Prolific Prodigy
Reagan Student Publishes Multiple Scientific Papers
Before Graduation
By Amy Morgan
Yavuz Selim Inan just graduated from Ronald Reagan High School this May, but already he’s performed groundbreaking scientific research at not one, but three major universities and written multiple journal articles for publication. And Yavuz has conducted this graduate level work in addition to carrying a full high school course load, earning his pilot’s license and leading in Reagan’s JROTC program.
Yavuz’ typical day starts at 6 a.m., when he wakes up early to complete his academic work before class. Once the school bell rings at 4 p.m., he’s busy teaching fellow students how to fly a plane on Reagan’s JROTC flight simulators before working on research projects at home until bedtime.
Born to an American mother and a Turkish father, Yavuz started programming computers at the age of eight. He designed an app that could calculate the calories in a serving of food from a picture before AI was available. His performance in Turkey at international computer science Olympiad competitions solving difficult problems and developing algorithms drew attention when he was in eighth grade. By the time his family moved to Stone Oak, and he started freshman year at Reagan, Yavuz had been recruited by Texas A&M to program microprocessors for biomedical devices. He worked on mold detection and autoclave cycle verification, and his paper on infection monitoring is currently under submission at Nature Flexible Electronics.
Yavuz then began researching single cell RNA at UT Health Science Center. Specifically, he made large language models to predict whether genes were cancerous. He created a published programming library and an AI model to detect diseases through fundus imaging that has engendered nine published citations and earned a Grand Award at the Alamo Regional Science & Engineering Fair (ARSEF).
Between junior and senior year, he spent two months in MIT’s computer science and AI laboratory, solving a problem that had been open for five years. (publication at the MIT CSAIL Research Science Institute coming soon). As a First Seargeant in Reagan’s JROTC, Yavuz was captain of the robotics and stem programs. Reagan’s cybersecurity team under his direction made the national semi-finals, while its robotics team qualified for the World Championship competition twice and won a third-place medal. Yavuz believes these accomplishments might have caught the attention of the Aim High Flight Academy sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, which invited him to spend three weeks in Bakersfield, Calif., last summer to learn to pilot a plane. He’s currently licensed to fly a single engine prop Cessna 172. He took that experience back to Reagan and led the JROTC flight simulation team, where he taught others on the computer. “It was something I wanted to do to encourage other students to get a similar experience,” he said.
He counts JROTC Director Lieutenant Colonel Chad Livingston one of his favorite teachers, noting, “The competitions we won would not have been possible without him.” He also credits JROTC with his favorite Reagan memories. “I didn’t realize how much it would be a community,” he said. “The biggest lesson I learned was to be a great teammate and a good leader, I hope.” He also served as a student mentor on the San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council and worked on advanced computer software for the Metropolitan Health District.
Ranked in the top 1% of his class, Yavuz will attend Stanford in the fall, entering a program that allows him to earn his bachelor’s and master’s degrees simultaneously in four years. He will develop software to program humanoid robots specifically for biomedical purposes. His dream is to empower robots to perform CPR and other first aid and hopes to start a company to market the results of his research – sooner rather than later. One of the reasons he chose to attend Stanford was its proximity to Silicon Valley, he said. He also plans to contract with the Air Force in related projects and will keep his pilot’s license current. The sky’s the limit for this multifaceted, talented young researcher.
