Designing a keyboard that could reduce carpal tunnel syndrome has earned Sarah Bai a spot in the state science fair next month. The 16-year-old Tracy High junior tied for first place in the ninth-through-12th grade division at the 55th annual San Joaquin County Science Fair on March 8. She will be taking her project, “Designing a more ergonomic QWERTY keyboard layout by analyzing punctuation frequency,” to the 62nd annual California State Science Fair at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on April 15 and 16. Bai tied with Tokay High School student Julie Fukunaga, who reported on “Electromagnetic Soil Sensing.” Both will be representing San Joaquin County at state.
During the county competition, Bai was among more than 1,500 students presenting their projects. She was awarded a medal and $300 for first place. While sitting in the Tracy High School office on Monday, March 11, Bai said she was delighted with her victory, but she said the challenge of her research was the real reward. “I go not expecting to win,” she said. “If you have to justify yourself by winning, then the project is not worth it.”
Bai said she began her preliminary research in December, knowing that she wanted to do a project focused on altering the layout of the traditional qwerty keyboard. “Qwerty” represents the first six letters at the upper left of the keyboard, and it is the most common key arrangement dating back to the 1920s, according to Webster’s Dictionary. Bai concentrated on punctuation marks and rearranged the placement of keys, such as the comma, period and hyphen. The goal was to design a keyboard that was ergonomic and lowered the risk of carpal tunnel syndrome, she said.
According to Bai, the real fun of science fairs is meeting people with similar interests. The idea to enter the county science fair arose in November, when Bai’s research adviser and physics teacher, Dean Reese, mentioned the possibility. Reese said Monday that he wanted his students to get more involved in the fair this year and he was very proud of Bai’s accomplishments. “She put a lot of hard work into that project — hours and hours and hours,” he said during a telephone interview. “I think she has an outstanding project.”
According to Reese, Bai isn’t the only Tracy High student slated to compete at the state fair. Isfar Munir, also a junior, is also competing after placing third in the Sacramento Regional Science and Engineering Fair on March 8 and 9, Reese said. Munir’s project, “The Effective Humidity on the Path Taken by an Electric Arc Generated by a Tesla Coil,” will be entered on an individual basis. Munir received honorable mention at the county fair. He was not listed by the San Joaquin County Office of Education as a county representative for the state competition.
At right is a list of all the Tracy-area top winners at the 55th annual San Joaquin County Science Fair. Names of winners were provided by the San Joaquin County Office of Education on March 8.
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Keyboard redesign wins science fair
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