College Preparation & The Senior Year

To kick off a new year of Senior Projects, we are sharing a conversation with the inspiring winner of the 2024 Fellows Scholarship, a $10,000 prize awarded to one project per year. Max Polosky, a Class of 2024 graduate of BASIS Independent Silicon Valley (BISV) and current Northwestern University student, impressed our committee with his project titled “Industry-Standard Characterization of Coconut Shell Ash’s Viability as a Supplementary Cementitious Material to Reduce CO2 Emissions”

The Senior Project is an independent, student-led culmination of our high school experience. After three years of academic preparation, our seniors are ready to spend the last trimester of their high school careers applying the skills and knowledge they have gained to develop a project that is insightful, academically rigorous, and professional in nature. 

Our seniors start by designing a research question that is often centered on a subject they are passionate about or curious about. Then they embark on a journey to answer it, documenting and analyzing their findings as they go. They partner with both an internal and external advisor to support and guide their research. Students may choose to conduct their research in the form of internships or experimental research at university research labs, field work abroad, or research conducted remotely from home. From explorations into new-age technology to cutting-edge medical advancements to social justice, the Senior Project offers students the opportunity to channel their innate curiosity. This experience readies them for the type of self-direction and self-discipline expected in an undergraduate and graduate setting. 

Max sat down with Mr. Michael Mandeville, Curriculum Development Specialist for BASIS Independent Schools, to discuss his revolutionary project, his BISV experience, and the impact of his research. 

Mr. Mandeville: Welcome Max, thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. And first off, I want to say congratulations again! And I heard that you found out about winning the Fellows Scholarship the same day that you found out you scored a 5 on AP Calculus. Is that right? 

Max P: Yep, it was a great day for me and my parents. 

Mr. Mandeville: Well, congratulations, that is fantastic. Reading your blog was really amazing, and one of the things that stood out to me was the inspiration of growing up internationally and seeing these big construction projects in the cities where you lived. You also mentioned having a head start on your Senior Project, because you’ve been interested in sustainable concrete for a few years now. With these inspirations spanning back to childhood, my first question is: Did you have other ideas for your Senior project, or did you go into senior year knowing that this was the project you wanted to focus on? 

Max P: I was always pretty interested in architecture and design. Since middle school, I’ve always enjoyed drawing buildings. So that got me interested in civil engineering and building materials. I had been doing some research about concrete since at least the summer before grade 12, and doing experiments whose results didn’t turn out exactly as I wanted them to– there were mysteries in the air. I did have some other ideas for things I could do, because there were interdisciplinary concepts I was interested in. But I learned a lot from the two chemistry Capstone courses I took in my senior year, and it related to my major, Environmental Science. By Trimester 3, I felt prepared for my project, so I definitely wanted to get back in there and continue working on what I had started. 

Mr. Mandeville: And you wrote about your involvement with the Aspiring Scholars Directed Research Program (ASDRP), which you joined in grade 10. How did that come about, and is that where you remember this project beginning for you? 

Max P: I would say that there are multiple ways to view the beginning of my project, but ASDRP was where I got into concrete specifically. I had been doing summer camps and various structured programs forever. And I felt like I wanted to do something more self-driven, more independent, instead of just, going to camp and doing what I was told to. Actually, that year I was accepted into one of the Stanford summer camps as well, along with ASDRP. And I don’t know if it was the correct decision, but it was the decision that I wanted to do research, you know, something more independent.  

I went in not really knowing what to expect, because I didn’t really have experience with this level of research, and I thought it was just a college thing. But they did a good job of introducing resources and advisors with different areas of interest. And, so then I found the person who would become my external Senior Project Advisor through that process. 

Mr. Mandeville: Do you have any advice for students who are interested in getting involved in something like that? 

Max P: There are really all kinds of options, of course, and I think I tried, or I participated in many of the different options. There are more and more of these different kinds of programs that connect you with industry professionals or professors who are willing to help high schoolers. I’ve also seen a lot of different high school and even middle school research journals. Of course, you have to apply to those. And then the other option, which I also did was doing independent research, which is more flexible because you can cater to your own interest, but it also depends on what you want to do. 

Of course, if you’re doing something like math or computer science-related, something that doesn’t need physical equipment as much, it’s probably easier to do that kind of thing remotely or at school. Doing a physical project like mine independently is a bit more difficult. I was cold calling, emailing a whole bunch of different organizations like professors at Santa Clara University, that kind of thing. Actually, I had a good number of replies. I was able to talk to some professors and learn some cool things, but couldn’t find anyone with the time and equipment to help. And then I ended up as a desperate attempt just visiting CEMEX, which has a facility like 15 minutes from our house, and we just kind of walked in there one day. It was kind of weird because they had trucks moving around, they were pouring stuff everywhere, and there was a sign that said “Restricted Area” so I wasn’t even sure if we could go in there. But my dad was like, “We have to at least try.” So, we went in and said we have this project that we want to do, and we need test equipment and someone to help out. And they actually connected us with the people I am still working with for my Senior Project. And it just kind of worked out like that. So, if you’re doing independent research, I guess there’s a lot more reaching out in that kind of thing, but a lot more flexibility as well. My recommendation is to be prepared for rejection, but also be prepared to learn a lot. Be flexible and eventually you find opportunities. 

Mr. Mandeville: And that leads me to my next question, because that’s another thing that stood out to me in your blog was the initiative that you took and the cold calling. That is an experience that I think even adults can struggle with, and I think that can be a major block for people, because you’re really putting yourself out there. And you mentioned hearing “No” a lot, or you’re finding a lot of dead ends out there. So, for students who may be facing a similar thing in their Senior Project, or any project, how did you deal with that? Was there ever a point where you thought, “Man, this is not working?”. 

Max P: The first thing that probably anyone would tell you about Senior Projects or research projects in general is to leave more time to start early, definitely. Don’t think, “Oh I have a whole senior year to do this.” It’s good to start thinking about it beforehand. Start taking stock of your interests early on, and then you can at least start getting in contact with people who have expertise and can advise you. Of course, everyone is busy, and also, they have their own things in their life, they’re working on, and they’re researching. So, of course, it’s going to be difficult. 

In that aspect, my dad really helped out a lot there, because he’s always really willing to go and talk to random people. That really encouraged me to also go out there and talk to people. No one’s going to be condescending and purposefully unhelpful or mean. So often, which actually happened to me with the CEMEX, is that people will suggest things and kind of get you on the right path over time. So, you may start out confused, not knowing where to look, but eventually, you’ll start to zero in on what you need to look for. So, you have to keep going at it. 

Listen to what the people you’re talking to are saying and see if there’s something that’s related. They’ll suggest things that are maybe similar if there’s nothing exactly the same as what you want at first. Nothing’s ever going to be as you want it. It’s important to have that flexibility to change your plan. As always, I guess that’s the name of the game in research, right? If everything went just really simply down the path, where would the fun be? 

Mr. Mandeville: And on the note of plans, did you have your BASIS Independent faculty Senior Project advisor in mind from the beginning? What was important to you in choosing the internal advisor for your project? 

Max P. Yes, I had a general idea that I wanted somebody with whom I had classes with before and had a connection with, ideally. Just because you know how that teacher operates, and they also know you and so it’s easier to get started with a collaboration, if you’ve already collaborated in the classroom environment before. 

So, I started there. And then the project being chemistry, and environmental based, I was looking in that region. I was lucky enough to be able to take two Capstones my senior year, Inorganic Chemistry with Dr. Bozidarevic (affectionally known at BISV as “Dr. B”), and also the Industrial Chemistry course with Dr. Davies. 

Dr. B and I interacted very closely in Inorganic Chemistry, because it was a class of six people that year. It turned out to be a really good thing, because, we already understood each other, we joked around every now and then. I think on my senior project presentation, I was introduced as the biggest complainer Dr. B ever had, but also someone who would turn up and get 100 on all the tests anyway. So, you know, we had this kind of banter and closeness from that class. I guess in general, just because of circumstance, a lot of the options will kind of get narrowed down already. And then it’s just going for whose specialty aligns. And actually Dr. B. did suggest that I talk to Dr. Davies every now and then just for some advice, because she had the industry experience with concrete already. So yeah, all the teachers have different kinds of expertise and backgrounds. And some of them might even have interests that you didn’t even know about. It’s just about asking them, just like looking at research in college, it’s okay to talk to different teachers. You don’t have to limit yourself to one immediately. Because of course, they also want a project that kind of fits with how they work. So, it’s never a bad thing to talk to different advisors and kind of weigh your options. 

Mr. Mandeville: That’s great. And in your project, you faced a lot of challenges. Was there an aspect that you found most challenging or most frustrating as you were going through it? 

Max P: Yeah, with concrete, it just takes time, because concrete turns hard, technically, after 24 hours, it’s hard to the touch. But the curing process literally never ends. The hydration and environmental interactions and chemical changes within the concrete mixture pretty much continue forever. And that’s a big thing in the concrete industry: a lifetime analysis of concrete and how it changes from one day, 10 days, two weeks, years, that kind of thing. And so that was a really big thing, I had to get my schedule written out really early on for when I was going to do the tests. And then when I could get the results from that test, and inform another different test I was going to do. Because the curing time of concrete from the standard, one to 28 days, or even 56 days, that’s half the senior project time of the third trimester. And so, just waiting for that was definitely a challenge. I remember, I was actually doing tests a day before the presentation, and making graphs and results to put on my presentation the night before. But that the long curing times also gave me a lot of time in between, so I could work on the more interdisciplinary aspects with doing my research online. So, it was a challenge, but it was also something I used to my advantage. 

Mr. Mandeville: And speaking of the time that it required, I’m curious to know—if you had a full year to work on it or more time to develop it. What aspect of the project would you have wanted to explore more? 

Max P: I guess, technically, I did get even more than a year to work on it. But, of course, there’s always time constraints. If I had more time, I’d like to look at my project over a longer period, because concrete does tend to change even more over time. I think this time, my tests were 28 days, but you know, 56 days and beyond, would be great. And also analyzing the carbon dioxide reabsorption of the of the concrete variation I made over months or even years, although I think there are ways to use like a special kind of carbonation chamber, kind of like a soda water machine to concentrate the carbon dioxide in the air, therefore, more quickly showing the reabsorption potential of the concrete. 

That would be something I would like to do. Because recently, I was looking at professors at my university, Northwestern, and seeing if there’s any related labs going on, related to concrete, and I was talking to one of the retired professors actually, and they were telling me about this work they were doing with biochar and carbon reabsorption. And how adding a little bit of certain materials can dramatically increase this carbon reabsorption, therefore, making the lifetime emissions of that concrete much lower. And biochar is burnt organic material, which is similar to what I was using. So, I would be interested to see if the carbon reabsorption would be affected by adding what I’m using as well. 

And then, another thing was that there are just a ton of different mysteries that popped up, especially near the end with the tests I was doing in the school lab, where there was unexpected, chemicals precipitating out when I was doing the acid tests, depending on the concentration and that kind of thing. And I hadn’t really had the time to analyze what was happening there. But, of course, there is potential there for being able to separate out the carbon from the useful chemicals we want. So that’s definitely an exciting thing to look at, especially because most of the different kind of biomaterial based supplementary cementitious materials that exist right now to replace cement require some sort of burning to reduce carbon content, and that limits their carbon effectiveness to a certain point. So being able to isolate the chemicals we want from the carbon without burning, of course, would be a super big innovation. So that’s something worth looking into as well. 

Mr. Mandeville: Reading your blog was very engaging—you have all of this technical knowledge, and yet you were able to relate it to familiar things and meet your audience where they were. Did that come naturally to you? Or was that something you worked with advisors as you wrote it? 

Max P: I guess it’s kind of an environmental science, environmental advocacy skill. I’ve been working with adults and children in the community for the last few years, with a nonprofit organization that I founded. Because of course, climate change, recycling, all these other things can be really complicated for someone who’s busy, or someone who’s young. And so it’s important to communicate these complex ideas, which are also very interdisciplinary. Making things concise and also easy to remember is one of the key jobs of doing environmental advocacy. 

I gave a lot of presentations, at various charity concerts, at my old elementary school, and you don’t really have forever to go into all the details. But getting the message across and getting some key data points across is the most important to do. And so, I’ve had a lot of experience distilling the essence of what I want to talk about, and so that came into form when I was making my presentation, just because, my environmental advocacy experience, and also having done so many of these kinds of presentations before about concrete as well. I’ve done at least two poster sessions, two online presentations, and also just spoke to a lot of people about it. From that I was kind of able to gauge what people understand more, what people don’t understand, and then go forward with that, and create something concise, but also meaningful. 

Mr. Mandeville: We talked about some of the challenges you face. Alternatively, what were your favorite aspects of it? Was there a favorite part of the project? 

I mean, of course I love my entire project, because it is my project. It’s kind of a part of me. But I guess, there were some special events that were within my project like getting to go to the various concrete facilities, cement facilities, to see the people and look at the tests being done. I remember, it was actually the summer before my senior project, but I remember my first time going to CEMEX quality control lab—kind of an industrial laboratory in Livermore, which was quite a long drive, but going there we deposited the coconut shell ash. 

They had a whole system already devised for testing this kind of thing, because the concrete industry has been around for so long, and it’s gained this really good efficiency. So, they had a whole team there. And the morning we went back, they got started at 7:30 AM helping to make the mixes. I think they made 36 different-sized cylinders plus some shrinkage mold tests. They made a whole bunch of those of three different variations of the concrete in, I want to say like half an hour, but they worked amazingly, as a team, getting all these different tests done on the fresh concrete while also making it. And also, following the rigorous procedures that the industry has. And it was really amazing to see how the industry actually works, and the efficiency that’s required, because I was also making my own concrete mixes later, during Senior Project at school. And it would take me two to three hours to do one ice cube tray worth of concrete. It really amazes me how good they are at what they do. And then of course, I also got to go to the Forterra Lab and they also had a bunch of cool things going on, because they’re more on the experimental side with the sustainable concrete. And they have a bunch of cool pictures on the walls of micro scale images of the types of concrete they’re making. And they also have a bunch of cool machinery. And because it was a smaller scale, I got to get involved, putting some small concrete cubes in one of their compression test machines. I guess I didn’t get to go many times, just because, you know, concrete takes a long time to cure, but it was always a treat, going to see how things actually work and how the professionals do it. 

Mr. Mandeville: Another thing that really stood out to me was how you highlighted so many interdisciplinary aspects of your project. You tied a lot of that to your experience at BISV. Could you give a few of those aspects?  You talked about the chemistry, the physics, the economics, the geography. 

Max P: Yes, so with BISV, I really enjoyed being able to take high-level, advanced courses in all these different aspects. And I think looking back on it, I really enjoyed having that course load. And also, having some of the choices between the different sciences and the different histories. I guess one thing that was especially on my mind while I was doing the interdisciplinary part of the project was Mr. Meyerowitz’s Colonial and Post-Colonial course. In that class, we talked a lot about the political balances that exist in the world in the past and present. And then also, during our debates, we were free to look at all different aspects of certain issues. I sometimes raised the environmental aspect, and it made it so there was more freedom to explore, like project-style, what you personally wanted to look at. 

And with that, I also got a lot of research experience in literature review regarding politics and economics. With those skills, I knew I wanted to use them in my project to look at the economic and geographic concepts. And I could have gone even more in-depth. But then that would probably be multiple different projects at that point. But that was definitely one thing I was keeping in mind. Of course, AP Environmental Science is also just a very interdisciplinary topic in general. There are all kinds of different things going on there, every unit, something new to look at that’s still connected to all the other units as well. So, you know, I was keeping all of these different things in mind. But I feel like in most of the classes I had, there were opportunities for projects where you could kind of tailor it to your own thing. So, I actually already had ideas in my mind from these classes, because I had actually done environmental related interdisciplinary work relating to the class content already. So, that made my job easier, connecting the different dots. 

Mr. Mandeville: I know that sometimes seniors are excited about a project and ultimately choose not to do a project out of a fear of failure—fear that it’s not going to turn out the way they want it to. What advice would you share with those students?  

Max P: I think I heard this a lot during my college application process, and people say this all the time. You know, as you’re going off to college, you kind of have to take the opportunities, you craft the experience. 

My project, you could view it as a “failure” because I didn’t create this all-new concrete that everyone wants. But even so, I think Senior Projects are more about the experience of higher academia, the culmination of knowledge. And so, it’s mostly a good chance to show off what you’ve learned and show off also your individual interests.  

There were so many different passions there. And everybody ended up getting super involved in their own project, of course, because it’s what they want to do. So, what I’d say is, failure is a part of learning. I failed a lot. But I’d say, failing is probably more fun than just succeeding. I mean, if everyone just succeeded all the time, there would be no learning. So, just sticking to it and also showing off what you know is really important for Senior Projects. And definitely thinking about it beforehand also helps alleviate those anxieties. 

Mr. Mandeville: Definitely. Max, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. I really appreciate it. Is there anything else you want to share before we cut off? 

Max P: I guess I’ve got to stand up for concrete still. I think people should be more interested in these things in general, which may seem boring from the outside. I talked about this in my last blog post. Just these things that may not have fancy names like quantum or AI. Of course, those are important, but coming back to Earth and dealing with nitty-gritty issues that can help with environmental problems, especially in the short term to meet our climate goals, is really important. More research efforts should definitely be put into these areas. Integrating these with newer technologies like AI prediction is the way forward. It’s always interdisciplinary, combining things. That’s very important because everything’s connected at the end of the day.