Having research published in a scientific journal is impressive at any age, but having an article on nuclear science published as junior in high school is awe-inspiring.  

Aleksander Kelley, a student at Kentlake High School, is the youngest member of the international Biologically Inspired Cognitive Architectures Society (BICA), has been part of the Northwest Nuclear Consortium for two years, and recently published research on the application of neural networks to detecting decay events of a neutron. 

“I have been interested in science, especially nuclear physics since middle school,” he said. “My science teachers from Kentlake and mentors from the consortium have contributed to my growing focus on science.” 

Over the summer, he presented on his research and experiences using vision machine learning to an audience of 50 professors. 

Aleks said his math teacher at Kentlake, Haley Small, encouraged him to believe in himself and his abilities.  

“Ms. Small has always reminded me that I can be whoever I wanted to be,” he said. “She has always built up my confidence and reminded me that I can contribute to the world.” 

Small, whose work now focuses on in-school suspension at Kentlake, said she knew he was special and it was a privilege to have him in her class for two years.  

“Aleks is a passionate, motivated, hard-working, inquisitive, and very sharp, similar to Bill Gates, his mind runs like a computer,” Small said. “Remember the name Aleksander Kelley, he is going to be part of the team that fixes whatever is wrong in our world today!” 

Article Source: Kent Meridian High School