Innovative ideas and creativity of young minds based on scientific principles and concepts came to the fore at The Hindu in School (THiS) Budding Scientist Contest held at St. Joseph’s Indian High School, Vittal Mallya Road on Friday.
The objective was to encourage young minds in schools to research, understand, explore and present a science project in tune with former President Dr A.P.J Abdul Kalam’s Vision 2020 of ‘Developed India’.
The event, presented by Go4Guru, was open to school students in two categories – juniors (from classes 5 to 7) and seniors (from classes 8 to 10). In all, 178 teams from schools across the city participated.
Junior category
In the junior category, the team from National Public School, Rajajinagar, comprising Maitreyi Muralidhar and Aditi G. Bharadwaj won the first prize. Both class 6 students displayed a project on ‘empowerment of women and children through health’ that focuses on providing health kits to poor sections of society.
The team from St. Sophia Convent, Nagarabhavi - Mayank Kumar and Tanmay R. - bagged the second prize. The team of Tanvi Bafna and Prarthana M. from Ryan International School, Yelahanka took the third prize.
All the winners received trophies and merit certificates from The Hindu .
Senior category
In the senior category, the team of Shreyas S. and Lipin Kariappa from Amara Jyothi English School, K.R. Puram bagged the first prize. Both class 9 students came up with a working model of ‘water sensor lunch box’ for school students to carry, which helps in conservation of water.
The team from Sri Vani Education Centre, Basaveshwaranagar of Samrudh R., and Saket Kulkarni won the second prize, while the team from Global Indian International School, Whitefield of Sujay Suresh and Diroshini Veerala, took the third prize. All the winners received trophies and merit certificates from The Hindu .
Faculty members of Indian Institute Science, Bengaluru, Ramray Bhat, Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan, N. Ravi Sundaresan, Geetha Rani K., and Bhavana Kanukurthi were the judges.
At the valedictory function, Jayant Modak, deputy director, IISc, was the chief guest. He said our Constitution envisages developing scientific temper and spirit of inquiry. He said there are only two lakh scientists and researchers in India, whereas in China, there are 15 lakh. He urged students to look at science as a career.
Sankar Armugam, chief operating officer, Go4Guru spoke, while Dr. Modak and Mr, Armugam gave away prizes to the winners.
