Sixteen-year old Rohit Dey was ecstatic that his four-year-long toil had paid dividends. He was the winner of “The Young Scientist India- 2015,” award presented by The Hindu and Space Kidz India and powered by Hindustan University. The results were announced here on Monday, after a thorough assessment by eminent experts from the field, and a neat presentation by the student himself.
A Class XII student from Kendriya Vidyalaya, NAL, Bengaluru, Rohit, who presented his project on ‘Unmanned Aerial Vehicle’, said the concept was developed by him and built with scrap materials. He received the prize from James Manlowe, consul officer, U.S. Consulate, Chennai. He will also fly to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) centre along with a teacher or principal, and also get to be co-pilot for a day at a premium aviation school in the United States. His father Saptaranjan Dey is a scientist with NAL.
B. Poorvi of R.S. Krishnan Higher Secondary School, Tiruchi, and S. Chokkalingam of Mahatma Montessori Matriculation School, Madurai, were awarded runner-up prizes for their projects in electronics. They will be flying to Malaysia along with a principal or science teacher.
Special scholarships would be given by Hindustan University to 161 entrants who were selected for the final countdown.
The one-day science expo saw as many as 600 school students from across the country participating, of whom 161 were selected by judges. These young scientists made a two-minute presentation about their projects and 18 were shortlisted.
Mr. Manlowe said teachers are the unsung heroes in shaping young talent and should be supported in their endeavours.
Air Marshal (retired), Indian Air Force and M. Matheshwaran, Hindustan University vice-chancellor S. Ramachandran participated in the valedictory session.
Space Kidz India Director, Sreemathy Kesan said it was a dream event for the students.
