Nearly one-third of the 40 high school seniors named finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search 2015, America\'s oldest and most prestigious pre-college science and math competition, are of Indian origin.

Anandapadmanaban, Eswar
Dr. Ronald E. McNair Academic High School, Jersey City, NJ
The ThereNIM: A Touch-less Respiratory Monitor

Chemparathy, Augustine George
Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon, CA
Accumulation of the Biodiesel Precursor Triacylglycerol Offsets Oxidative Stress in the Model AlgaChlamydomonas reinhardtii

Gupta, Anvita
BASIS Scottsdale, Scottsdale, AZ
Computational Drug Discovery for Cancer, Tuberculosis, and Ebola by Targeting Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

Khare, Somya
Lynbrook High School, San Jose, CA
Changes in Growth Rate and Cytoskeletal Activity During the Starvation Response in E. coli

Kishore, Shashwat
Unionville High School, Kennett Square, PA
Multiplicity Space Signatures and Applications in Tensor Products of sl2 Representations

Kuditipudi, Rohith
The Harker School, San Jose, CA
Network Based Integration of High Throughput Gene Expression and Methylation Data Reveals New Insights into NAFLD Progression

Lall, Kriti
Castilleja School, Palo Alto, CA
A Novel Bacteria Strain and Bioreactor for Practical Arsenic Water Bioremediation

Pandya, Dhaivat Nitin
Appleton North High School, Appleton, WI
Minimum Cost Linear Network Coding Design for General Connections

Pathak, Reesab
Camas High School, Camas, WA
Cytomegalovirus Vaccine Vectors Induce Universal, MHC-E Restricted CD8+ T cells Against AIDS Virus

Prembabu, Saranesh
Dougherty Valley High School, San Ramon, CA
Coupled Electric and Magnetic Properties in Artificially-Layered Perovskite Thin Films

Raghuvanshi, Anika
Jesuit High School, Portland, OR
Logic Synthesis and a Generalized Notation for Memristor-Realized Material Implication Gates

Tandon, Tanay
Cupertino High School, Cupertino, CA
Topographical Computer Vision Algorithms for Rapid, Low-cost Hematological Diagnostics and Parasite Detection Through Random Forests Classification and van Leeuwenhoek-type Imaging

A t least 12 desis are among the 40 high school senior, mwho were named finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search 2015, a program of Society for Science & the Public.

Intel Science Talent Search tripled its top award money, replacing the single $100,000 top prize with three Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 each.

The three Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 each will be presented to students who show exceptional scientific potential in three areas: Basic Research, Global Good, and Innovation. There are also three second-place awards of $75,000, and three third-place awards of $35,000.

ISTS recognizes the most promising young innovators in the United States who are creating the technologies and solutions that will positively impact peopleâ€™s lives.

Finalists will convene in Washington, DC in March to compete for more than $1 million in awards from the Intel Foundation.

The Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) is the nation\'s most prestigious pre-college science competition. Intel STS alumni have made extraordinary contributions to science and hold more than 100 of the worldâ€™s most coveted science and math honors, including the Nobel Prize and the National Medal of Science. Students are selected based upon their scientific research and also on their overall potential as future leaders of the scientific community. Intel STS recognizes 300 students as semifinalists each year and awards them and their schools $1,000 each.

From that select pool, 40 finalists are then invited to Washington, DC in March to undergo final judging, display their work to the public, meet with notable scientists, and compete for $1,012,500 in awards, including the three top awards of $150,000 each.

The 40 finalists receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC from March 5-11, where they will compete for more than $1 million in awards provided by the Intel Foundation.

â€˜Intel invests in engineering, math and science education to support the next generation of innovators, who will create the products and services to enrich our daily lives,â€™ said Justin Rattner, president of the Intel Foundation. â€œThis yearâ€™s finalists â€“ who are engaged in leading-edge scientific research and the creation of new technology to address global challenges such as renewable energy, cybersecurity and infectious diseases â€“ prove that with the right education and resources, young people can indeed change the world.â€

Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to public engagement in scientific research and education, has owned and administered the Science Talent Search since its inception in 1942.

â€˜The 40 finalists of the Intel Science Talent Search are some of the best and brightest young scientists in the nation,â€™ said Maya Ajmera, president and CEO of Society for Science & the Public and publisher of Science News. â€œAs an alumna of the Science Talent Search, I am especially proud to join with Intel in congratulating the finalists on their successes and look forward to learning more about them and their research, both at the finals in March and as their careers progress.â€
While in Washington, D.C., Intel Science Talent Search finalists will undergo a rigorous judging process, interact with leading scientists, display their research to the public at the National Geographic Society and meet with national leaders. Winners will be announced at a black-tie, invitation-only gala awards ceremony at the National Building Museum on March 10.

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Desi finalists in Intel Science Talent Search