Indian-origin teens bag $200k in contest

Houston, December 11

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Three Indian-origin teenagers, including identical twin sisters, in the US have bagged a scholarship worth USD 200,000 in a science competition for their innovative research that will help doctors diagnose health problems like schizophrenia.

Shriya and Adhya Beesam, 16, who are 11th grade students in Plano, Texas, won the competition in the 17th annual Siemens Math, Science and Technology Competition on Tuesday for their project “Linked Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System: A Novel Approach to Schizophrenia Diagnosis”.

Vineet Edupuganti, a senior at Oregon Episcopal School, won the top individual award for developing an ingestible battery that could transform the way doctors diagnose and monitor health problems deep in the body.

Edupuganti’s invention, which he calls a “high-performance biodegradable battery for transient electronics”, was appreciated by the judges at the contest.

His work could simplify how medical practitioners diagnose conditions that affect internal organs, such as gastrointestinal disorders, that currently require complex imaging or invasive procedures to diagnose.

In their research, the twins developed a new approach to diagnose schizophrenia earlier in patients using both brain scans and psychiatric evaluations, the WFAA reported. The Beesams lost their uncle to schizophrenia years ago. — PTI