After four attempts, Hoskote boy M Yeshwanth will join nine other students from across the country who will represent India at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) scheduled to be held in May 2013 in Arizona (USA).
A class 10 student of Citizen High School, 15-year-old Yeshwanth’s plant science project ‘Antibacterial Activity in Leaves of Different Species of Bauhinia’ won him a gold medal at the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS), a research-based science initiative for students organised by IT giant Intel.
“This is my fourth attempt in participating at the Intel Research and Innovation in Science competition. I am really excited to go to the USA,” Yeshwanth said. His research project required laboratory tests. Yeshwanth did most of the basic tests in his school laboratory, while he completed the rest at a city-based laboratory.
“In my research, I chose leaves belonging to the Bauhinia species. I was able to show positive results the leaves had on five pathogenic bacteria,” explained Yeshwanth.
For the next level of competition at ISEF, Yeshwanth plans to test the leaves on standard antibiotics.
He drew inspiration from Eshwar, his biology teacher at school and his parents.
“I want to continue studies in the field of science. But I am yet to decide which branch. I am still in class 10 and I will take some time to decide,” he laughed.
He will be accompanied by Nayana K R and Aishwarya C A, students from Amrita Vidyalayam, Davangere, who have worked on a mathematical research project ‘Vaina’s Square Lemma’.
At IRIS 2012, 111 projects were selected from a total of 2,036 research-based projects submitted by students from across the country and were evaluated on research merits.
The ten students representing India at the Intel international science fair will compete with more than 1,600 high school students from 65 countries.