Cornell-trained computational plasma physicist and national-lab researcher, science-competition judge and problem-setter, and founder of Tian2 — now a STEM competition coach and research mentor guiding students from high school to PhD, bilingually in English and Chinese.
Founder & Editor, Tian2 · Tian2Dr. Tian (Harvey Tian · 田世豪) is a physicist by training and an editor by temperament — the founder and editor behind Tian2 (Tian2), a warm editorial education publisher at tian-2.com. He holds an M.S. in Physics and a Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Cornell University, after a double B.S. in Physics & Computer Science from the University of Virginia.
He is a judge for the International Young Physicists' Tournament (IYPT), Regeneron ISEF and the Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS), the Conrad Challenge, and the Princeton University Physics Competition (PUPC), where he also serves as a problem-setter — as well as iGEM (Leading Judge, Paris 2023) and PUEC. He is a member of the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the IEEE, and a Young Editorial Board member of the journal 《电力建设》 (Electric Power Construction).
His research was carried out at the Argonne, Fermi, and Sandia national laboratories. He invented an industrial synthesis method for the superconductor MgB₂ — strong, stable performance in testing — and authored Perseus, a plasma-simulation program that models plasma behaviour in high-temperature, high-pressure environments, with results published in Review of Plasma Physics and other SCI journals.
He now focuses on physics and computer-science competition coaching and on US/UK admissions from high school through PhD — across written competitions (Physics Bowl, PUPC, USACO, and more) and research competitions (the S.-T. Yau Science Award, Regeneron ISEF). Under his mentorship, students have reached the Physics Bowl global top-100 (three in 2021, four in 2022), the PUPC global top-100 (global #10 in 2022), the S.-T. Yau Science Award (one Silver, one Bronze, three Honorable Mentions), the Regeneron ISEF finals (one First, three Second, three Third), and the Conrad Challenge (three China teams to the global finals, one global Best Pitch). The belief under all of it is plain: a difficult thing, set well on the page, becomes a possible one — and the long way is always shown.
Evaluated finalists' research at the Society for Science's International Science & Engineering Fair (acceptances on file).
Reviews finalist research for the United States' oldest and most prestigious pre-college science competition.
Judges student innovation teams in the Conrad Foundation's global challenge.
Writes original competition problems and worked solutions, and judges submissions.
Judged the International Young Physicists' Tournament, a team research-and-debate competition.
Served as a Leading Judge at the iGEM international synthetic-biology competition.
Judges submissions for the Princeton University Economics Competition.
Member, American Association of Physics Teachers; member, IEEE.
Young Editorial Board member of the journal Electric Power Construction; declared area: plasma physics & controlled fusion.
Recognized at the Forbes Global Alliance International Leaders gala, Four Seasons Hotel Beijing, 13 January 2024. This is recognition at the Forbes Global Alliance gala — not a Forbes-magazine list or ranking. Source: announcement (WeChat).
Distinct from Dr. Tian's own research above: he is a named co-author on student research papers he mentored to publication, across fields including biology and remote sensing. These are presented as mentorship — guiding students from a first question through study design, analysis, and writing to a published, peer-reviewed paper — not as his own primary research.
Directs the brand, design system, and editorial standard across competitions, books, AP, research mentoring, and programs.
Guides students and families through applications from top boarding schools to graduate and doctoral programs.
His own studio for US/UK college counseling and STEM competition coaching, backed by original data work (Common Data Set analysis, essay-prompt and summer-program databases).
Dr. Tian coaches two distinct kinds of competition — written competitions, where the challenge is a timed, exam-style problem set, and research competitions, where students carry an original project from a first question to a defended result. He also prepares students for US/UK admissions from high school through PhD. The aggregate results below are reported without student names.
Public ISEF finalist projects (project codes only; no student names). Each links to its public projectboard.world page. More mentored research is shown on /research.
A hard idea, set well on the page, becomes a reachable one.
— Dr. Tian
Set in Playfair Display and Inter, with Bebas Neue for labels and Noto Serif SC / Noto Sans SC for Chinese. The palette is cream (#F5EDDC) and ink (#2C2416), with a single warm accent per page — coral. Linework is drawn at 2.5px; rules are hairline. No shadows, no gradients. Made on cream.
Harvey Tian · 田世豪 (Dr. Tian) — Founder, Tian2 — tian-2.com · [email protected] — Unofficial; not affiliated with or endorsed by the competition bodies. Original analyses © Tian2; original exam questions © their owners.