Catalyst Projects 2022

atalyst Projects

DEC 2022

The content in this program booklet has been written by students in the Catalyst Project as an introduction to their work.

What is the

Catalyst project?

There is plenty that sets an SAS high school education apart from that of other international schools, and certainly, from that of other US high schools. One of the most notable is the Catalyst project, an in-depth personalized learning experience.

The Catalyst project is a cultural as well as instructional self-study project where students work with a mentor on a self-directed learning experience. Each project is aimed at a specific and strategic, measurable, attainable, results-oriented, and time-bound goal. Students demonstrate their competency in the Catalyst project’s standards, centered around character, collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and cultural competence, also known as the school’s learning aspirations, in addition to self-awareness and application.

According to the latest research in education, learning is at its greatest, most relevant, and most meaningful when it is student-initiated and student-led. Ask adults today what they remember learning in high school, and their answer will often involve a learning opportunity where they were able to dive deep into an area of interest, often applying what they were learning in an authentic context. Colleges also recognize students who have the opportunity to dive deep, overcome challenges, and find meaning in their learning as stronger candidates for admission and success in college. This reality is the foundation and rationale for the Catalyst project course.

This innovative and engaging approach to education challenges high school juniors and seniors to embark upon a culminating final project in an area of their particular passion and interest.

Similar to other academic offerings, the Catalyst project course includes a set of desired learning outcomes. The objective of the course is to harness students’ core knowledge, develop their character, and hone their skills in collaboration, communication, creativity and innovation, critical thinking, and cultural competence. All these values will help ensure success when they go on to pursue bachelor’s degrees at colleges and universities all over the world and in life beyond.

The Catalyst project gives students the opportunity to pursue their own paths of exploration in an academic setting, while demonstrating their readiness for university learning to the fullest extent of their enthusiasm, autonomy, capacity, and complexity. A student may conduct university laboratory research into autoimmunity treatment, or establish their own cosmetics company. They might want to conduct an extended service learning project, or perhaps spend a semester as an intern in a working art studio. There are no limits to what a student can do in Catalyst.

The Catalyst Project is a rite of passage for every SAS High School Student to take in their Senior or Junior year. Ultimately, Catalyst represents a formidable feature of the SAS high school education, one that sets SAS high school graduates apart, differentiates them from their peers across the globe, and proves their unique abilities, capacity for excellence, and readiness for achievement at the university level.

For the most updated schedule please visit

Thank YOU

The Catalyst program is supported in part by the SAS Foundations. We thank you, the donor community, for your generosity which makes these projects possible.

Avanti Agarwal Lauren Ah-Hot

Protect yourself: Get your HPV shot now

It’s true. I faint when I get vaccinations, but I still receive them to better my health. When I was 12, my mother dragged me to the gynaecologist to get my HPV immunization. While the recommended age for this shot is 12-13 years, my survey demonstrated that over 46% of the respondents, aged 14-18 years had not yet received the vaccine. I aim to raise awareness about the HPV prevention vaccines for middle school and high school students by working with health teachers to create a lesson plan for HPV prevention and encourage the department to add this to their curriculum.

Coding an Ecommerce Website for a Bath Bomb Business

Growing a business can be difficult. It requires new strategies to improve the way a business is run. To take my own business of selling handmade bath bombs online to the next level, I wanted to develop and code its own ecommerce website from scratch. This not only helped expand my coding knowledge and skills, but also gave me the freedom to control how the website looks and runs. With the ultimate goal of driving more customer sales, I was able to donate more to charities helping people in rural communities get access to clean water.

Krishna Aiyar Kyra Arora

Unfinished: My Learning Experience of Writing a Book Learning to Love Yourself: The Psychology of Self Love, Growth and Improvement

Writing a book. Seems easy enough to understand. But when it comes to doing, you may find the task a lot harder than expected. I always thought that writing was one of the easiest things to do. After all, I had read so many books. How hard could it be to emulate their style and write one myself? I was unaware how tedious it would be to ideate, to show, not tell. I was able to learn many writing skills over the course of this project that will help me in future endeavours. With this short story, I hope to bring attention to the lives of orphans and how underprivileged they are, while spicing it up with a touch of the supernatural. While undertaking this project, I have been assisted by my parents, my cousin, and my mentor, an alumnus who has worked on many papers and other pieces of writing.

It is human nature to demean ourselves. “I can’t do this”; “This is too hard”; “I’m not capable of this.” However, just for a second, imagine if we redirected our thoughts. “I can do this”, “This is for me.” How much better would we feel about ourselves? Our brain is a powerful hub, and the reality is that many of us don’t realize that we are the ones who control it.

For the last five years, I have practiced the art of journaling and affirmations, which has made me passionate about this topic. My goal is to write a short book that will teach teenagers and young adults how to better appreciate themselves. Selflove is a choice and an important part of living a happier and healthier life.

Julia Bach Manya Bahl

“Never Forget” So Why Are We Still Forgetting?

Crazy for Crypto: An Educational Web Series on Cryptocurrency

Growing up Jewish, I have always felt that the unique history of the Jewish community and the challenges—past and present—faced by this population have been under-represented in both media and educational curricula. While most people can generate a sentence or two about the holocaust, the average student doesn’t fully recognize the prevalence of anti-semitism in history or understand its modern implications.

By analyzing the school’s curriculum and the media that today’s youth is exposed to, I made a short documentary to to address the problem, attempting to assess how this affects youth within the community at SAS and worldwide.

Over the last decade, cryptocurrency has gone from an overlooked asset to a wildly popular investment. As the use of cryptocurrency continues to rise and increasingly becomes the future of our world’s financial system, I wish to educate both myself and others on the topic.

I have produced an educational web series on cryptocurrency that is freely accessible to everyone on youtube. As the final product appears in the form of short form videos, my project also includes an exploration of filmmaking, educational content creation, and the distribution of an engaging web series.

Gabby Baker Avery Bald

Designing the Next SAS Dance Space

Fishing with Ease

Every student at SAS has somehow been impacted by the construction at school. But watching these new spaces like the West fields and the library emerge, made the dancer inside me wonder: When will it be the dance program’s turn? Thus, with this question, I began my Catalyst project.

Through meetings with the school architect - Mr. Williams and Innovation Director - Mr. Cone, I’ve been able to learn about the design process at SAS and conduct research on the best dance spaces in the world. I hope to leave a legacy and help SAS create the best dance space it can for its future artists!

Fishing isn’t as easy as it looks. It is an ongoing process of learning new knots and techniques that will sometimes make you feel frustrated and wanting to pack up and leave. Trying to learn new skills and see big improvements can be confusing and infuriating, especially when you can’t find a simple and quick video online to help you. As someone who was once searching online for answers to my many questions when I first started the sport, this has helped me understand the struggle many newcomers face. Through social media, my project will help teach others how to enter the sport in an exciting and engaging manner.

Alana Bregman Johann Calamita

Nature in Your Home: Environmental and Personal Benefits of Aquaponics Systems

Do you ever think about where your food comes from? The energy, environmental footprint, and increased expenses of importing it? It is not feasible to grow everything in Singapore, but I decided to investigate aquaponics systems, which combine the needs of fish and plants to produce food using less energy and with less waste. I created my very own home aquaponics system with the help of The Living Center founder, Faith, and then created infographics explaining to the SAS community their environmental benefits and the issues they help combat, and how to’s explaining how to make them.

Ants: Diversity Underfoot

We live in the country with the highest recorded diversity of ant species. Every day we see hundreds, even thousands of ants, but apart from size, we cannot truly appreciate the massive diversity.

My Catalyst project aims to shine a light on this often ignored diversity. One of the reasons for this ignorance is that ants are not particularly relatable. In order to increase their relatability, I will be using SAS as a localized example of this diversity. I aimed to collect data to better understand the diversity of these creatures.

Kaden Chan Aileen Chen

Saving your Gains Ecology on Faces

Have you ever looked for an inexpensive phone case or something cool for one of your devices? Chances are you probably found it through a dropshipping business.

These “dropshipping businesses” make buying and selling easier for customers and producers. Ultimately, my project—a drop shipping business, saves your gains through a storefront and contact with manufacturers!

By saving your gains, I hope to inform likeminded people who have little experience or resources with starting a dropshipping business through a video medium and creating a business model in order to grow my experiences, business acumen, and communications.

Have you ever wondered how those fancy facial features are created in movies? I have always been curious about special effects makeup in movies, so I tried to figure out how I could make a special character of my own. However, I learned that all the materials needed could be incredibly costly. With some struggle, I realized that reusing materials, such as paper or plastic, is an inexpensive replacement. Therefore, I want to convey to the public about the integration of ecology and prosthetic makeups through a video of the process of how I made my product.

Alan Chen

Inside your Computer: How Processors Work

Troy Cheng

Connecting and Expanding: The Complex World of Banking

How do computers work? This is a question that has been at the back of my mind ever since I first used one. Even after using computers for most of my life and picking up programming, the computer software we use conceals the inner workings of computers, preventing someone from fully understanding how they work just by interacting with them. To help myself and others feel more in control and develop an understanding of the devices we depend on, I aim to create a basic processor and teach SAS robotic students how processors work through a series of workshops.

Through my parents, early exposure to banking and business nurtured a strong and enduring interest in finance and the way in which companies raise capital. For new businesses, raising capital is the process by which they seek money to enable them to get off the ground. Beyond family and friends, start ups need to figure out how to finance their ideas and are often confronted by a plethora of possible options that might include angels, venture capitalists, incubators and banks. My goal is to create a website containing information for start-up companies that discusses some of the options that are available.

Anna Choi Haomin Chu

Learning at Your

Fullest

Potential: The Psychological Influence of Stress

As a junior, I’ve seen workload increase tremendously in our academic careers. With the demands of endless tasks and assessments pressure and stress are unavoidable, and yet it is crucial to absorb the information at the greatest efficiency possible. So, what is the influence of stress on one’s learning memory and performance, and how can one balance between external and internal stress and work productivity?

With the assistance of a psychology professor, I was able to investigate those questions, exploring various advanced journals regarding the psychological perspective of stress’s influence on learning, and wrote my very first academic literature review on it.

“Overcome the Gravity” - With Bodyweight Exercise

Human flag, front lever, handstand push ups, these are just a few of my dream movements. When I first witnessed advanced trainers performing calisthenics it seemed they were operating in an almost gravityless atmosphere. I was thus motivated to start my own journey.

The goal of my project is to share my own calisthenics learning journey by creating a video workout plan to help teenagers and adults build their body and overcome gravity.

Sasha Coates Harry Dingemans

Food Science: The Chemistry behind Your Favorite Desserts Digitally Designing Logos as a Service to Others

Many people have made cookies before, but do you know exactly what happens as the flour, sugar, and eggs on your countertop is transformed into the baked treats you eat? The food science processes I explored included everything from why cookies spread in the oven to what would make a fluffier cookie. I also explored what happened when the ingredients or their amounts were altered. My goal was to create a recipe book that explains some of the things that are happening during baking so the baker is able to create their favorable version of the food.

Just like learning to find the value of X in math, learning something new can be stressful, but also strangely exhilarating. I am not an artist, although art design is an area of interest I hoped to explore as a valuable skill with life-long benefits. However, as someone who struggles to find patience to finish art projects, this has been a daunting and eye-opening journey to design, prototype, and revise logos while meeting the demands of discriminating clients. Using an iPad and an Apple pencil, I successfully explored the process of creating digital logos for a variety of applications.

Gabriella Diocos Varun Donde

Centuries with Wood CodeV: A Visualization Tool for Advanced Mathematics

Before concrete, wood was the primary source of building materials and creating things was labor intensive. But with the new technology, it has become significantly easier to create what you want.

Although, originally used for building houses, wood is a material you can carve and make your own. “But how would one learn to do that?” you might ask. My project is to be able to teach others how to use their skills to create what they wish out of wood. You don’t need any particular skill, just patience, discipline, and dedication to make and use the machinery and tools at SAS through a video on my YouTube channel.

Ever struggled to visualize a math problem or finish your math homework? Knowing that many SAS students face challenges developing relationships between variables in difficult math courses like Precalculus with Parametrics, I decided to code a tool that can help improve quantitative analysis and visualization. With the help of Samreen Dhillon— a Google Software Engineer—I created vPython visual models for common motion related problems for Calculus and Precalculus classes so you can see how the moving parts in questions change instantaneously. The simulations are personalized, meaning you can use it as a calculator too!

Mateo Fatas Kiana Ferrell

Generative Art and Data Visualization

A vegetarian lifestyle: easy healthy meals

I’ve always been interested in coding and data science. I’ve taken both Advanced Placement Computer Science and Advanced Topic Data Science so when the opportunity of starting a project in Catalyst arose, I knew that I wanted to do something with coding.

At first I struggled to think of a project idea but then through lots of brainstorming I realized that I wanted to show why I’m interested in data science. Through the use of generative art and data visualization, I want to be able to show why I think data can be very interesting and show that it can tell its own story.

My project is for the general population who may not have an interest in data and to show how data can be beautiful. I hope to show different interesting stories in sport through data.

I have been vegetarian my whole life and I have loved cooking from a young age. I love looking for new recipes to try and creating recipes from scratch. Leading a healthy lifestyle is important for everyone, however 80% of teenagers do not meet the nutritional values needed per day. Using social media and a website, I am promoting a healthy vegetarian lifestyle by posting fast and easy vegetarian meals that meet nutritional value throughout the day.

Kiana Fong Rosemary Gaudreault

Tangled Mind - A Poetry Book

From Trash to Wearable Art

Growing up, something we all have in common are the highs and the lows we face. Especially now for teenagers in my generation, mental health is a big issue.

I have self-published a poetry book to write about my experiences and thoughts around the theme of growing up. Since eighth grade, I have developed a passion for writing poetry. Catalyst gave me the opportunity to push myself further in poetry writing. Through research and the help of my mentor, Bryn Sakagawa, I was able to create better poems and challenge myself to write a book of poems. I was able to generate a variety of ideas and write poems with different perspectives.

I hope that my book will reach teenagers who are struggling with mental health and help them realize that they are not alone.

“The idea of recycling and reusing trash is omething that doesn’t interest teens much, especially when we are distracted by technology. However, many people don’t realize that there is a growing pool of trash inside the ocean.

Using recycled materials in order to create something, was one of my first Catalyst project ideas. From that point on, I knew that I wanted to use recycled materials to make physical pieces of jewelry. I wanted to make sure that teenagers knew that they could help the world by creating something they actually care about, such as jewelry, by recycling waste.

Nathan Geiling Emma Goldberg

School Loneliness

Sometimes, I experience loneliness in my classrooms as I can be in a class with no one I Know. Other times, I eat lunch by myself. Why does this happen? There are many different opinions on the reasons for loneliness.

The goal of my project is to help students feel less lonely at school, by improving interactions and trying to cheer them up as much as possible. I hope to achieve this with a podcast.

Fighting Under Pressure: Tackling Anxiety Through Clothing

The overwhelming pressure of participating in competitions. The desire to excel and win the shining medal. As a competitive figure skater of 10 years, I have taken part in a number of regional and national competitions in Asia where I have experienced the many highs and lows of competing in the figure skating world. This has encouraged me to tackle a project to create a competitive figure skating costume that aims to reduce anxiety during pressured situations. The costume will ultimately enable myself (as well as future skaters who may wear it) to be proud of who they are and overcome challenges with anxiety in competitions. I also plan to wear this costume in the upcoming Singapore Nationals in March 2023!

Calum Grant Vedanti Gupta

The Golf Journey: Teaching New Golfers About Clubs Promoting Self Exploration Through General Clubs at SAS

Golf is often considered to be an “old man’s sport”. As true as this might be, Covid-19 has overseen a growth in the sport among young people looking for activities that are unaffected by health guidelines. As popular as the sport has become, many of these new golfers have realized that not only is golf one of the hardest sports to pick up, it is also one of the easiest to quit.

These last four years have felt like a rat race. With classes, clubs and honor societies finding balance has been a struggle. All of these commitments and college planning forces us to leave things ‘that don’t add value’ to our adolescent years.

Students often forget that our adolescent years are also to navigate our likes, dislikes, hobbies, and values. Specifically, we tend to leave general clubs as they aren’t as equally recognized as other extracurriculars, even though they are arguably very effective in helping students explore hobbies outside of an academic lens. Over the last semester, I aimed to help SAS students rediscover their interests outside the high school hustle by focusing on the promotion of general clubs to help students tap into their interests by creating and editing promotional videos. My goal is to generate enthusiasm for engaging in a wider variety of activities

Nicholas Haddad Dylan Halasz

Bodybuilding’s Open Secret: The Dangerous Proliferation of Steroids

Looking and feeling your best is something that has always been perpetuated in society—now more than ever, and more specifically, among teenagers in Singapore. With the growth of social media and fitness-related content, constant exposure to elite strength and physique athletes has warped the perception of young lifters for what is naturally possible. Feeling frustrated with their lack of progress, many teenagers often feel dejected by how they look, leading to body dysmorphia. In order to highlight this issue, I’ve researched and proposed audience-specific solutions to eventually produce a mini-documentary.

The Way of the Pocket: Teaching Teens the Way of Pool

I’ve played pool for many years with the rules and skills my parents taught me. Therefore, through my Catalyst project, I will be able to pass on the skills and rules my parents taught me by teaching teens how to play pool. With the mentorship of Ms.Su-Jae, I will produce various how-to videos on how to find the way of the pocket through pool skills from basics to advanced. These videos will show rules, skills, and strategies for each skill level.

Diya Iyer-Ray Ghosh Xavier Jean

Anti-recidivism and Offline Microsoft Word Training: An Ode to Free Google Workspace Training

Having gone to prison long enough to miss out on relevant computer skills, many ex-convicts are reintroduced into society with a large technological knowledge gap.

My mentor, Ben Frandsen, was incarcerated for nearly 20 years for something he didn’t do. We spent a lot of time this past summer going over basic and more advanced computer skills, but not every formerly-incarcerated individual has access to such help.

Our project focuses on building a foundation for a web-based NGO that meets the eligibility criteria for free Google Workspace Training and provides easy access to other free technological career readiness programs.

The Progression of Mental Health Destigmatization: Is Singapore Being Left Behind?

Our modern progressive charge toward mental health acceptance has paved the way for inclusive, tolerant communities to create a more compassionate world. From within the “Americanized” bubble of SAS, it seemed like Singapore was breaking boundaries and progressing like many other countries, but many in Singapore still hold stigmatized and stereotypical views that hinder progress, negatively impacting those who are suffering. With the help of Dr. Alice Chu, I wanted to support progression of destigmatization and build empathy in Singaporean communities by writing a research paper and short story illustrating the experience of those with mental health issues.

Nathan Jiang Vir Kapoor

Sneakers as Art Applications of Mathematics: How to Make a Million Dollars through Simple Addition!

Last year, Louis Vuitton and Nike collaborated to sell 200 pairs of sneakers at an average price of $200,000 per pair. These high-end collaborations between designers and luxury brands are now an established practice. However, there is lack of collaboration with well-known, cutting-edge contemporary artists.

The goal of my project is to demonstrate that there will be a high demand for high-end sneakers inspired by the work of Nyoman Masriadi, a highly successful contemporary artist whose pieces have sold for over $1 million at Sotheby’s and Christies.

Have you ever sat in a math class, learning about a math concept, wondering if you will ever use this random formula in your life? If you have, my podcast is for you. The different episodes in this podcast will explore several interesting applications of mathematics, such as how the different concepts in the subject of statistics can be used to make a million dollars! With the help of Karan Jain, a doctorate student at University of Chicago, I explore the use of mathematics in our world and in different fields, ranging from architecture to even the stock market!

Ethan Ko Sara Kobayashi

The Dangers of Media Addiction: A Mockumentary for Change

Access to technology has become easier and easier, bringing about a trend of increased addiction to media. This has led to decreased quality of relationships, greater risk of mental illness, and lower self-esteem. Personally affected by friends and family falling into the trap of media addiction, I have produced a mockumentary that satirizes youth addiction to media in order to shed light on these harmful effects and promote a reduction in usage. Through my film, I hope to entertain, inspire, and be a catalyst for change for people who are confronting these issues.

Psychology and Marketing: The Reason behind Why Teenagers Make Impulsive Purchases

Whenever I spend a day at the mall, it is all too easy to empty my wallet with unnecessary and impulsive purchases, be it the $10 Starbucks drink or the Sephora beauty products that dominate my Instagram feed. To gain a better understanding of why teenagers are compelled to make such poor purchasing decisions, I studied different marketing tactics, focusing on micro-trends and the influence of social media. The goal of my project is to raise awareness among teenagers of the way in which they can be manipulated into making purchasing decisions that undermine the very notion of free will.

Aniruddh Krishnan Shinzo Kumar

What Working in a Hospital Is Really Like: Overcoming the Stigma in High School

When I was younger, I endured life threatening pneumonia, which difficult as it was, had the benefit of widening my perception of what it means to be a health professional. As I have undergone the process of applying to college I’ve encountered among my peers a surprising lack of awareness of the range of possible medical careers outside stereotypical descriptions of doctors. The goal of my project is to widen understanding of possible medical related careers through the medium of a podcast where I interview a range of different professionals.

The Dangers of Pre-workout: A Scoop on the Most Addictive Fitness Supplement

A cheap and effective energy booster to take before a workout may be tempting. However, I will be exposing the underlying side effects of pre-workout products and help you truly understand what you are consuming. Preworkout products have proved to cause unhealthy addictions among teenagers through the heavy use of caffeine and other addictive substances. These “fitness supplements” meant to help you are actually impractical or even harmful to your body. Through my project, I will clarify these uncertainties and hopefully encourage others to rethink their decisions when purchasing these products.

Nysa Kumar-Eralil COLE LABENZ

Inspirational Females: Are Grades the Whole Story? SAS: Let’s Go Green!

Children of any gender can experience depression and anxiety. But by the teenage years, girls are much more likely to be diagnosed with those mood disorders. Experts don’t know for sure why this is, but it could be because girls sometimes gain emotional maturity more quickly and may be more emotionally sensitive.

Research shows that role models have three core benefits for young teenage girls: role models represent and expand what is possible, they inspire girls to be more ambitious and aim higher, and they demonstrate the mindsets and behaviours on how to grow.

I decided to produce a podcast where I will be interviewing entrepreneurial females about their life story in the hope of providing not only inspiration but also a counterweight to all too common association of grades and success.

Having always been passionate about nature, l love the idea of emphasizing sustainable systems when it comes to supporting our urban infrastructure and communities. My Catalyst project focuses on how I am able to achieve this in a community I feel very involved with: SAS. I want to first understand measures the school has already taken to be more sustainable. Then, I want to influence future plans for how SAS could become greener. Working with facilities and custodians we will uproot the obstacles that are stopping SAS from achieving environmentally friendly goals like increasing recycling and decreasing waste.

Ahana Lara Alexa Leipold

Mysteries Unveiled: Connecting People through the Art of Writing

As life in middle school and high school adopts a vigorous, stressful routine for all students, it’s extremely important to unwind and take time out for things that bring people away from their school lives, if even for just a short time.

During my childhood years, I grew passionate about reading and writing, especially books that explored fantasy realms and thrilling mysteries. After learning that complex characters and diverse issues can all be derived from the environment around us, I took out time to observe my surroundings, and interview students in school to get a wide range of issues and topics to write about, specifically centered around mental health issues in teens.

This led me to write the first draft of a murder-mysterythemed fantasy novel, while incorporating all my findings, to make it an enjoyable, engaging experience that provides recognition to the issues that sometimes remain mysteries.

F1: The Race for Representation

At the peak of its popularity, Formula One zooms worldwide, bringing new female fans everywhere they go. Each time I turn on the TV, I’m greeted by 20 male drivers, 10 male team principals, and three male sports broadcasters. As the popularity of the sport grows, representation for those increasing female viewers is not well represented. This is why for my Catalyst project

I created a Formula One podcast to look into the history and future of females in F1. I dived into the sexism and problems F1 still faces, while also highlighting women who are already breaking boundaries in F1.

Heidi Lim Aidan Lim

Recycle Right: Educating and Empowering Elementary School Students

“Cupcake wrappers, pencils, and juice boxes. hese aren’t items you would expect to find in a paper recycling bin.

SAVE, a service club in SAS high school, promotes eco-friendly habits throughout SAS. Every week, we collect paper recycling in the elementary school and high school. However, we face the inaccurate disposal of trash in the recycling, which contaminates large amounts of paper that ultimately, cannot be recycled.

In Recycle Right, I aim to teach younger elementary school students how to recycle more effectively by working with passionate fifth graders to curate a “Recycle Right” awareness program. In doing so, a secondary goal is achieved—empowering young leaders to take action for positive change.

Food Waste into Fuel

What if you could turn coal into gold? In the middle ages, alchemists spent lifetimes seeking this. Turning table scraps into fuel may be the next best thing.

With more than 30% of consumed food thrown away, food waste is a major global issue. Utilizing it for a sustainable purpose can even offset other carbon sources, killing two birds with one stone.

Ethanol distillation is an easy yet effective way to utilize this waste to produce fuel. By implementing this process with a high school club, sustainability at SAS can be improved, revitalizing its image of innovation.

Asia Marcos Maleha Moradian

STE(A)M: Using Art to Connect Students to an Intimidating Community Sleep Pods in Schools: Are Naps the Key

to Success?

As a kid, I was passionate about creating art. Now that I’m in high school with a background in robotics, I have the opportunity to combine old with the new. For my Catalyst project, I will work with Mr. Harvey in the Makerspace to design and fabricate a statue using the unconventional medium of a waterjet. This statue symbolizes the connection between STEM and art—a unique way to bring more students into STEM. To further that connection, I will host a workshop that teaches STEM novices design and mechanical skills, with Ms. Zamora helping me to improve my communication skills.

The fond days of afternoon nap time in preschool are long gone. Why is this so? Who decided that naps were any less important to teenagers? In fact, the importance of sleep is reiterated by doctors and researchers as crucial for productivity and wellbeing. Yet, the majority of the adolescent population, myself included, suffers from sleep deprivation. To explore this issue, I have researched the viability and best design options for a site-specific sleep pod. I attempted to make a prototype for the SAS high school in hopes of enhancing the student experience with relaxing spaces to take a quick power nap.

Connor Murgatroyd Daniel Namkoong

The Power of Early Investment among Teenagers Surviving SAS 101

I have always had an interest in the field of investment and the stock market. Having taken multiple economics classes in high school I’ve found that my interest is coupled with a natural understanding and enjoyment of the subject. The freedom permitted by Catalyst project allowed me to investigate something related to investment strategies. I know investing can be quite a technical subject and something that people sometimes think is best left to professionals. However, what I want to prove is that anyone can get into investing and so my project is tailored towards my age demographic to encourage early investment. I really want people to understand the benefits of early investment and the large benefits of seemingly small inputs over time as well as the value of time in the market as opposed to trying to time the market.

SAS is a tough school for anyone to attend. Many SAS students often feel pressure and discomfort because of the competitiveness and the intensity. All you need is to know that you are not alone in this problem. With my mentor, Ms. Williams’ help, I am creating a podcast dedicated to helping high school students. This podcast will include SAS students and teachers, as well high school student-athletes outside the community to bring the most authentic and genuine advice. I am hoping that my podcast will allow students to enjoy and maximize their high school life.

Aamya Narayanan Alexander Nelson

The Psychology of Gratitude

I can assume that many reading this abstract recognize the privileges they have been given. And yet, we often forget to take the time to recognize and appreciate them. The goal of my project was to research the psychology of gratitude to better understand the role it plays in mental wellbeing. I also wanted to help teenagers and adults implement the habit of gratitude in their daily lives using a journal that I designed.

Representation in American Film and Television: Inequalities of Race, Gender, Citizenship Status, and Sexual Orientation

Growing up in Hong Kong, predominantly a Chinese city, I always admired the diversity of Hollywood. To a redhead who never fit in, the diversity on screen gave me a sense of belonging. While I still admire the diversity in American film and television, Hollywood doesn’t accurately represent the diverse people of America, and although most people know this problem exists, few know the real facts. To find answers, I’m delving into the demographics of American society and Hollywood, analyzing the gap between the two and the reasons for this discrepancy.

Evan Nguyen Sakura Niunoya

Music Composition, a World of Creativity

How do you share a melody with others? How can you take a harmony and put it to paper?

Though a large majority of the population are able to play an instrument, music composition is an often neglected aspect of musical arts. I distinctly remember having heard a particular piece and I was enamored. I wanted nothing more than to play it myself. This was not a piece often played, so I attempted to transcribe it. An hour later, I found myself with a grand staff and two notes roughly scribbled on.

Despite how widespread performance arts are, music composition is still an inaccessible skill for many. I’ve tasked myself with creating a website that can help musicians with minimal knowledge in music theory learn music composition. My goal is to help make music composition an accessible skill to everybody.

Breaking Down Memory: What Actually Happens Inside the Brain?

As a student, memory is the key to success. Like many of my peers however, I have struggled to memorize items in classes such as Chinese and biology. Although memory is a topic that is still poorly understood, I challenged myself to better understand it, and in doing so find more optimal learning methods. My goal is to create a short book that simplifies what we know about memory and its functions as well as effective learning methods.

Keari Ong Charlie Pollard

Expanding Counters: A Unique Solution to a Common Problem Connecting Through Food: A Traditional Chinese Cookbook

As cities struggle to find space to house millions, more people find themselves living in cramped spaces with tinier kitchens. In Singapore, this problem is even further exaggerated with a population of nearly six million living on an island.

Looking for a solution to this problem, I started with something that I’ve been interested in since I was young: origami! Just like how origami can be unfolded from a smaller form to a much larger one, a kitchen counter could be expanded and contracted to save space.

I hope to design a 3D model of an expandable kitchen counter for small HDB kitchens that is affordable, resistant to the elements, and innovative.

During UN Day, I’d watch others proudly showcase their heritage while I always felt a distant connection with my own Chinese culture. In the past few years, however, I’ve been able to find a hint of connection through food. For my Catalyst project, I chose to curate a collection of beginner recipes for traditional Chinese dishes that come from eight different regions in China, some handed down through generations, and publish them in a cookbook of my own design, providing others with a deeper understanding and connection to Chinese culture.

Victoire Pons Suhani Prajapati

Is Law for Me?

From Scrap to Show Piece

Approaching my senior year and seeking answers to the inevitable questions about the choice of a major, I found myself increasingly drawn to the idea of studying law. After a two-week summer internship the questions still remained. Consequently, as I began my senior year I decided to start a podcast for my Catalyst project, in the hope of finding answers to the existential question, is the law for me?. My goal is to interview people from the profession and in doing so provide my audience with perspectives and experience that will help them make the right choice.

From communicating to creating artwork, paper is a valuable medium that can be used in many ways. However, paper comes at a great cost: trees. Three billion trees are cut down annually to meet our paper demands (excluding over 15 billion trees cut worldwide for other purposes).

The types of art I engage in involve paper and materials made of paper. My goal for the Catalyst project was to recycle my paper from scratch to design a kirigami art piece (paper engineering). In other words, my objective was to create an art piece while going through the sustainability process.

Laetitia Purawinata Divya Raju

Start Up Entrepreneur: Starting a Preloved Designer Business Acrylic and Oil Paints: A Powerful Tool for Social Awareness

During Covid-19, like most people, I decluttered my closet for thingsI no longer wanted. In the process, I realized that many people globally had been hit hard by the pandemic, be it emotionally or financially, and were in dire need of help. This made me realize that I had a lot and there were people who could not meet their basic needs and I wanted to help them. Given the rise of e-commerce, I decided to use my Catalyst project to start an online business as a way to access more people without the burden of a storefront in an attempt to make my business more successful.

For decades, art has been used as a tool to create change. That is why I decided to learn about painting to try and promote social awareness. I have spent my time experimenting with acrylic and oil paints in order to make art pieces based on the worldwide issue of climate change, focusing on ocean pollution, wildfires and rising ocean temperatures. I tried to capture these issues in a way that the audience can see firsthand how severe the problem is. By producing art, I hope to prove that painting techniques can provoke emotion and potentially lead to climate action.

Rahul Razdan Emily Ren

Do You Know Your Carbon Footprint?

Climate change? Global warming? Most people would like to support these causes; however, most of us don’t know the extent to which we are contributing to this crises. The consensus is we must achieve net-zero carbon emissions before 2050 otherwise, its effects are irreversible. Currently, we won’t come close to the goal of net-zero. I have created a website where Singaporeans can log their daily actions and receive an estimation of their carbon footprint. They also receive individualized feedback to mitigate their carbon emissions. This will provide a way for Singaporeans to reach net-zero emissions through personalized tailored solutions.

One Small Step, One Huge Leap for Engineering

In a world where people are often overwhelmed and stressed, technology has become an essential tool, helping remind us to do certain tasks like chores, meeting calls, and even to take our medication.

While I have no background in robotics or engineering, I have always been amazed by how all these technologies are built to help us in daily lives. Thanks to a Brown University pre-college course, I was introduced to coding and wanted to take it a step further to challenge myself and feed my curiosity for engineering. As a beginner, starting small was especially essential.

Thus, a simple smart pill dispenser would be ideal in size and ambition, allowing me to explore the field of engineering yet challenge me to step out of my comfort zone.

Lorelei Resnick Felicity Robinson

Formula One’s “Drive to Survive” in a Sustainable World

In a world that is slowly but surely transitioning to focus on environmental issues and sustainability, it is essential for large corporations to follow suit. Is Formula One currently doing enough to keep up? While on paper, F1 is a gas-guzzling source of entertainment, it has potential to show the world it is possible to combine cutting edge, global motoracing with sustainable practices.

I embarked on this project in order to raise awareness about sustainability in F1, and I hope to encourage my peers to think more critically about their own actions and impact on the environment.

Teaching Moral Lessons through Children’s Books Illustrations

Art has always inspired me. Since I was six, I would carry my box of pencils and a sketchbook around to draw stories and characters. When contemplating my Catalyst project I was inevitably drawn to the idea of creating an illustrated children’s book to teach a moral lesson.

Naman Rusia Esha Sanklecha

Theorized: Encouraging Teenagers to Think! Addiction and Health: A Journey Through Art

The power of thought is possibly the greatest weapon one can equip themselves with. My high school years were spent under the duress of the pandemic, with fake news and partial media coverage all around me. I took inspiration from this and decided to start a weekly podcast where I discuss new political topics, sharing my views and encouraging critical thinking amongst teenagers and young adults. This process has been very transformative, and my Catalyst project has helped me develop a more nuanced lens of the world and media.

The sensation of seeing clay transform into a glazed ceramic piece is parallel to discovering one’s identity after overcoming the stigma around mental illness.

Mental health and substance abuse are closely linked. It can harm your physical and emotional health, as well as your social and financial wellbeing. Substance abuse affects approximately 50% of individuals with severe mental disorders. Ceramics is a well-established form of art therapy that can help people develop a positive sense of self.

Through this project, I aim to raise awareness by creating two ceramic pieces that depict the difficulties of substance abuse and the significance of mental health.

Maliha Shah Sebareesh Sikhakollu

Traveling and Food: A Beginner’s Journey of Cooking Food from Different Cuisines in a Green Manner

Living in Singapore, I have been able to travel to 38 countries and counting; this has given me the opportunity to experience a vast array of cultures and cuisines. However, in the last few years, it has been put to a stop. For my project, I wanted to recreate the foods I ate while traveling with ingredients that are produced environmentally-friendly and locally. The aim is to spread awareness about what and where you buy ingredients for everyday recipes by following a green path.

Creating Photorealistic Interactive Environments

Unreal Engine is the world’s leading game engine and an incredible piece of software with the power to create 3D, 2D, and VR environments. Drawing inspiration from the natural scenery of the planet and hoping to expand an exploration of my own artistic aesthetic, I harnessed the power of Unreal Engine and created photo-realistic interactive 3D environments that include caves, grasslands and forests, all of which could be integrated into the world of a film or video games.

Manit Singh Marcy Sun

The weLL Center: Coding to Make a Difference

Film and Cinematography: Building Connections

Since sixth grade I’ve learnt languages as diverse as Scratch, HTML, and Java and coming into Catalyst project I knew I wanted to build on this experience.

I have been working with an NGO, the weLL Center, that tutors underprivileged students in Singapore for the past year and believed that there were some ways where I could help make their code more efficient. After conferring with the NGO, I decided to use my ability to code to create an application/ website that would allow tutors to generate questions for the students based on the questions that they missed.

My goal here is to allow students in the weLL Center to get the academic help they need based off the questions that they are making mistakes on in their tutoring session.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused isolation among people. Most people forgot the importance of communication and how to effectively communicate with others. I’ve always been interested in filmmaking, so I took many filmmaking-related classes throughout my high school years. With the help of my parents, peers, and teachers, I decided that I want to create a short film to remind others of the importance of communication and connections. My film will tell a tragic story caused by miscommunication. I hope this project can entertain my peers and effectively remind others of the importance of communication.

Shaunak Surlu Antonio Swastono

Hyderabad and It’s Last Two NizamsUnearthing History through Their Coinage

I remember the first coin I collected. It was a 1905 Hyderabad one rupee coin under Mir Mahbub Ali Khan’s regime and was gifted by my uncle. I was mesmerized by the thought of getting the opportunity to hold a coin that my ancestors must have held in their hands more than 100 years ago.

Every ancient coin has a story to tell and unraveling the story is no less than time traveling into the past and learning about enthralling historical eras and visualizing a world that once existed. I aspire to educate my audience and spark their interest in coin collecting through a documentary. I am passionate about numismatics and history. I believe that combining my interests to educate youth and trying to make a small but honest attempt at saving this dying hobby through a documentary will be both appropriate and gratifying.

The Power of the Population’s Behavior: A Lesson in Financial Crisis

The power of one is none but the power of everyone is everything. This lesson, time and time again, has proven to be true in the world of finance. The behavior of how people choose investments can make or break economies as we can see from past events. The cause of financial crises is not singular but—at its very core —can be attributed to faulty, illogical investments. With my series of graphical animation videos, the audience will learn how the behavior of investors and the general population led to the 1997 Asian financial crisis and the 2008 housing crisis.

Caidan Tan Emily Tanoto

How

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Approach Climate Change? A Collection of Ecophilosphies

Growing up, my family loved watching shows and documentaries about nature, but as I got older, those shows gradually began to turn away from appreciation of nature and instead turned towards the preservation of it. My family and I began to realize the importance of doing our own bit to prevent global warming. For my project, I wanted to create an educational book about different ecological philosophies and modus operandi for tackling climate change to help my generation, Gen Z, be better equipped to tackle climate change. My mentor, an accredited author herself, helped me organize and frame my ideas.

Exploring Lucid Dreaming: A Solution as Simple as Falling Asleep

Have you ever realized you were dreaming while still in a dream? This is called lucid dreaming, where individuals gain awareness and sometimes control over their dreams. Roughly 55% of adults have experienced lucid dreaming, yet it is still a relatively unknown topic. Though I’ve never been able to lucid dream, it’s always piqued my interest. For my Catalyst project, I researched lucid dreaming and attempted to learn how to do it myself. With my findings I wrote an article, to popularize the topic and to draw greater attention to the possible benefits for those suffering from mental health issues.

Saisha Tayal Pippa Tomita

Lighting Up Lives Trash to Treasure

Imagine living in a world with no electricity. No light to power your home. When I visited India this summer I realized that this is a pressing issue that is faced by many families. One in three households face outages of over 2 hours or more daily. I wanted to use my Catalyst project to contribute to larger efforts to produce accessible, sufficient lighting, especially in lowincome communities. I was inspired to try and create a product that captures the sun’s energy to help electrify homes, to improve safety and enable learning for these families.

When I first arrived in Singapore and went to the beach, what I saw horrified me: massive heaps of plastic bottles, shoes, toys, dumped in the ocean. I was shocked that a country famously known for being clean had disregarded this pollution. What could I do? Starting with beach clean-ups, I used the materials I found to design and produce bracelets, then distributed the bracelets alongside an informative tag to the SAS community. With my Catalyst project, I hope to create a more well-informed and wasteconscious school and student body.

Meeraya Wadhwa Jakob Weisser

Merging Two Dimensions: Blending Analog with Digital Music

Gnawing Anxiety: Helping Shelter Dogs Deal With Stress Through Hand-Made Chew Toys

I’ve had a strong devotion to music my entire life: years of training in classical piano and singing have given me a certain level of skill, but what next?

With the rise of technology, many things are slowly getting transferred into digital forms: in music specifically, the use of Digital Audio Workstations. However, classical music doesn’t have to be a “”dying art form””; it can simply be transformed. Though digital music is undoubtedly groundbreaking in efficiency, there is a certain beauty about analog instruments which is incomparable to anything else.

This made me want to pursue the question, “How may I better understand, and thus, overcome, the difficulties in integrating digital and analog instruments using music software?”.

Throughout my years working with animal shelters, I’ve learned that dogs are intelligent and socially complex creatures. Loneliness and separation anxiety are significant problems for shelter dogs. Besides causing temperamental issues, they decrease a dog’s likelihood of being adopted. To help remedy this, healthy outlets like toys allow dogs to release their pent up stress, through actions like chewing, chasing and playing. Very few shelters can provide toys for all their animals, which is why I will design and fabricate cheap, strong toys to donate to shelters, and help dogs cope with the stress of shelter living.

Lizzy Yoo Chae Hee Yoon

The Menstrual Cycle: What Does SAS Think?

The Dark Truth behind the Fashion Industry: Negative Marketing Strategy

I care about periods. In common with half of the world’s population, I experience them every month but talking about them is not so common.

Depending on your culture, background and education, your view on periods varies greatly. Whether it is considering talking about the mentrual cycle extremely taboo or completely natural, it was clear to me that this broad spectrum of beliefs mean that stigmas surrounding periods do exist. So I resorted to interviewing the community that not only am I a part of, but is also richly diverse.

Through this documentary I will be answering the question: How does the SAS community feel about periods? Through this I aim to highlight some of the potential taboos and stigmas surrounding the menstrual cycle, ultimately prompting viewers to rethink or confirm their own perspectives.

Fashion is a form of self-expression that almost everyone is drawn toward at some point in their lives. Synonymous with colorful and uniquely designed cloths, the textile industry has always been one of the darkest corners of the world economy. Hidden behind the glossy magazine covers and slick marketing strategies is an industry that obscures the connection between our fast-fashion wardrobes to issues such as animal testing, child labor and environmental degradation.

Through an online scrapbook or website I hope to raise awareness among teenagers/ young adults of the major social and environmental problems that beset this $2.4-trillion-a-year industry.

Siena Zage

Ethical by Choice: Designing and Producing Sustainable Jewelry

As a teenager on a budget, I typically purchase jewelry at a low cost from accessible brands. Every year, I clean up my jewelry box, collecting the unusable, rusted pieces and eventually throw them away. With the pressure for increased sustainability becoming more prevalent today, I wanted to do my part to help with this problem. For my Catalyst project I am promoting environmental consumerism by designing, producing, and marketing sustainable jewelry from used metals for a target audience of my peers. To achieve this, I have trained in and utilized a range of tools and machinery to successfully create a staple collection of jewelry.