By Anna Marie TomczykSeptember 5, 2017

At the age of 17, Whitney Ford, a senior at Plainfield East High School, is already steps ahead of her peers in honing her research skills, thanks to a mentorship program supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory.

The opportunity, known as the Argonne Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) High School Research Program, enabled Ford to study deep learning methods to identify an individual’s gender using a photo of their iris.

“They will start this program in high school, and from there we can continue supporting them through their Ph.D. They can return as college interns here or go to another lab. And one day, they may even work here,” – Maria Curry-Nkansah, chief operations officer, Argonne’s Physical Sciences and Engineering Directorate.

“Not only has the program helped me with my research, but it has also helped me improve my public speaking skills and build my confidence. I am really confident now,” Ford said.

Full article can be found at  http://www.anl.gov/articles/olympics-mind