Frank Cai '14

Frank Cai ’14 is using Andover High School’s (AHS) physical plant as his lab to test energy use and ultimately save the school money. “It’s so big and there are so many resources there,” said Cai. “Teachers are excited about what we’re doing.” He’s part of a team of students called The Energizers who are monitoring the energy use of AHS day and night. Cai came to Pike as a new sixth grader, and credits the faculty with much of his early success and ability to think outside the box. “The most significant skill Pike taught me was the ability to look at a problem differently,” said Cai.

“If a solution doesn’t work, I don’t back down, ever. I just keep chipping away at it until I find a solution.”
Cai remembers one Pike teacher most vividly. “Mr. Paul Heinze is energetic and he thinks differently,” said Cai. In the short time Cai attended Pike, his experience made an impression on him. Thanks to Pike, Cai is well prepared for all that AHS has to offer including the academic rigor of his honors classes, his heady electives, and his work with The Energizers.

“As a sophomore this year, I have the freedom to take electives,” he said. “My favorite by far is Java programming.” It’s no surprise that his most exciting project to date has been the energy audit of AHS because it combines his passion for solving real-world problems with complex math and his keen interest in saving energy.

“In mid-December [2014], there was an announcement on the intercom. It explained that the school needed help with monitoring an energy problem at AHS,” said Cai in his online blog about the project.

At first, he was reluctant to join the team because the project seemed daunting. In the summer of 2015, AHS installed six panels to monitor and record the energy output of different regions in the school. Cai and his team members started analyzing the data, crunching the numbers, and realizing the potential for AHS to save thousands of dollars annually. He was hooked.

“A mentor friend of mine created a script in Python which allows us to read graphs and deduce trends more efficiently,” said Cai. Today, they continue to monitor the energy levels at AHS and hope to expand their outreach to other Andover public schools and even to Pike, who is meeting with Cai this spring to discuss the possibilities.

Stay tuned for more details on how Cai’s project is bringing him full circle back to Pike.