MY Camper Radu Bors: Science is 90% imagination and 10% knowledge
17-year-old Radu Bors applied for MY Camp 2010. His passion for science, and exploring deeper into it, did not let him get discouraged after not being accepted. Now, he is one of the 2011 MY Campers.
17-year-old Radu Bors lives in Iasi, a city in the eastern Romania, and studies at Colegiul National Iasi. There he has taken lower level classes on subjects like history, literature, and psychology, but natural sciences – mathematics, physics, and chemistry – are the subjects he is truly focusing on.
Later this year, he will apply to Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science, and hopes to make science his future career.
“I see science as a tool used to explore the physical universe. And it is like a chain reaction: the deeper we get the more we realize how much more we need to explore,” Radu summarizes, and adds that even though science is about knowledge, much more so it is about imagination and dreams.
“Albert Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world’, and he was right. Science is 90% imagination and just 10% knowledge,” Radu says.
He applied for the first MY Camp that was arranged in the summer of 2010 after hearing about it from one of his teachers, but did not get discouraged after not getting through to the second stage of the application process.
“The application I wrote then didn’t prove my passion and I was not accepted for the second round. That’s why I tried again and was better prepared and more willing to take part in this marvelous project”, Radu says and adds that attitude and dedication have a lot to do with whether you fail or succeed.
Now, Radu is looking forward of being part of the multicultural group of 30 MY Campers. “I have never had the opportunity to know so many people from so many different countries. I am sure I will get along with everybody.”
He is also eager to meet real scientists and see what doing research is like, especially in the field of renewable energy and resources, which is also his theme group during the camp.
“I would like to find out about the latest discoveries in renewable energy, and what are the best alternatives to fossil fuels,” he says. Before choosing the subject for his own project plan, he did some reading on the options for renewable energy, and decided on hydrogen, because options like solar and wind power were more familiar to him.
“I picked hydrogen as a theme because I wanted to learn more about it while doing the project. I actually created my first own electrolysis system for the project. I really had a great time,” Radu says.
In his spare time Radu likes to read, and lists literature as one of his other passions besides science. Lately, he has started practicing the guitar, and he is a member of a drama club. He also describes himself as a great movie lover.
“I believe that making a film is making art, not just a way of making money. That’s why I enjoy movies that are more than special effects or good-looking actors,” Radu says.
Have a look at Radu’s project plan (pdf).
Visit also Millennium Youth Camp’s website.
Elisa Lautala is the editor of MyScience. With her educational background in translation and communication, she is learning more about science everyday. Elisa likes all kinds of cultural events, good books, warm weather, and aqua-jogging.