While visiting his native India, Cupertino High School senior Tanay Tandon noticed just how many miles people traveled for medical care.
So fusing his background in computer science with his interest in microbiology, he developed a type of software that uses a smartphone camera, armed with a magnifying lens, to analyze blood samples for signs of parasitic infection or other health problems. “It’s a low-cost, portable way to diagnose blood cells,” said Tandon, 18. “It has a lot of potential as a product deployed in rural areas.”
It also earned him a spot as a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search, one of the country’s most prestigious and competitive awards in science and technology for high school students. While the 40 finalists come from 36 schools in 18 states, nine hail from Bay Area schools — the most ever.
Three students at Harker School in San Jose are finalists. Two finalists are from Dougherty Valley High School in San Ramon. Lynbrook High School in San Jose, Cupertino High School, Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton and Castilleja School in Palo Alto each have one.
They were selected from a pool of 300 semifinalists announced Jan. 7 and more than 1,800 initial entries. Each student pursued an independent project in technology development, research or innovation, often aiming to address a long-standing research question or solve a practical problem.
This year, California surpassed New York in the number of finalists it will send to Washington, D.C. California has 11 total, including the nine Bay Area students. New York, historically a strong state in the Science Talent Search, has eight finalists this year.
The Bay Area’s dominance in the finalist pool comes as no surprise to Chris Nikoloff, head of the Harker School.
“Generally speaking, the Bay Area values education, values science, and sees its applicability in the world and promotes it at many levels,” he said.
To their teachers and mentors, the finalists are indeed some of the Bay Area’s best and brightest.
“He’s really in another league at this point,” Cupertino High School computer science teacher Eric Ferrante said of Tandon. “He has been the kind of student to push through barriers and carve his own way.”
Tandon’s project is indicative of the types of endeavors the Intel Science Talent Search honors. Some students pursued their projects in a university research laboratory, like Dougherty Valley High School’s Augustine Chemparathy, 17, who spent two summers at the Carnegie Institute studying how microscopic algae could be used to synthesize biofuels.
“I felt that they were a really viable, clean alternative energy source,” Chemparathy said, crediting the support he received from the professors he worked with.
To be considered for the Intel Science Talent Search, each applicant submitted a summary of results and research findings in the style of a professional, peer-reviewed scientific journal article.
“That is a very challenging thing to do,” stressed Anita Chetty, chair of the science department at the Harker School.
Dozens of Bay Area students rose to that challenge, including 18-year-old senior Rohith Kuditipudi, one of Harker School’s finalists. For his project, Kuditipudi came up with a new computer method to analyze how liver cells turn on and off genes in a syndrome called nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
“I wanted to look at a biological problem where more information was needed,” he said.
Despite his achievement, Kuditipudi was not expecting the phone call Tuesday night announcing that he was a finalist.
“It was a complete surprise,” he said. “It still hasn’t sunk in yet.”
Lynbrook High School senior Somya Khare, 18, echoed Kuditipudi’s sentiment. She also is looking forward to sharing her research findings on bacterial growth and cell division, which she conducted last summer and fall at Stanford University.
“It feels really exciting,” said Khare. “I’m glad I have the opportunity to present my work to amazing and talented scientists in Washington, D.C.”
Khare is referring to the panel of scientists who will hear all the finalists present their research in March during an all-expenses paid trip to the capital. The judges will select three students each for third-, second- and first-place honors. On top of the $7,500 each finalist receives, three third-place winners will each receive $35,000, three second-place winners will receive $75,000, and three first-place winners will receive $150,000.
Other area finalists include Kriti Lall of Castilleja School in Palo Alto, Jihyeon (Janel) Lee of Amador Valley High in Pleasanton, Saranesh Prembabu of Dougherty Valley High in San Ramon, and Andrew Jin and Steven Michael Wang, both of The Harker School in San Jose.
The Society for Science and the Public, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., began the Science Talent Search in 1942. Intel has been a title sponsor since 1998. Though there will be only three first-place winners announced in March, some Bay Area educators boasted that the finalists, regardless of how they fare, already have left their mark on California.
“These students are using their academic knowledge to solve real-world problems,” said Nikoloff. “It’s amazing.”
