Science and Creativity: How a Young Physicist is Increasing Developmental Impact His curiosity led him to experiences beyond school, which became valuable resources in deepening his understanding of Physics as a discipline.

Science and creativity are two sides of the same coin; while vastly different in their applications, they both require a deep sense of commitment, a new way of thinking, and a curiosity that seeks to unravel the mysteries of our world. One such young scientist and 2024 UNGA youth delegate, Kenny Huang, has leveraged his creative thinking to delve deeper into scientific problems, often driving developmental impact.

Huang's Journey as a Physicist

One of Huang's earliest memories is tackling the physics behind a fluidized sand bed. Fascinated by how particles could behave like fluids under the right conditions, he spent hours experimenting but struggled to replicate the desired dynamics. "Even as a kid, I was captivated by the challenge of understanding complex systems," Huang recalls. "I didn't mind failing—I was determined to uncover the secrets of how the particles moved and interacted."

His curiosity led him to experiences beyond school, which became valuable resources in deepening his understanding of Physics as a discipline.

a. Gaining Valuable Work Experience:

While still at school, Huang enrolled in a Ferrari internship to deepen his mechanical engineering expertise. Creative problem-solving approaches heavily supported the physics application he found in the mechanical engineering department. Working in a team echoed the broader collaboration he observed at Ferrari, where physics, math, and the arts converged to drive motor and design innovation.

b. Mastering Mathematics:

However, he soon realized that delving into the mysteries of physics often requires the tools of mathematics, positioning it as an essential foundation of the discipline. Recognising this pivotal role, Huang undertook a committed study of Mathematics and began participating in competitions. In 2022, he received the Honour Roll of Distinction awarded to the top 1% in the American Mathematics Competition 12, which, combined with his AIME scores, qualified him for the USA Mathematics Olympiad as one of the top 250 Mathematics geniuses across the US. Huang, in his high school's 43-year-old history, is the first to receive this honour. Now, at Carnegie Mellon, Huang is gearing up for the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition under the mentorship of the renowned Professor Po-Shen Loh.

Delving into Academia: Outlining Huang's Published Work

An award-winning photographer, Huang, wondered how his camera's images could be improved. He found optical aberrations like vignettes affected image consistency after a shift in the object or camera sensor. In this groundbreaking study, published in the Theoretical and Natural Science Journal co-authored with a leading algorithms engineer, Jun Jiang, and his friend Maximilian Wong, proposed a new digital shifting method utilising the geometry of camera sensors.

Interestingly, during astrophotography, Huang noticed his camera could capture more colour than his eye could see. He began wondering if celestial objects indeed looked like what showed on his camera. In his research, he isolated the various factors that impacted the spectral colouration of celestial objects, focusing on interstellar mediums. Adding to the existing physics literature, Huang's second work is published in Advances in Higher Education Journal.

Building on his work in space and consolidating his love for Mathematics through numerical simulation, Huang has provided more significant data on the evolution patterns of black holes. Refining our understanding of general relativity, even in seemingly small aspects, is crucial—particularly in strong-field regimes where analytical solutions are often unattainable. Given its far-reaching impact, Huang's work was presented at the 5th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Engineering Applications.

(Pictured here: Kenny Huang shooting Rails of Reunion in China)

Physics, Creativity, and Impact

Applying scientific disciplines like Physics to meaningfully engage with society, governments, and industries requires creative thinking. For example, achieving a successful COVID-19 vaccine in record time involved a nontraditional approach that broke existing barometers in the scientific realm.

a. Renaiscience: Leveraging Scientific Education for Developmental Impact

Motivated by the impact that Physics could have, Huang built Renaiscience, a project that is a step forward in Physics and Mathematics education—rooted in the concept of sensitive dependence on initial conditions from chaos theory, Renaiscience leverages mathematical and analytical insights to empower young people to enhance their decision-making and shape brighter futures. Given the project's far-reaching positive impact, in 2024, Huang was invited as a UNGA youth representative to present his work at Global Goals Week, expanding the project's reach to more than 43 countries and nearly 700 young people globally.

b. Rails of Reunion: Documentary In Review

Yet, Huang wanted to further explore and highlight the developmental impact of science. Turning to his home country, China, he noticed an interesting phenomenon. "Despite its developing country status, the Chinese government has creatively approached the problem of lower employment rates in far-flung areas by deploying mechanical engineers to build high-speed trains. These trains have dramatically improved connectivity, reduced transportation costs, and created widespread employment for people from non-urban areas."

Inspired by China's triumph, Huang shot a documentary, Rails of Reunion, to showcase the power of simple mechanics in transforming lives. Beginning with wide shots of urban China, the documentary zooms into the lived experiences of the older and younger generations, detailing how the trains facilitate ordinary workers or healthcare seekers accessing the opportunities in the metropolitan cities of Shanghai and Beijing. The documentary is set for a UNESCO Premiere in 2025.

Physics, Huang and the Future

Huang hopes to pursue his passion within academia by driving cutting-edge research that can be used to create a more significant developmental impact in the fields of Physics and Mathematics. Yet, as technological progress continues, Huang expects the field of academia to telescope with the development of new tools like AI to lead with smaller, more redundant tasks. "For example, machine learning will integrate many physics strategies to process large data sets, yet to get the best results, methods of scientific inquiry will need to be applied to machine learning", says Huang. He believes that in engineering, experimentation will continue, as younger physicists like himself are keen to uncover AI's limits (if any) on our understanding of Physics and its manipulation in society.