Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal, Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences said, “The beginning of the innovative, research work of students should not stop here and the Ministry of Science and Technology will take steps to give them a larger platform who are interested in innovative scientific research work.” At the flagging off ceremony here today to nine students who have been selected to participate in for Intel International Science and Engineering Fair being organized at Los Angeles, California, Shri Pawan Kumar said, “My short, brief and quick interaction with nine students was indeed very fascinating. I believe that these children are not having dreams in their sleeps, but their dreams make them sleepless. They are focused, their brains are sharp and the results show that they have been on rigorous path of hard work. Their research will add value to innovations done by Ministry of Science and Technology and will help society and common man.”
Shri Pawan Kumar further said, “This initiative is a unique platform for our children to explore the possibilities of scientific research and innovation, giving them an opportunity to think out of the box; question; discover and analyze. It aims to infuse a spirit of discovery in school children, promote hands-on exploration and investigative learning in different areas of science and technology, and unearth innovative ideas that can change the world around us. I’m sure these talented students will do us proud at the International level.”
The Minister promised to give a large platform to work further in the field of pure science and coordinate activities with the Ministry of Human Resources to find a way. He informed that with new initiatives of this Ministry to create scientific atmosphere for students and talents, more than 2500 schools and 25 lakh students have participated in various programmes of the Ministry.
Nine Indian students from different parts of the country, winners of the India Initiative for Research & Innovation in Science (IRIS) will represent India at the 2011 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held in Los Angeles, California from May 8-13. IRIS is a Public Private Partnership between Directorate of Science and Technology (DST), CII and Intel. The primary objective of IRIS is to promote and nurture science and scientific research amongst the young Indian innovators in Secondary and Higher Secondary schools.
These 9 students at ISEF will represent at the world’s largest pre-college science fair, and the only global science competition for students in grades 9-12. Bringing together more than 1600 young students from more than 60 countries, ISEF 2011 is an opportunity for the best young minds in the world to come together to share ideas, showcase cutting-edge projects, and compete for more than US $4 million in awards and scholarships. The Intel ISEF winners are selected based on their creative ability and scientific thought, as well as thoroughness, skill, and clarity shown in their projects.
Over 1300 IRIS project entries were received from across the country under 10 categories that included a range of solutions in the field of physical & life sciences, mathematics, engineering and social sciences. Out of these, 88 projects were showcased at IRIS 2010 held at the Nehru Science Centre in Mumbai, Maharashtra and six projects by 9 students were shortlisted to represented India at ISEF.
Akansha Verma and Abhishek Khanna researched on Acmella oleracea a naturally growing weed as effective pest controller in Zoology. Category, while Diksha Gupta worked on an eco-friendly antifungal agent – leaf extract of Girardinia diversifolia in Botany / Plant Sciences category. All three are from of Maharaja Agrasen School, New Delhi.
Raghavendra Ramachanderan of St. John’s International Residential School, Chennai, worked on Drug Synthesis: Braving Legendary Challenges in Chemistry.
Manosij Ghosh Dastidar of South Point School, Kolkata’s research is on Integer Partitions and Sequences in Mathematics.
Hetal and Ankur Vaishnav, worked on a novel and economical Approach for recycling rexine waste in Environmental Science category. They are from Late Shri S.G. Dholakia School and Shri P.V. Modi School, Rajkot, Gujarat respectively.
Pramoda N.V. and Bhargava C.S. developed an Eco-friendly ink from Terminalia chebula in Environmental Science category.They are from Shree Ramakrishna High School, Puttur, Karnataka.
Tags: Science And Technology
Pawan Kumar Bansal
Minister Of Science And Technology And Earth Sciences
Intel International Science And Engineering Fair
