Fah's FAQs

So your full name is Jarupon Sathirapongsasuti. Where do you get "Fah" from?

It's a Thai custom for parents to name their kid a nickname separate from a first name. "Fah" is my "given" nick name.

I saw a picture of you in a monk robe. Are you a monk?

No, I am not a monk. I was a monk for one month before coming to college. Becoming a monk for a short period of time is quite common in Thailand. In fact, it is an old time tradition that once a man turns twenty he should be ordained into the Sangha order as a sign of becoming an adult. This tradition is not widely observed anymore. In my case, I did it out of my own interest and initiative.

You are in Phi Psi, are you a "frat boy" now?

Hmm... no. First of all, Phi Psi is not a "frat". It is a fraternity. And we are not "boys". We are men. So a correct label for me would be a member of a fraternity.

I heard you are a celebrity in Thailand. Is that right?

Yes and no, depending on how you define "celebrity". Yes, I am known by many people. Some of them , perhaps most of them, I don't know. People sometimes would recognize me or my name or my work.
All this is because of a science project my friends and I did in my junior and senior years of high school. The project name is "Walking with A Millipede". It is an attempt to model how millipedes walk mathematically. We came up with an equation that predict position of millipede's legs as a function of time and the number of legs.
What get us famous was the fact that we won the first prize for interdisciplinary team project in the 2004 Intel ISEF (Intel International Science and Engineering Fair). We got to appear on many famous TV shows, made front page of the most famous national newspaper, got covered in countless number of newspapers and magazines, got interviewed by many radio shows, was recognized by the Prime Minister, was hailed by our school, the Science Society of Thailand, the Math Association, the Biology Association, the Physics Association, the Ministry of Science and Technology, even the royal family.