One Of Most Promising STEM Students In Nation Is From Bucks County

DOYLESTOWN, PA — Ethan Benjamin Shlossberg, a ninth grade student at George School and a former student at the Holicong Middle School in Buckingham, has been named one of the most promising middle school STEM students in the nation.

Ethan is a Top 30 finalist in the Broadcom MASTERS, the nation’s premier Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) middle school competition.

The finalists will be competing for more than $100,000 in awards and participating in an in-person competition in Washington, D.C.

Ethan was an eighth grader at Holicong Middle School when he entered the contest. This fall, he began the ninth grade at George School in Middletown Township.

For the competition, Ethan asked the question, "Quail Egg Patterns: Unique to a Quail?"

Ethan trained machine learning software to recognize quail eggshell patterns and matched them to the birds that laid the eggs. Tests with eggs from groups of three or six birds worked well, and the approach might help farmers to selectively breed their quail.

The project began with a question from a friend of Ethan’s family raises quail at his farm. The friend wanted to know which birds were laying the largest eggs in each pen, but he didn’t want to separate the quail for long periods of time.

“I thought of the theory that each quail has its own egg pattern,” Ethan says.

The eggs of many types of birds look identical, but that’s not true for quail.

So Ethan turned to coding and artificial intelligence (AI) for help.

He wondered if he could use AI to distinguish different quail egg patterns. If so, he could also test if quail indeed have unique egg patterns. It could also tell farmers which quail laid which egg.

“I realized a machine learning software, such as Amazon Rekognition, would be an ideal tool to pattern match,” Ethan says.

First, he put individual quail alone in cages until each bird laid at least five eggs. He labeled and photographed each egg. He fed images of five eggs into a program to train it. And then he used other images of quail eggs to test the model.

“The model tries to guess which quail laid which test egg based on the training data,” Ethan
explains.

Tests with groups of three and six eggs had good results. Ethan therefore concluded that a quail can be identified based on its egg pattern.

“This is ideal, as quail are kept in groups of three to six,” he notes.

Farmers could use the approach to figure out which quail are laying the most and largest eggs. “Ultimately, farmers can use this data to selectively breed the birds to obtain better quail,” he adds.

Ethan's other interests include playing Dungeons & Dragons. He particularly likes the role of dungeon master.

Ethan also sings with a choir and plays the cello and he stays active by running, playing tennis and practicing Taekwondo. His other activities include computer club, robotics, scouting and more.

Ethan hopes to become a zoologist, and especially wants to help protect endangered species.

“Wildlife needs an advocate now, more than ever,” he says.

Broadcom MASTERS (Math, Applied Science, Technology and Engineering for Rising Stars), a program founded and produced by Society for Science, seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators who will work towards solving the grand challenges of the future. Each of the 30 finalists will be judged on both their research projects as well as their demonstration of collaboration and critical thinking skills during team challenges, emphasizing the importance and value of teamwork in STEM fields.

“We are excited to host the 2022 Broadcom MASTERS finalists in Washington, D.C. this fall,” said Paula Golden, president of the Broadcom Foundation. “They stand out among thousands of students who competed at science fairs throughout the U.S. this year and we know they will be an inspiration to all future scientists, engineers and innovators of their generation. We send hearty congratulations to them along with their teachers, mentors and families who share in our pride for all they have accomplished.”