Olathe senior has list of awards for engineering, stem cell work. And he aced the ACT

If there’s a way to achieve big things in high school science, chances are that Eddie Dai has been there and done it. The 17-year-old Olathe North senior, recently named a National Merit Finalist, has impressed people all over the community with his work.

Last year, he was one of three Grand Award recipients at the Greater Kansas City Science & Engineering Fair for his project on stem cells. He later got second place and $1,500 at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for his work in cellular and molecular biology.

“In biology class, and in everyday conversation, we talk about genes a lot, and the genes we get from our parents, but in reality, genes are only about 5% of human DNA,” Eddie said. “When I first heard about this freshman year, it was something I was really intrigued by, but I didn’t really know what to do with the information, so it just sort of sat around in my head.”

After his sophomore year, he did a summer internship at a stem cell-focused research lab at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Eddie focused on the ways types of embryonic stem cells are different from each other.

It’s complicated, but this type of research could help people understand human embryonic development better and understand how to use stem cells better in disease treatment.

That same project recently earned him a spot as a scholar in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, which came with a $2,000 prize and another $2,000 for Olathe North.

“I knew there was a possibility, but I was not expecting too much,” he said.

Eddie’s project for this year’s science fair, which takes place at Union Station in April, focuses on stem cells in zebrafish, using some of the same techniques of software to analyze biological data that he used in last year’s project.

M.A. Karim Rumi, associate professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the KU Med, has been impressed with the lab work he’s seen from Eddie.

“He’s a high school student, but he was working like a regular graduate student. He was taking part in our regular experiments, and he became an author in many of our papers,” Rumi said. “He came to our lab to learn some laboratory techniques, but he later became an expert in bioinformatics.”

Rumi said that based on some of Eddie’s findings, he and his team are writing a grant application for the National Institutes of Health to expand that research.

If that wasn’t enough, Eddie has a perfect ACT score and has been a state champion in Science Olympiad and Scholars Bowl, as well as a national competitor in Science Bowl and congressional debate.

“I like both (Science Bowl and Science Olympiad), because I get to learn a lot at both, but with Science Olympiad aspect of it … it’s relatable more to research, because there’s a lot of trial and error, testing of things, rebuilding, experimentation,” he said.

He tried debate because his friends recommended it and competed with it for two years. Last year, he took a break because he was busy with his scientific research. Now, he’s involved with it again to help mentor novice debaters.

“When I try to help other people with homework, read people’s essays or try to coach people with debate, it brings me a really satisfying feeling of knowing that I’m helping these people with what they’re trying to do, with their endeavors,” Eddie said.

He’s found that the research and public speaking training from debate are useful in other areas, too.

“I feel like that’s actually helped me a lot in science competitions, for science fair, because presenting to judges can be really intimidating, so knowing the skills of how to speak eloquently, speak clearly, are really important in presenting scientific work to people,” Eddie said.

School isn’t his whole life, though. When he has the time, Eddie likes to bake fancy cakes and other things for his friends. It’s been his hobby since he was 7.

“It’s something that’s very relaxing, and there’s always a good endpoint that you can eat,” he said.

This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Olathe senior has list of awards for engineering, stem cell work. And he aced the ACT."