Katelyn Gan is a student at Sage Hill High School in the USA. She has earned several notable academic and service awards. These include the President’s Volunteer Service Gold Award and the Math Prize for Girls. She also achieved the AMC 10 National Top 1% Distinguished Honor Roll distinction. In addition, she was named a Broadcom MASTERS® National Semifinalist and earned second place at the Science Olympiad National Tournament, as well as the title of State Champion.
Exploring Science Through Research
Katelyn’s interest in science began during a middle school trip to downtown Los Angeles. There, she noticed that the sky looked different from the sky in Irvine. This observation inspired her project, “Air Pollution Estimation Based on Photo Analysis.”
For this project, she explored optics and the principles of Rayleigh and Mie scattering. She also used MATLAB for calculations and image processing. As a result, she developed valuable research skills and strengthened her interest in scientific investigation.
Research on Exoplanet Detection
At CCIR Academy, Katelyn conducted a research project titled “A Computer Vision Approach to Radial Velocity Extraction for Exoplanet Detection.”
The study explores computer vision algorithms for analysing radial velocity data. This information helps researchers identify exoplanets orbiting distant stars. Through her project, Katelyn investigated how computational methods can support the study of planetary systems beyond our own.
Continue Your Research Journey
Katelyn’s feature on CCIR Academy Student Spotlights highlights her dedication to scientific research. She also acknowledges the guidance of her professor and the support of CCIR Academy.
Are you interested in astronomy, astrophysics, or computer science? You can explore these subjects through an original research project with CCIR Academy.
Download the CCIR Research Programme Prospectus to explore our 170+ research areas, learn about our Cambridge Future Scholar and 1-on-1 Research Mentorship programmes, and discover professor mentors, student outcomes, scholarships, and the application process.
