3D Arm Built By McLean Student Earns Him Finalist Spot In Regeneron Science Talent Search

MCLEAN, VA — A McLean student's work to design a low-cost 3D prosthetic arm has gained national attention. Ben Choi, a McLean resident and senior at the Potomac School, was named one of the finalists in the 2022 Regeneron Science Talent Search.

The Regeneron Science Talent Search is considered the nation's most prestigious science and math competition. Choi is one of 40 finalists, chosen from over 1,800 entrants across the U.S. Winners in the competition have gone on to win top science and math honors, including 13 Nobel Prizes and 22 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships, as well as found science-based companies.

Regeneron, a biotechnology company that sponsors the competition, chose the 40 finalists "based on their projects’ scientific rigor and their potential to become world-changing scientists and leaders," according to a news release. Choi's project created a low-cost 3D prosthetic arm that can be controlled by a brainwave-detecting headband worn on the forehead.

As a student at the Potomac School's Science and Engineering Research Center program, he started the project in fall 2020. He was inspired to build the 3D arm after watching a documentary about neural interfaces being used to control prosthetic limbs. His ultimate goal is to make his prosthetic arm creation accessible to all.

"I was really impressed by the applications and the technology, but I was also alarmed that these implants required risky open-brain surgery and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Choi. "I thought it could be possible to develop a less invasive and more cost-effective approach."

The project has advanced past the prototype phase and will undergo clinical trials. In the past year, Choi has been focused on fine-tuning the device. With a trial-and-error process, he improved the arm's accuracy to 95 percent when compared to a natural human arm. His mentors for the product have been Dr. Isabelle Cohen, a Potomac School Upper School science teacher, and Dr. Ji Liu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at Stony Brook University.

Choi has earned other awards for his work, including the runner-up in the PolySpectra "Make It Real" Global Design Challenge, MIT THINK Scholar Award, U.S. Air Force Special Award for Research, IEEE Innovation Award, and a Microsoft Imagine Cup World Finalist.

Finalists in the Regeneron Science Talent Search each win $25,000 and will compete for top 10 awards between $40,000 to $250,000. They will compete in a week-long event in Washington, DC March 9 to 16 with a judging process and over $1.8 million in awards. During that time, they will interact with leading scientists and will share their research during a virtual Public Day on March 13. The competition also awards $2,000 to each of the top 300 scholars and their schools.

The 40 finalists completed projects in a wide variety of STEM-related subjects, from COVID-19 impacts and therapeutic inventions to a new idea for sustainable biofuels production. The other Virginia finalist is Pravalika Gayatri Putalapattu of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.