable item. He also plans to attend college and major in chemical engineering and biomedical engineering.
French expressed his gratitude to MCHS for providing him the opportunities to attend Intel ISEF; his science teacher who accompanied him to Intel ISEF and other science and engineering fairs, Andrea Krell; as well as his parents, Katie and Brian French.