We are thrilled to announce that 11th grade Gravitas student, Jieun “Iris” Kim, has been selected as a finalist at the prestigious Genius Olympiad, an international high school competition designed to promote cross-cultural awareness and environmental responsibility through project-based education.

Genius Olympiad Machine Learning Project

The student’s project, titled “Predicting Chemical Biodegradability Using Molecular Structure Data Through Machine Learning Classification,” explores the innovative use of machine learning to predict the environmental biodegradability of chemical compounds. By training models using molecular descriptors and employing algorithms such as Random Forest and Support Vector Machines, the student successfully created a tool capable of accurately forecasting biodegradability based solely on chemical structures. This research holds promise for enhancing preliminary environmental assessments of new chemical compounds, significantly impacting sustainability and environmental safety.

This year, Genius Olympiad received an astounding 26,700 submissions from over 66 countries, highlighting the global scale and competitiveness of the event. With an acceptance rate for finalists of only 29.7%, our student was one of just 36 participants selected from across the United States and among only 832 finalists globally.

About Jieun

Jieun’s teacher, Noah Bakker, shared this about her:

We proudly congratulate our student on this remarkable achievement, recognizing their exemplary representation of both Gravitas and The Stony Brook School. This success is a testament to our commitment to fostering innovative thinking and global leadership among our students.

Stay tuned for updates as our student prepares for the next stage of the competition!