Student's work is robo-handy

Catlin Gabel's Yale Fan uses his robotic skills to earn a top national science fellowship

By Leann O'rourke

The Beaverton Valley Times, Aug 23, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A photo illustration shows Yale Fan’s robotic arm he created through a Portland State University lab.

Jaime Valdez / Times Newspapers

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Imagine a calculation that takes every computer in the world a lifetime to solve.

Now imagine a single computer capable of solving this same calculation in just one second.

That’s how 15-year-old Catlin Gabel sophomore Yale Fan claimed the 2007 Davidson Fellow Laureate, a $50,000 scholarship for his research.

The fellowship was awarded to only five students in the United States early this month.

Fan’s work included combining binary algorithms to increase processing speeds of future computers.

“He’s not just one more smart kid,” said Marek Perkowski, Portland State University professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Fan’s mentor. “He asks himself deep questions and answers them. He’s very focused, very intellectually mature for his age.”

Perkowski met Fan in September 2005.

“I was looking for an internship related to physics for my eighth grade science fair project,” said Fan. “I was drawn in by quantum computing, figuring I could learn some physics in the process.”

Perkowski’s research in logic and quantum computing was a strong match for Fan’s scientific interests.

When he discovered Fan’s skill, Perkowski invited Fan to attend his PSU graduate-level seminars. Eventually Fan presented his work with other university students.

Fan is not new to honors. He has earned Best of Fair in the Intel Northwest Science Expo 2005, 2006 and 2007. He also received a third-place grand award in computer science at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and first place for Oregon in the 2005 Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth Talent Search.

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