America
Obama praises Indian-American kids, extols 'power of ideas'
By
Arun KumarPresident Barack Obama praised the work of young Indian-Americans as he
exhorted budding American scientists to "keep exploring...keep dreaming"
and use the power of their ideas to change the world.
"Keep
asking why. Don't settle for what you already know," he said as he
welcomed young scientists and engineers from across the country to
showcase their inventions, robots, and discoveries at the 2015 White
House Science Fair Monday.
"Never stop believing in the power of
your ideas, your imagination, your hard work to change the world," said
Obama after personally viewing 12 of the exhibits by more than 100
students from 30 states.
"So Nikhil Behari is here from
Pennsylvania," he said calling out the winner of a second place award in
Technology at the 2014 Broadcom MASTERS national finals.
"He's a
freshman -- right? -- in high school, interested in how we can better
protect ourselves against hackers and data thieves online. So scientists
are already using biometrics to prove that each of us walk in our own
distinct ways.
"And Nikhil wondered, what if we each type in a
distinct ways? So he collected all kinds of data about how a person
types -- their speed, how often they pause, how much pressure they use;
built a special keyboard to test it.
"And he proved that his
hypothesis was correct -- that even if somebody knows your password,
they don't necessarily punch it in exactly the way you do.
"And he asked why -- and made discoveries that now could help keep our online accounts more secure.
"So
in the future, if keystroke-based authentication keeps your siblings
from breaking into your Facebook account or your Instagram account, you
will know who to thank," Obama said amid laughter.
"It will be Nikhil. Congratulations," he added amid applause.
Ruchi
Pandya, 18, from San Jose, California, he noted "found a way to use a
single drop of blood to test a person's heart function, much like a
person with diabetes tests their blood sugar."
And "Anvita Gupta
-- where's Anvita? There she is," Obama said amid applause, "used
artificial intelligence and biochemistry to identify potential
treatments for cancer, tuberculosis, Ebola."
"What she's done is
she's developed an algorithm that could potentially significantly speed
up the process of finding drugs that might work against these diseases,"
he said.
"But Anvita's algorithm has the potential of speeding
up pathways to discovering what drugs would work on what diseases, and
is consistent with some of the work that we announced around precision
medicine that we are funding at a significant pace here at the White
House," he said.
Obama pointed out that "like several of the young people here, Anvita and Ruchi are first-generation Americans."
"Their
parents came here, in part, so their kids could develop their talents
and make a difference in the world. And we're really glad they did," he
said.
Earlier checking out the inventions in the State Dining
Room, the Red Room and the Blue Room, Obama walked around to each table,
chatted with the young inventors about their inventions, and posed for
photos.
When Anvita Gupta, 17, of Scottsdale, Arizona, explained
how she had used an algorithm to help identify possible new drugs to
treat Ebola,
cancer and tuberculosis, Obama turned to the reporters,
grinned and said, "I don't know what you all have been doing. But this
is what she has been doing."
Inspired by the global energy
crisis, Sahil Doshi,14, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, designed an
innovative carbon-dioxide powered battery, reducing the environmental
effects of pollution.
As part of the Fair, Obama announced over
$240 million in new private-sector commitments to inspire and prepare
more girls and boys - especially those from underrepresented groups - to
excel in the STEM fields.
With the commitments made Monday,
Obama's "Educate to Innovate" campaign has resulted in over $1 billion
in financial and in-kind support for STEM programmes.
(Arun Kumar can be contacted at [email protected])