Anand Srinivasan, Shaun Datta did projects on genetics, quantum chromodynamics.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: Two Indian Americans, Anand Srinivasan and Shaun Datta, placed in the top 10 of the Intel Science Talent Search, netting each of them a monetary prize of $20,000.
Srinivasan, who hails from Roswell High School in Georgia, came in at #8 for his project on genomic structure prediction. The project could become a significant factor in helping disease screenings and genome-based pharmaceuticals, for treatment of genetic ailments.
According to information from Intel, “Anand developed a neural-network-based computer model that he called RNNScan, which ‘learns’ patterns in DNA in order to predict the boundaries of these genomic regions. Anand’s RNNScan algorithm was able to find nearly twice as many gene boundaries as GENSCAN, a widely used prediction tool.”
Datta is a student at Montgomery Blair High School, one of the foremost high schools in southern Maryland. Datta’s project is about quantum chromodynamics (CQD), which is used to understand powerful nuclear forces and other fundamental powers of physics.
“Shaun’s research focused on saturated nuclear matter, a system in which attractive and repulsive forces balance and nucleons (protons and neutrons) touch, within the framework of QCD models,” says Intel. “Shaun used computer models and rigorous QCD equations to simulate nuclear interactions. His research may contribute to a more accurate characterization of fundamental atomic particles and subsequently a better understanding of neutron stars.”
Datta also has plans to submit his research for academic publications, and hopes to someday work at the CERN research institute in Switzerland.
The top prize for the Intel Science Talent Search went to 17 year-old Eric S. Chen of San Diego, California. Chen’s research, which is about a possible new treatment for influenza, earned him $100,000. Second place when to Kevin Lee, also 17 and from California, who developed a bioengineering program designed to create a computation model for heart arrhythmia.
To contact the author, email to deepakchitnis@americanbazaaronline.com