Senior selected for national physics team

While many students may recognize senior Brian Wai as president of the chess club or a Mathematical Olympiad Summer Program (MOSP) attendee, few know that Wai is talented in physics as well.

Wai has been selected as a candidate for the U.S. National Physics team and will attend a  training camp at the University of Maryland for 10 days starting on June 3.  

During camp, teachers from the American Association of Physics Teachers will train students intensively through a multitude of labs and lectures. According to Wai, tests will be given every other day. On June 13, the last day of camp, the top five students will be chosen for the National Physics Team in the International Physics Olympiad which will take place in Estonia on July 15-24. 

“I’m excited,” Wai said. “Hopefully I’ll make it on the [representative] team, but it is very difficult to move on.”

The path to qualifying for the selective training camp was no simple task. 

Wai first had to pass the “F=ma” exam in late January and covered basic physics mechanics. Next, Wai moved on as a semi-finalist and took a more difficult test comprising of six questions. 

“It’s only six questions, so you have to get most of the questions right,” Wai said. “Most people don’t know how to do the questions, so they get zeros. I feel like this year’s test was easier than other years. I didn’t do so well the last two times.” 

From there, Wai placed among the top 20 scorers, becoming a candidate for the National Physics Team. It was Wai’s third time qualifying as a semi-finalist, but his first time qualifying as a candidate.  

Wai will be attending Stanford in the fall to study mathematics as a major. Although he does not know for sure whether or not he will pursue a career in physics, the subject still remains as a topic of interest. 

“A lot of new inventions and technologies like computers [use] various principles of physics,” Wai said. “So without physics, these inventions wouldn’t have been possible. That’s why physics is interesting because it can give rise to new technologies that can help the world.”