University High School - JPL Regional High School Science Bowl
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Coach David Knight has taught at University High School in Irvine since 1990 and currently teaches AP biology and marine science as well as being chair of the science department and adviser for several clubs and official driver of the UHS SciBowl team G-Wagon. Coach Knight enjoys spending his after school hours single-handedly competing against the UHS Science Bowl team members and dominating them with his exceptional cognitive abilities in home remodeling, lawn care and enology.
Nicholas Ouyang is currently a senior at High School University (“winnats” - ACZ). He is slightly disappointed that bowling this year will not involve pressing buttons or rolling balls towards pins but is still happy to compete. With an interest in the downgraded version of alchemy, his favorite “stock” reactions all involve Au (XI) mediated John Teller catalysis, which all seem to proceed with 110% yield. Sadly however, since he has yet to transmute the needed Au (XI) salts from pencil lead, he cannot run the reactions himself. He is also slightly better than Robert at memeing biographies.
Neel Basu is currently a senior at University High School. Neel discovered his passion for mathematics in the lobby of the Laguna Niguel Ritz-Carlton. Although unremitting, the traffic provided a coveted, evanescent moment to immerse his soul in the profoundly rejuvenating summer light. Sipping his iced caramel macchiato, he gazed upon his notebook, captivated by the enigmatic principles of symplectic topology. When he had finally solved the problem, Neel sat back, staring into the sunset, and had an epiphany. Human life is too long to devote to reproduction, yet too short to devote to learning. Despite this, life is complete with the sun, the earth, and mathematics.
Henry Ding is a sophomore at University High School. In middle school, Henry was entrenched in Olympiad and competition culture, participating in the AMCs, MATHCOUNTS, Science Olympiad, and NHD. Despite this, he only had a vague idea of pursuing something “science-related” in high school. One day, Henry decided to do a problem from the F=ma Exam, and eventually solved it after discussing it with some friends. From this point onwards, Henry made the decision to study physics, entirely independent of his own inability to succeed in math competitions. Outside of science, Henry participates in the US Olympic trials for swimming (15 meter backstroke; faster than “Michael Phelps”) and spends too much time watching Minecraft videos. In fact, Henry just recently broke his personal best of 26.6 seconds in the 15 meter backstroke.
Alissa Kopylova is a junior. Her least favorite subject is biology. Alissa talks about herself in third person. If she was an organelle, Alissa would be the cytoplasm because she likes soup. Alissa often goes camping with a tent, but someday she would like to camp. When she grows up, Alissa wants to work at a monastery on the Galápagos and feed peas to finches. Until then, she is working on not crying while doing her physics homework. Alissa has to bench press ten copies of Campbell every day in order to be able to carry around the weight of her massive brain. She has the biggest brain on the team (proved by science).
Robert Ni is currently a junior. He has a profound interest in earth and space science (thanks Tarbucks) and also competes in Science Olympiad. When he is not studying science, you can find him watching a drama, painting, or listening to music. If he were given a second chance at life, he would want to be a quartz crystal, hard to be broken down and good looking in a variety of colors. He wishes he was better at memeing biographies like his teammates, so he will work harder in the future to write better ones.
