Best Scientist Incubator 2012 | AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute | La Vida | Phoenix
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Best Scientist Incubator

AGUILA Youth Leadership Institute

There are young geniuses among us, and you'll find several of them have been roosting at the Aguila (eagle) nest in Central Phoenix.

This leadership institute, a nonprofit organization launched about eight years ago by Rosemary Ybarra-Hernandez, mentors young Latinos, mostly from lower-income families, from high school through college. They say their approach is not "rocket science," but they certainly are shaping and guiding our future rocket scientists, and their track record is impressive. Some of the students who are part of the program — and we're talking serious brainiacs — are bound for amazing futures. Phili Reyes of Phoenix just took part in a NASA internship involving the space shuttle Orion. Reymundo Hernandez, also a local kid, is starting his senior year at MIT. Carmen Ramirez Zazueta, who attended Agua Fria High School, is a National Science Foundation Scholar. And Diana Garcia, who attended Westwood High School in Mesa, is a Gates Millennium Scholar at Brown University. Impressive, yes?
  • 3030 N. 3rd St., Phoenix, 85012 Map

Best Use of Computers to Terrify Visitors to Our State

Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-Time

Arizona's recent laws concerning immigration certainly have made some people think twice about visiting our state. And now we have finally reached the stage where we can automate the process of scaring visitors away.

The AVATAR, or Automated Virtual Agent for Truth Assessments in Real-Time, is a machine that looks like an ATM as envisioned by Kafka. AVATAR has two screens: One projects the head of an ethnically neutral male and the second features a touchscreen that lets users interact with the machine. Behind the scenes, it has a suite of sensors that measure respiration rate, skin temperature, pupil dilation, and a host of other factors. Using the data it collects screening border crossers, AVATAR should be able to flag suspicious behavior for further investigation by flesh and blood border agents. Conveniently, AVATAR is bilingual and capable of recognizing and understanding normal human speech. The upshot of AVATAR is that, theoretically, the machine is an objective judge of suspicious actions and thus impervious to politically uncomfortable charges of racial profiling. This system currently is being field-tested at the busy Nogales border crossing, so make your travel plans accordingly.

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