Research puts Wehr on world stage again

Odessa High School science student and Advanced STEM Researcher Thorsen Wehr began his research journey in 2011 when he was reading Popular Science magazine and saw that CalTech was trying to focus sound waves for medical applications. For the past three years, his research, based on engineering his own acoustic lens for focusing sound, has earned him a first place in every local, regional and state science fair or symposium, and national and international success at multiple events, including the International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering, Environment Project and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

He recently returned from Los Angeles and the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair as an international winner. Of the thousands of students from over 70 different countries attending, and 12 finalists from Washington state alone, he was called again to the world stage for outstanding research in the category of physics. He earned an Arizona State University Scholarship, a Wolfram Mathematics Award, and the AJAS Dallas Cooke Award this same week.

This year's research continued his research of the past two years entitled, "The Generation and Analysis of Waves with Varying Nonlinearity." He engineered a new probe and wrote computer software to determine the nonlinearity of the waves in his acoustic lens. Nonlinear waves have increased amplitude, cover a smaller area than linear waves, and behave differently, quantified by a novel formula Wehr derived. Practical applications of his research consist of a variety of medical uses, nonlinear beam-forming arrays, military non-invasive strikes through the air, water, or solids, or mapping of the ocean floor.

New biological models have proposed that solitons (in mathematics and physics, a self-reinforcing solitary wave packet or pulse that maintains its shape while it travels at constant speed, according to Wikipedia) are produced in proteins and DNA, and that the brain may send signals using solitons.

Wehr knew his research would be criticized by judges since it is on the cutting-edge. "A couple of special award judges were skeptical that near-solitons can be produced in air," he said, "but my data reveals that through my compression technique it seems to work." So much so, that he has earned an internship at the Applied Physics Lab this summer at the University of Washington. "I'll be learning and helping APL/UW with their research but also will be given space for conducting my own research...which is exciting!" he said.

He was also approached by judges looking into flying a team consisting of himself, a group of researchers from Turkey and another researcher from the Czech Republic to collaborate on their soliton research. He hopes to hear back from this interesting group.

Anyone who would like up-to-date information regarding the Advanced STEM Research Labs can follow a Twitter feed @ohsASR or visit the website http://www.wehrdscience.com/ASR.