Six Indian Americans among 10 finalists in contest for America’s Top Young Scientist.
The 2019 list of Finalists and State Merit Winners of the popular annual 3M Young Scientist Challenge has been announced and impressively 13 out of the 30 on the list are Indian origin kids.
The challenge in partnership with Discovery Education gives the youngsters a chance to win $25,000 along with a 3M mentorship.
The 2019 3M Young Scientist Winner award went to Kara Fan who invented a first aid liquid bandage to reduce the risk of superbug infections caused by antibiotic overuse.
READ MORE: Indian American Gitanjali Rao is the winner of 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge (October 19, 2017)
For the first time in competition history, the 3M Young Scientist Challenge named a recipient of the inaugural Improving Lives Award.
This year’s winner is Indian-American Reshma Kosaraju, an eighth-grader from San Jose, California, who invented a forest fire prevention tool.
Selected through online public voting, Reshma was recognized for her innovative solution to prevent and predict instances of forest fires using machine learning and neural networks.
ALSO READ: Five Indian American students among 3M Young Scientist Challenge finalists (July 4, 2017)
As part of this recognition, Reshma will receive a one of a kind destination trip.
Among other interesting innovations was one by Indian American Jaya Chaudhary, 13, from Michigan who invented an airflow control robot that would save energy consumption by regulating the heat in unoccupied rooms in the house.
The fourth place was secured by Indian American Camellia Sharma who developed a water leakage detection system to identify underground water leakage and reduce the estimated 48.6 billion cubic meters of water lost annually through current distribution systems worldwide.
ALSO READ: 5 of 10 finalists in the 2018 Young Scientist Challenge are Indian American kids (July 22, 2018)
Another finalist Samyak Shrimali came up with the idea of an infection monitor where a sensor detection system would track hand hygiene compliance in hospitals to reduce fatality rate.
Every year, thousands of children in grades 5-8 across America take part in the contest and over the years the winners have been able to conquer great feats.
Out of the thousands of entries received each year, ten students with highest overall scores are deemed finalists and compete for the grand prize. The others are considered for state merit awards.
The 3M Young Scientist Challenge has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in student prizes, paired students with world-renowned scientists.
READ MORE: Indian American teen Rishab Jain crowned America’s Top Young Scientist (October 19, 2018)
The challenge targets students during the years when research shows that their interest in science begins to wane, and instead encourages them to find creative ways to explore solving real-world problems using the scientific method.
Winners have gone on to be featured in Forbes magazine’s annual “30 Under 30†list, speak in front of members of Congress and attendees at the United Nations, meet the President of the United States and demonstrate inventions on national television programs such as ABC World News Tonight, Fox & Friends, and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
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