Abhi Gulati, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, IL. (Photo, as it appears on www.ams.org)

Five students of Indian origin were selected among 40 finalists for the prestigious 64th annual Intel Science Talent Search (STS) competition on Jan. 26.

The finalists will compete for more than $530,000 in scholarships in Washington, D.C., from March 10-15, a press release issued by Intel STS said. The winners will be announced at a black-tie banquet on March 15.

The five Indian American students are: Pooja Sunil Jotwani of Charles W. Flanagan High School, Florida; Abhi Gulati of Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Illinois; Samuel Mohun Bhagwat of Winston Churchill High School, Michigan; Neal Wadhwa of Ward Melville High School, New York; and Sagar Viplov Mehta of The Wheatley School, New York, the release added. Selected from among 300 semifinalists announced on Jan. 12, the finalists range in age from 16 to 18.

The top prize in the Intel STS –– the United States’ oldest pre-college science competition for high school seniors –– is a $100,000 college scholarship. The second-place finalist receives a $75,000 scholarship and the third-place finalist receives a $50,000 scholarship. Fourth- through sixth-place finalists are each awarded $25,000 scholarships, and seventh- through 10th-place winners receive a $20,000 scholarship. The remaining 30 finalists each receive a $5,000 scholarship award.

In addition to the all-expense-paid trip to Washington, all students attending the competition receive an Intel® CentrinoTM mobile technology-based notebook computer.

Jotwani, 17, was selected for her project titled ‘The Effects of a Quark Matter Core on Neutron Star Cooling.’ Her observations of cooling neutron stars, as well as their physical properties such as neutrino emission processes and the heat quantities of the interior and exterior, provide information about the states of matter at supernuclear densities. She describes how cooling curves allow theoretical physicists to better predict the stars’ internal composition, the release said.

The daughter of Sunil and Kiran Jotwani, she is head of the youth group in the Sindhi Association of South Florida. She plans to attend Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where she can pursue a career in astrophysics.

Neal Wadhwa, Ward Melville High School, New York. (Photo, as it appears on www.bnl.gov)

Eighteen-year-old Gulati’s project, titled ‘Coloring Finite Abelian Groups to Avoid Monochromatic Solutions to a Given Equation,’ involves algebra and combinatorics, and extends his earlier work on the SET card game. Gulati applies combinatorial results to prove that certain colorings of a hypergraph on a finite abelian group can have no monochromatic edges. Son of Rakesh and Radha Gulati, he is student council member at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora. He hopes to attend Harvard and go on to receive his degree in mathematics.

Bhagwat, 16, was selected for his project titled ‘Classification of Determinantal Sequences.’ Son of Dr. Ashok Bhagwat and Helen Gay, he is captain of the varsity Quiz Bowl team, and his achievements include a grand award at the Science and Engineering Fair of Metro Detroit. He plans to attend Harvard.

Wadhwa’s project, titled ‘On Super Calabi-Yau Manifolds,’ studies the relationship between topology and geometry in Calabi-Yau supermanifolds, which are special subspaces of n-dimensional space over the complex numbers. Son of Drs. Nand and Nandita Wadhwa, Neal has dedicated over 150 hours of community service at the Stony Brook University Hospital. An avid pianist and trumpeter, he has performed in multiple concerts since 2001. He hopes to attend MIT and pursue his interests in mathematics, computer science and engineering.

Mehta, 17, was selected for his project titled ‘Optimizing the Properties of Hyaluronic Acid (HA) Hydrogel Scaffolds for Wound Healing and Tissue Engineering.’ Intrigued by the possibility of a “smart matrix” that could heal chronic wounds more effectively, he intended to optimize the properties of hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogels (gels in which water is the dispersion medium) used for wound healing and tissue engineering applications.

Mehta hopes his findings will ultimately benefit millions of burn victims, diabetics and surgery patients. Recipient of numerous awards for math and science, he has perfect SAT scores and captains the varsity tennis team, competes in track and field and is lead clarinetist in the jazz band. The son of Drs. Viplov and Falguni Mehta, he plans to attend Harvard.

Earlier, about 50 students of south Asian origin were among the 300 outstanding young scientists who were named as semifinalists on Jan. 12, earning $600,000 in total awards for themselves and their schools. In addition, each of their schools received $1,000 per semifinalist to enhance math and science programs. This year’s semifinalists were selected from 1,600 entrants in 47 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

(Compiled from a press release)