A project that could help hospital patients avoid bacterial infections resulting from treatment earned a Denton student a $3,000 scholarship recently and within a few weeks could possibly earn him $100,000 more.

DRC/Al Key

Wen Chyan, a second-year student at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, will present his project during the 2008 Sie¬mens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, Dec. 5-8 in New York.

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Wen Chyan, a 17-year-old senior at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at the University of North Texas, will represent his region Dec. 5-8 in New York at the 2008 Siemens Competition in Math, Science and Technology, the country’s premier high school science research contest.

Chyan advanced to the competition after being named individual winner in the Region 2 competition Nov. 14-15 at the University of Texas at Austin. Win­ners from six regions will compete in next month’s finals for the chance to earn scholarships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000.

For his project, “Versatile Antimicrobial Coatings from Plasma Deposited Hydrogels and Hydrogel Composites,” Chyan worked to develop a polymer coating for medical devices that could prevent infections caused by bacterial biofilms. Such infections affect more than 2 million hospital patients annually and kill about 100,000.

After seeing relatives get infections caused by bacteria, Chyan knew there was practical importance for his project, he said.

The polymer Chyan created, which has imbedded silver ions, is adhesive and can be used on medical devices such as cath­eters and breathing equipment, which require a tube to be inserted into a patient.

The project has never been tested in real-life applications, but preliminary tests have been exciting and produced positive results, he said.

“The silver ions kill the bacteria when the device is put into the patient,” he said. “Silver ions are released into the patient out of the coating and kills the bacteria.”

Jennifer Maynard, a chemical engineering professor at UT-Austin, said in a statement shortly after the regional competition that Chyan demonstrated unparalleled knowledge to judges.

“By taking on complex reactions, assay development, the measurement of silver release kinetics, and finally the testing of his proposed coating, Mr. Chyan showed true expertise on a wide range of topics that have direct applications in the field,” she said.

Advancing to finals came as surprise, Chyan said, but when he took it all in he was happy and grateful to his parents, Jin-Jian Chen and Oliver Chyan, TAMS and mentors for affording him the opportunity to be able to create such a project.

“The competition was very close, and it could have been anyone … but I’m appreciative of the opportunity to go on,” he said.

Chyan’s passion for science was piqued at an early age with encouragement from his parents, who are both scientists, he said. As a young child, he would perform chemistry demonstrations with his father, who is a professor at UNT.

Chyan’s interest in creating his current project was sparked about two years ago, he said, when he visited the lab of his mentor, Richard Timmons, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at UT-Arlington.

During the school year, Chyan said he would dedicate five to 10 hours on the project each week. In the summer, Chyan, who also plays piano and violin, would spend several days in a lab at UTA on the project between music courses he took in Fort Worth. He also worked independently on the project from UNT.

Timmons said he was skeptical about working with a high school student initially, but he found Chyan to be a remarkable individual who was performing work like a third- or fourth-year graduate student.

He said Chyan’s strong confidence will help him do well at next month’s competition.

“He speaks and describes his work in a remarkable fashion. He’s very bright,” Timmons said.

Chyan, who will graduate from TAMS in May, said he is looking forward to attending a university where he can study chemistry or chemical engineering. At some point, he said he would like to end up at a research university, possibly UNT, educating “the next generation of future researchers.”

While Chyan, said he’s only looking at his short-term plan of completing college, his future looks pretty bright. As early as next month, Timmons plans to publish a paper that he and Chyan wrote on his project. Timmons said he also plans to file Chyan’s work for a patent.

BRITNEY TABOR can be reached at 940-566-6876. Her e-mail address is btabor@dentonrc.com .