The prize and the field
Intel ISEF 2010 was held in San Jose, California, and Intel's announcement on 14 May put the scale of it plainly: 1,611 young scientists, drawn from 539 affiliated fairs in 59 countries and regions, competing for more than $4 million in prizes.
Chyao took the single largest of them. The Gordon E. Moore Award, named for the Intel co-founder, is the fair's first prize and was worth $75,000 that year. She was 16, which placed her toward the younger end of a field weighted toward high-school seniors.
What the project was
Intel's release describes the work in one sentence: Chyao developed a photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy, an emerging cancer treatment that uses light energy to activate a drug that kills cancer cells. She entered it in the chemistry category.
A photosensitizer is the compound at the centre of that mechanism — the molecule that absorbs light and converts it into a cell-killing effect. Beyond that single sentence, the source used here does not describe the chemistry she synthesised, the laboratory she worked in or the results she obtained, so this page does not characterise them.
What Intel said about the fair
Intel's chief executive at the time, Paul Otellini, framed the 2010 fair in terms of what he had seen on the floor. "The 1,600 youth from around the world who attended this week's Intel International Science and Engineering Fair showed me that the next generation of scientific and technological innovation is exciting and thriving," he said.
The fair is run by the Society for Science and reaches finalists through a funnel of affiliated regional fairs — 539 of them in 2010. A student does not enter ISEF directly; they qualify by winning at home first, which is why a first prize there is measured against a very large pyramid of earlier competitions.
Who else won that year
The awards below the Moore prize carried $50,000 each. One went to Yale Fan, 18, of Beaverton, Oregon, for work demonstrating the advantages of quantum computing in performing difficult computations, entered in physics and astronomy.
That pairing — a chemistry project on cancer therapy and a physics project on quantum computation — is characteristic of the fair's top tier, where the winning entries are usually specialised enough that judges are comparing across incommensurable fields rather than ranking within one.
What is documented — and what is not
The Intel press release is the single source used here. It establishes her name, age, home town, prize, award amount, category and a one-sentence description of the project. It does not name her school, her mentors or her family.
It also stops in May 2010. Nothing on this page describes where Chyao studied afterwards, whether the photosensitizer work was published or continued, or what she does now, because the source used here does not say. Those are gaps in the material rather than facts about her career.
Watch: Amy Chyao on camera
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lauren Hodge | United States | Winning the 13-14 age category of the first Google Science Fair, in 2011… | Age 14 |
| Amy Chyao | United States | Gordon E. Moore Award, top prize at Intel ISEF 2010 | Age 16 |
| Sophie Healy-Thow | Ireland | Co-winning the Google Science Fair grand prize in 2014 | Age 16 |
| Viney Kumar | Australia | Winner, 13-14 category, Google Science Fair 2013 | — |
| Calvin Rieder | Canada | 2015 Google Science Fair global finalist | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Won the $75,000 Gordon E. Moore Award at Intel ISEF 2010 at 16 (Intel press release, 14 May 2010)
- From Richardson, Texas; project entered in chemistry
- Project described as a photosensitizer for photodynamic cancer therapy
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No school, mentor or laboratory named in the source
- No date of birth published; the birth year is inferred from her stated age
- No information on her education or career after 2010
Questions people ask about Amy Chyao
How old was Amy Chyao when she won?
Sixteen, in May 2010. No date of birth is published in the source used here, so her birth year is inferred.
What did she win?
The Gordon E. Moore Award, the top prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, worth $75,000.
What was her project?
A photosensitizer for photodynamic therapy, a cancer treatment in which light energy activates a drug that kills cancer cells.
How big was the competition?
Intel ISEF 2010 drew 1,611 finalists from 539 affiliated fairs in 59 countries and regions, with more than $4 million in prizes.
Where is Amy Chyao now?
No source used here reports on her studies or career after May 2010.
Is Amy Chyao on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on her was confirmed for this entry. The record here rests on Intel's 2010 press release.
Did she cure cancer?
No. She developed a photosensitizer for an emerging therapy, which is a research contribution at the high-school level, not a treatment in clinical use.
Who are her parents?
No source used here names her family or her school.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Amy’s story?
Which award did Amy Chyao win at Intel ISEF 2010?
How much was the prize worth?
What was her project about?
Sources
- Texas Teen Wins Top Honors at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, World's Largest Pre-College Science Competition — Intel, 2010-05-14
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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