Students make their mark at IRIS 2011

BANGALORE: It is astonishing that 11 of India’s next generation innovators have been selected at the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS) 2011 to represent India at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2012 to be held at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from May 13 to 18, 2012.The winning projects and innovations were selected from a range of diverse disciplines including, computer science, maths,physics,behavioral science,botany, chemistry and environmental science. The winners were announced by Ashutosh Chadha, director, corporate affairs group, Intel South Asia and K K Sharma, IAS, advisor to administrator UT Chandigarh on behalf of PK Bansal, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India.IRIS is a partnership between the Department of science and technology (DST), Intel and CII (Confederation of Indian Industry) to foster research-based thinking in students.Onkar Singh Gujral, La Martinere For Boys from Kolkata, Shubham Goel,DPS  RK Puram from New Delhi,Yashendra Shukla, Amity International School,New Delhi,Ravi Raja, Kendriya Vidyala, Delhi,Raghavendra Ramachanderan, St Johns International Residential School, Chennai,Gargi Pare, St Mary’s Convent Sr Secondary School, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh,Sindura Saraswathi, Vivekananda English Medium High School, Mangalore, Karnataka,Apurva Joshi, St Joseph’s High School, Mysore, Karnataka Saral Baweja and Nishi Paliwal, Maharaja Agarsain Public School, Ashok Vihar, New Delhi were the eleven students made to the prestigious list.“I take this opportunity to congratulate ‘the young geniuses’ who made their mark in science and innovation at IRIS 2011. In today’s global environment, it is essential to encourage original thought and enrich the quality of human capital to build a pipeline of talent in India,” said  PK Bansal, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India.“The next generation will need to face important global challenges and a solid grounding in mathematics and science - coupled with skills such as critical thinking, collaboration and digital literacy - are crucial for their success.” said Ashutosh Chadha, Director, Corporate Affairs Group, Intel South Asia.A total of 103 projects were showcased at IRIS 2011, including a range of solutions in the fields of physical and life sciences, mathematics, engineering, and social sciences.  The scientific direction of IRIS was provided by various national labs and universities as TIFR, NPL, IISC and HBCSE, whose scientists also judged the competition and selected the winners.IRIS 2011 celebrates its 12 year of competition.  The initiative is the merger of Intel’s “Intel Science Talent Discovery Fair” and DST’s “Steer the Big Idea” event. The primary objective of IRIS is to promote and nurture the young Indian innovators.This is done by recognising and rewarding outstanding research based projects. Till date the Indian entries at ISEF have received 73 awards in total, across different categories.