In a truly impressive performance, Team India from IRIS bagged awards for all six project entries that competed at the Intel ISEF (The Intel Science and Engineering Fair) 2011 held in Los Angeles, USA this May.
Team INDIA at Intel ISEF – 2011
For the first time ever, Team India won a ‘Best of Category’ award, in addition to the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Grand Awards, and three Special Awards. Impressive wins at Intel ISEF only strengthen our efforts to make India the Science destination of the world. Sixteen year old Raghavendra Ramachanderan, from Chennai's St. John's International School, Team India’s top winner, won over $9000 for his research in the field of drug synthesis. The students who won first and second prizes will get to have asteroids named after them. Quite an achievement for the little geniuses!
After going through rigorous judging at Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS), the finalists have faced off the competition at Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF). They were very excited to meet their peers from around the world and also meet Nobel Laureates whom they admire a lot. Let’s know more about these Little Geniuses.
Diksha Gupta - An eco-friendly antifungal agent - leaf extract of Girardinia diversifolia
Maharaja Agrasen School, New Delhi
This 17 year old student worked to control a fungus which destroys food crop by using eco friendly product from the plan “Bichubati” which is found in abundance in Himachal Pradesh. When she is not preparing for her 12th board exams or working on her project, she likes reading and listening to songs. Her father, who is an industrialist and mother who is a Principal have immensely supported her in her project.
Raghavendra Ramachanderan - Drug Synthesis: Braving Legendary Challenges
St. John‘s International Residential School, Chennai
He is very fascinated with Organic synthesis which involves a construction of drugs or substances containing carbon bonds., He has worked hard and made a project which deals with the synthesis of 3 such drugs of biological importance.
He loves playing Veena, reading novels and walking in fresh air. Afterhis 12th standard, he wants to pursue B.Sc in Chemistry and continue in the field of research.
Manosij Ghosh Dastidar - Integer Partitions and Sequences
South Point School, Kolkata
He has worked hard to present an extension of Stanley's theorem related to partitions of positive integers. He got this idea while he was learning the theorem in his class. This is the 2nd time that Manosij is participating in Intel ISEF. Last year, he participated with a partner and won 1 Grand Award for the project. He loves poetry and also likes music.
Hetal and Ankur Vaishnav - Recycling Rexine waste- a novel and economical
Approach
Late Sri S.G. Dholakia School, Shri P.V. Modi School, Rajkot
This sister-brother duo has developed a novel and economic way of recycling rexine waste material by separating the fabric and polymeric components using cryogenic grinding technique in a modified kitchen mixer. Both of them are very passionate about science and research and want to continue in this field. For Hetal, Science is fun and she enjoys working on her projects. Ankur wants to make this world pollution free. Both of them enjoy light moments with family and like spending time on their projects.
Akansha Verma and Abhishek Khanna - Acmella oleracea a naturally growing weed as effective pest controller
Maharaja Agrasen School, New Delhi
As a low cost remedy to control pests, these students have come up with a solution of using extracts of Acmella oleracea, a naturally growing weed. They have worked hard in trying to experiment their product in various field trials. They appreciate all the help and guidance given by their guide teacher and say it was her vision that they are trying to achieve. They like spending their free time with friends.
Pramoda N.V. and Bhargava C.S. - Eco-friendly ink from Terminalia chebula
Shree Ramakrishna High School, Puttur
These two students have explored to produce natural ink from Fruits of Terminalia chebula, a giant tree growing abundantly in Western Ghats of India. They have compared their ink to other commercial inks and have found it to be better in many ways. Though they are from a small town in Karnataka, their school has immensely supported them to conduct experiments in other laboratories and guide them in a correct way.
Winnings at Intel ISEF 2011
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Best of Subject Category Award
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Intel will present Best of Category Winners with a $5,000 award. Additionally, a $1,000 grant will be given to
their school and the Intel ISEF Affiliated Fair they represent.
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Sr. no.
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Award Name
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Award Value
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Name
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Project Title
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School, City
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1
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Top first place - Chemistry (Presented by Intel)
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$5,000
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Raghavendra Ramachanderan
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Drug Synthesis: Braving Legendary Challenges
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St. John's International Residential School,
Chennai
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Grand Awards
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Sr. no.
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Award Name
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Award Value
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Name
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Project Title
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School, City
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1
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First Award - Chemistry (Presented by Intel)
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$3,000
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Raghavendra Ramachanderan
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Drug Synthesis: Braving Legendary Challenges
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St. John's International Residential School,
Chennai
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2
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Second Award - Environmental Management (Presented by Intel)
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$1,500
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Hetal Kanjibhai Vaishnav, Ankur Kanjibhai Vaishnav
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Recycling Rexine Waste--A Novel and Economical Approach
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Late Shree S. G. Dholakiya Memorial High School, Shree P.V Modi High School, Rajkot
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3
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Second Award - Mathematics (Presented by Intel)
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$1,500
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Manosij G Dastidar
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Integer Partitions and Sequences
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South Point High School, Kolkata
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4
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Third Award - Environmental Management (Presented by Intel)
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$1,000
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Pramoda Nekkare Vishnumurthy, Bhargava Chakrakodii Subbanna
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Eco-friendly Ink from Terminalia chebula
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Sri Ramakrishna High School, Puttur
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5
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Fourth Award - Animal Sciences (Presented by Intel)
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$500
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Abhishek Khanna, Akansha Verma
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Acmella oleracea: A Naturally Growing Weed as Effective Pest Controller
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Maharaja Agarsain Public School, Delhi, India
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Special Awards
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Sr. no.
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Award Name
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Award Value
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Name
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Project Title
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School, City
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1
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First Award (Presented by American Mathematical Society)
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$1,000
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Manosij G Dastidar
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Integer Partitions and Sequences
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South Point High School, Kolkata
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2
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Second Award of U.S. savings bond (Presented by AVASC-Ashtavadhani Vidwan Ambati Subbaraya Chetty
Foundation)
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$500
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Abhishek Khanna, Akansha Verma
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Acmella oleracea: A Naturally Growing Weed as Effective Pest Controller
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Maharaja Agarsain Public School, Delhi
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3
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Fifth Award (Presented by American Society for Microbiology)
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$250
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Diksha Gupta,
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An Eco-friendly Antifungal Agent: Leaf extract of Girardinia diversifolia
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Maharaja Agarsain Public School, Delhi
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