Two weeks into the euphoria associated with the visit to the US and being part of the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) 2015 in Pittsburg, Komal S., a class 12 student at Sharada Vidyaniketan here is now settling down.
“Now the focus is on academics. What counts and the society sees is the percentage,” smiles the young Komal, who stays in the hostel of this residential school.
Mr. Komal and his schoolmate Aditya Bhargava, who is now pursing his Pre University course in Bengaluru, were part the project “Highly sensitive Nano-Ferrite for detection of Carbon Monoxide (CO) in the air” that bagged the fourth grand award in the Intel ISEF held in Pittsburgh between May 8 and May 24.
“Our nano sensor is so sensitive it can even detect 0.1 parts per million of carbon monoxide in the air,” Mr. Bhargava says proudly.
Mr. Komal was in the class 11 and Mr. Bhargava in class 10 when they went to the fair.
It is the concern over air pollution from vehicles, more so the discharge of carbon monoxide that made the two students take up the project. The sensor developed by them, which is in the form of a SIM card, helps in finding the level of CO in real time unlike those used by the Karnataka Pollution Control Board, he says.
The two students worked on this project for nearly a year that included working in the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Having zeroed in on Manganese Ferrate as the compound to be used for nanosensor, the two students went for a detailed study of the compound in the IISc.
This nanosensor was tested at different places in Bengaluru. The two have fond memories of interacting with top scientists of the country during their preparation in New Delhi. Interaction with peers, scientists at the Science Fair and visits to NASA and White House have been memorable. “I have lost a few months (of academics) to gain knowledge of how the world is,” Mr. Komal says. Mr. Bhargava intends to continue his research and is now preparing to take part in Google Science Fair.
