The award
The Society for Science lists the 2016 Gordon E. Moore Award, worth $75,000, to Han Jie (Austin) Wang of Vancouver, aged 18. The prize goes to a single project judged best across the entire fair rather than best within a category.
It was the second consecutive year a Vancouver student took the top award: Raymond Wang, also of Vancouver, had won it in 2015 for work on aircraft cabin airflow. The two are separate people and separate projects.
What the project title says
MFC stands for microbial fuel cell — a device in which bacteria break down organic matter and, in doing so, release electrons that can be collected as an electric current. The bacteria doing that work are the biocatalyst in the title.
The two methods named are gene identification and consortia engineering. The first means finding the genes responsible for a bacterium's ability to transfer electrons; the second means designing communities of different microbes to work together rather than relying on a single species. The source publishes no abstract, so no result or performance figure is stated here.
The 2016 fair
Intel ISEF 2016 ran from 8 to 13 May at the Phoenix Convention Center, with approximately 1,750 young scientists selected from 419 affiliated fairs across more than 75 countries, regions and territories.
About 600 finalists received recognition, including 20 Best of Category winners at $5,000 each, with $1,000 grants going to their schools and affiliated fairs. The Moore Award is the top of that pyramid.
The rest of the 2016 podium
Two Intel Foundation Young Scientist Awards of $50,000 were given. One went to Syamantak Payra, 15, of Friendswood, Texas, for 'Brace Yourself: A Novel Electronically Aided Leg Orthosis'.
The other went to Kathy Liu, 17, of Salt Lake City, for nature-based solid polymer electrolytes aimed at safer, more sustainable and more efficient rechargeable batteries. Bioelectricity, assistive devices and battery chemistry took the three top awards.
What is documented — and what is not
The listing gives his full name in the form Han Jie (Austin) Wang, his age, his home city, the award, its value and the project title. It names no school, no mentor and no laboratory, and it publishes no abstract.
Zwanzig Fragen, acht Minuten auf der Uhr und ein Perzentil, gemessen an allen bisherigen Teilnehmern. Ohne Anmeldung.
IQ-Test starten →It also stops at the fair. No source used here reports his later studies, any publication of the microbial fuel cell work, or whether it was developed further. His birth year is inferred from being 18 in May 2016 and is approximate. His name is also common enough that search results are unreliable, and nothing on this page refers to anyone else.
Why microbial fuel cells attract young researchers
Microbial fuel cells are an accessible entry point into serious bioengineering: the basic apparatus can be assembled at modest cost, the organisms are ordinary environmental bacteria, and the output is a measurable electrical current.
That accessibility is general to the field rather than specific to Wang's work, which the source does not describe in detail. What the record establishes is the ranking — first among roughly 1,750 finalists at the 2016 fair.
| Person | Land | Meilenstein | Alter / Wert |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finola Hackett | Kanada | Zweitplatzierte beim Scripps National Spelling Bee 2006 | 14 Jahre |
| Nelson Sexton | Kanada | Entwicklung des Survival-Spiels Unturned auf Steam mit 16 | 16 Jahre |
| Raymond Wang | Kanada | Mit 17 Jahren designte er die Luft in einer Flugzeugkabine neu und gewann den Preis der Messe | 17 Jahre |
| Austin Wang | Kanada | Gordon E. Moore Award, Hauptpreis bei der Intel ISEF 2016 (75.000 Dollar) | 18 Jahre |
| Ayla Tesler-Mabé | Kanada | Virale Gitarren-Cover; Fender-Endorsement | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Won the $75,000 Gordon E. Moore Award at Intel ISEF 2016 at 18 (Society for Science)
- Listed as Han Jie (Austin) Wang of Vancouver, Canada
- Project title: 'Boosting MFC Biocatalyst Performance: A Novel Gene Identification and Consortia Engineering Approach'
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No abstract, methods or performance results published in the source
- No school, mentor or laboratory named
- No information on his studies or the project's development after 2016
Questions people ask about Austin Wang
How old was Austin Wang when he won?
Eighteen, in May 2016. No date of birth appears in the source used here.
What is his full name?
The Society for Science lists him as Han Jie (Austin) Wang.
What is a microbial fuel cell?
A device in which bacteria break down organic matter and release electrons that can be collected as electric current.
What did his project do?
Its title describes gene identification and consortia engineering to boost the performance of the bacteria acting as the fuel cell's biocatalyst.
How much did he win?
$75,000, the Gordon E. Moore Award, the top prize at Intel ISEF 2016.
Where is Austin Wang now?
No source used here reports on his studies or work after 2016.
Is Austin Wang on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on him was confirmed for this entry.
Is he related to Raymond Wang, who won in 2015?
No relationship is documented. Both are from Vancouver, but the source treats them as separate winners in separate years.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Austin’s story?
What does MFC stand for in Austin Wang's project title?
Which award did he win?
Which city hosted Intel ISEF 2016?
Sources
- Intel ISEF 2016 (top award winners) — Society for Science
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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