Winners of  2007

Countdown to a new frontier

The Indian contingent this year consisted of six winners chosen from over 202 projects at IRIS from over 1200 synopses received.

These winners were: as individual participants – Vaishnavi Viswanathan for category Environmental Science, Rishin Behl for category Engineering, Aavishkar Apoorva Patel for category Physics, and Ram Raghunathan for category Computer Science. As team projects the winners were – Tanay Delima & Nikhil Khosla in Physics, and Rehan Netarwala & Sarvesh Nevetia in Engineering.

On Monday, May 14, 2007, the students put up their projects and displays at the venue for verification and final registering. In the evening they attended the opening ceremony, and mingled at an inaugural dinner party. On Tuesday, May 15, 2007, the participants conducted a final check of their projects before the judges began their reviews. On Wednesday May 16, 2007, the judges conducted personal interviews with the participants early in the morning, with only students and judges allowed at the venue. In the evening, the Fair directors and adults in charge from all the participant countries had an interaction party, and socialized and shared their experiences of their respective national Fairs.

On Thursday, May 17, 2007, Team India won 6 Special and Scholarship Awards. Two ‘Grand Awards’ followed the very next day on Friday, May 18, 2007! Award Details: Grand Awards Rishin Behl: Second prize of $1500 in Individual Category for Earth and Planetary science Tanay David Delima & Nikhil Khosla: Fourth prize of $500 in Team Category for Physical Sciences

Rishin Behl - Mumbai, India

Special Awards

Team India won 5 special awards · 3 prizes won by Rishin Behl for his project in Geophysics: (First award -China Association for Science and Technology --$5,000 Second award-Society of Exploration Geophysicists --$500 & a trip to SEG International Exposition, China for a week to attend the 22nd China Adolescents Science and Technology Innovation Contest to be held in Kunning Yunan Province. Third award: First Award of $1,000 from U.S. Savings Bond from Ashtavadhani Vidwan Ambati Subbaraya Chetty (AVASC) Foundation) 1 prize won by Ram Raghunathan in Computer Science (Second prize of $500 from Association for Computing Machinery) I prize won by Vaishnavi Viswanathan in Environmental Science (Second prize of $500 U.S. Savings Bond) Scholarship Award Rishin Behl won the full tuition scholarship awards of $60,000 by University of New Mexico

Vaishnavi Viswanathan - Mumbai

The winners’ project profile and experiences:

A Novel Design for Magnetic Levitating Seismograph:
-Rishin Behl, 18, from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Mumbai

The project describes a levitating shaft generator and magnetic lazer seismograph and includes a mathematical analysis. The levitating shaft generator is a demonstration of magnetic levitation and can be used to demonstrate zero gravity environment and the working of magnetic levitation trains.

“…. Being at ISEF was a great experience. The biggest reward was that, it allowed us to interact with lots of interesting student from all over the world. I also met lots of amazing scientists and engineers from different field of science. Moreover, the parties and shoptalk made the stay a truly wonderful experience. This all was made possible due to help and support from INTEL….”–Rishin Behl

Prevention of vehicular tailgating accidents:
-Tanay Delima and Nikhil Khosla both 15, from Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai.

This experiment aims to find out whether it was possible to reduce incidence of tailgating accidents by giving the driver in the rear vehicle additional reaction time to apply his brakes. The brake lights of a car usually come on when the breaks are applied. In this experiment the brake lights come on when the accelerator is released prior to the brakes being applied.
“…a big thank you for the trouble you and your team have taken to give Tanay a wonderful experience…”– Mrs Delima, Tanay Delima’s Mother

“I realized the competition at the International level is nowhere close to what I experienced at IRIS National level. Meeting so many people was overwhelming. Regarding support from Intel we had received guidance at the coaching camp which helped in improving our project and also our presentation skills. Further free accommodation and proper travel arrangements for ISEF is noteworthy.”- Nikhil Khosla

FDIS: A Fast Frequency Distribution Based Interpolation Search Algorithm for Sorted Arrays
- Ram Raghunathan, 16, from Sishya School, Chennai

In this project an algorithm has been developed that is a novel way to guide the search based on the frequency distribution of an ordered list in the database. It hence conducts the search in a more intelligent fashion than the usual methods. The algorithm results in 82% to 94% reduction in average number of searches compared to other methods with a 15% to 88% reduction in time.

Anti-termite properties of Desmostachya bipinnata
- Vaishnavi Viswanathan, 15, from Modern English High School, Mumbai

This project explores the effect of the powder and root oil of the Khusha plant on the growth and control of termites. The Khusha grass possesses insecticidal properties and is more effective against termites as compared to coconut/ ginger oil or kerosene.

Spherical Wheels – A New Revolution
-Rehan Netarwala Sarvesh Nevatia both 17, from Jai Hind College, Mumbai

The project proposes spherical wheels as replacements to circular wheels as a means to improve Transportation in India. The idea is that spherical wheels will reduce turn radius, allow free movement in any direction, increase mileage and safety, have better stability and grip etc. The wheels work on the principle of a simple mouse ball.

“The experience was absolutely amazing. We got to meet like-minded people, young scientists and engineers. We learnt a lot about other projects and also give a chance to showcase our skills as well. It was not merely a science fair but other activities like students mixer and pin exchange was really enjoyable.”

A Coupled Oscillator Model For Grover’s Quantum Database Search Algorithm
- Aavishkar Patel, 17, from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Bangalore

The project demonstrates Grover’s quantum database search algorithm in a simple and stable mechanical setting. It demonstrates how the energy of a coupled oscillator may be focused into a single oscillator. This mechanism may be useful in the construction of nanotechnology devices.

For any further details please contact Dr. D. K. Pande (DST) or Joyeeta Das (Intel)

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