JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Fifteen-year-old Peter Fernández Dulay from Jacksonville, Florida, is making waves in the science world.
He just took home the Department of Defense STEM Talent Award and $10,000 at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, one of the country’s top middle school STEM competitions.
Peter’s project started with a simple question from his younger sister: What does a scientist look like?
When they used AI to find images for her school story, almost every picture was of older, white men. That didn’t sit right with Peter, so he dug deeper and discovered that image-generating AIs were reinforcing stereotypes about who can be a scientist.
Judges were also impressed by Peter’s leadership and teamwork skills.
He’s not just a science whiz, he’s a regionally ranked fencer and a member of his school’s robotics team.
Peter hopes to one day use technology to help people as a psychologist, especially those who speak different languages.
Peter was chosen from nearly 2,000 students nationwide.
His win is a big deal for Jacksonville and a reminder that young people are changing the future of science, one project at a time.
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