14 Indian American Middle Schoolers Among 30 Finalists of Broadcom MASTERS
- Each of the student innovators and leaders will participate in the final competition held virtually from Oct. 22 to 28.
Fourteen Indian American leaders and innovators are among 30 finalists in the 11th annual Broadcom MASTERS, the nation’s premier Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) middle school competition, the Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science announced today, Sept. 14.
Finalist projects cover multiple disciplines of science, including environmental and earth science, electrical and mechanical engineering, microbiology, physics, bioengineering, computer science, software engineering, behavioral and social sciences, energy and sustainability, animal science, chemistry and plant science.
“After a year where all our lives were impacted by the pandemic, more than 25% of the finalists are taking on a challenge that we all faced in 2020 and 2021: COVID-19,” said a Society for Science press release.
All finalists receive a $500 cash award. Each of the finalists will participate in team challenges in addition to being judged on their science research project during a virtual competition from Oct. 22 to 28.
Indian American finalists include:
Arjun Agarwal, 7th Grade, Stoller Middle School, Portland, Oregon (Project: A Machine Learning-Based Innovative Approach for Early Detection and Forecasting of Harmful Algal Blooms).
Sebastian Alexis, 7th Grade, Sierra Vista Middle School, Irvine, California (Project: Quantifying the Effectiveness of Lockdown Measures Using Effective Reproduction Number (Rt) of SARS-CoV2).
Ryka Chopra, 7th Grade, William Hopkins Junior High School
Fremont, California (Project: Does the Tail Wag the Dog, After All? Obesity Clusters & Their Influence on Predatory Location Choice of New Fast Food Chain Franchisees).
Sohan Govindaraju, 7th Grade, Stoller Middle School, Portland, Oregon (Project: A Novel Mathematical Approach to Predict the Spread of a Wildfire Using the SIR based Model).
Atreya Manaswi, 8th Grade, Orlando Science School Middle/High Charter, Orlando, Florida (Project: Finding the Best Novel, Safe, and Organic Treatment to Attract Small Hive Beetles and Improve Honey Bee Strength (Year 2 Study))
Vihaan Paliwal, 6th Grade, Carden Cascade Academy, Hillsboro, Oregon (Project: Don’t Drive That Way, Have Another Day!)
Avi Patel, 6th Grade, Thomas Jefferson Middle School
Fair Lawn, New Jersey (Project: The B2B System for the Visually Impaired).
Samhita Pokkunuri, 8th Grade, Carl Sandburg Middle School
Old Bridge, New Jersey (Project: A Novel Graph Neural Network for De Novo Drug Discovery: A Case Study on Glioblastoma).
Nipun Rajan, 8th Grade, Houston Middle School, Germantown, Tennessee (Project: Personalizing Masks for Optimal Results Using Computer Algorithms).
Akilan Sankaran, 8th Grade, Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque, New Mexico (Project: On the Exploration and Analysis of Highly Divisible Numbers).
Ansh Sehgal, 6th Grade, Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Fair Lawn, New Jersey (Project: Bike to Bike System for Visually Impaired).
Praneel Shah, 8th Grade, John F. Kennedy Middle School
Cupertino, California (Project: Utilizing a Bioelectrochemical System with Phototrophic Bacteria to Generate Clean Water and Electricity).
Prisha Shroff, 8th Grade, Accelerated Middle School at Basha High School, Chandler, Arizona (Project: AI-based Wildfire Prevention System).
Raunak Singh, 7th Grade, Memorial Middle School, Fair Lawn, New Jersey Project: Apollo: A Beacon of Light).