Headquarters California, United States | ||
The Jisan Research Institute (JRI) is a nonprofit organization located in Alhambra, California. The Institute, founded in 1995 by Dr. Sanza T. Kazadi, is the only professional research laboratory for kids. The laboratory serves children between the ages of 13 and 18 and young adults enrolled in community colleges. The laboratory's primary focus is teaching kids how to do science by giving them unsolved problems to work through. Once the students have worked through the problems, their research is submitted to professional scientific journals or conference proceedings for publication. Though no mention is typically made of the fact that the papers come from students, which indicates that JRI students face the same stringent criteria for publication as professional scientists, JRI students have published thirty-six (36) papers and JRI research groups have issued patents,.
The purpose of the Jisan Research Institute is to improve education in America by serving as an example of a research lab filled with young people that can be run by a motivated scientist and might eventually fit into the standard high school system. It is expected that as JRI students continue to excel in their work, opportunities in university, and eventual careers, a new standard will be set for the motivated young student. JRI's stated purpose is to aid in the adoption of programs similar to this program by pre-college educational institutions as a way of promoting science training in America.
The research laboratory was originally located in Dr. Kazadi's apartment when he was an undergraduate student. The original students, David Chen, Andy Chien, and Juri Ogita, were students at Alhambra High School. With these three students, Dr. Kazadi developed a curriculum which is still in use today, and began work on the very first research programs. The first student to graduate from the Jisan program is Dr. Henry Lin. Dr. Lin went on to study at the University of California, Berkeley and then carried out his PhD at the University of Southern California.
Research at the Jisan Research Institute is currently primarily focused around swarm engineering. Swarm engineering is a field of engineering concerned with generating swarms utilizing a mathematically provable methodology. Applications of swarm engineering methodologies can be found in economics, mathematics, engineering, computer science, and sociology.