Zeidman Awards Recognize Silicon Valley Middle-Schoolers

SILICON VALLEY, CA -- Bob Zeidman, inventor and entrepreneur, is proud to announce the four winners of the third annual Zeidman Awards. The awards recognize middle school students in the fields of electrical engineering or computer science who demonstrate an advanced knowledge of electronics or computer programming to solve challenges in a unique and efficient manner. The awards were presented on Sunday, April 9 at the Campbell Heritage Theater in Campbell.

The award recipients were selected in March from entries in the 2017 Synopsys Science & Technology Championship at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, where hundreds of students from Santa Clara County displayed their research projects. Eleven Silicon Valley engineers and scientists reviewed presentations and interviewed students, and then selected 11 finalists from among 110 eligible projects. Zeidman then narrowed down the field to the four winners.

First Place

• Andrew Chiang, BASIS Independent Silicon Valley School, San Jose: Manipulation of Ultrasonic Force Field

Second Place

• Shlok Shah, Challenger School, Berryessa: Autonomous Vehicle Crash Avoidance Algorithm

Third Place

• Guy Knaan, Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School, Palo Alto: Voice Swap

Honorable Mention

• Sruthi Mikkilineni, Kennedy Middle School, Cupertino: SafeNet: Protect Children From The Dangers Of Internet Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Awards included cash prizes, breakfast at the Computer History Museum with Zeidman, and signed copies of Zeidman's book, "Just Enough Electronics to Impress Your Friends and Colleagues!"

"The students were passionate about their projects and once again we saw some really innovative research and inventions," said Zeidman, an inventor and entrepreneur whose ventures include Zeidman Consulting, Zeidman Technologies, Software Analysis and Forensic Engineering, Z Enterprises, SamAnna Design and Swiss Creek Publications. "This is one place where engineers and scientists are treated like celebrities, so it's fun for us judges too."

Zeidman, who holds 22 patents and earned degrees in physics and electrical engineering from Cornell University and Stanford University, expressed his gratitude for the helpfulness of the volunteers from the Santa Clara Valley Science and Engineering Fair Association who run the event each year.

"I'd also like to thank the Zeidman Award judges this year: Jeff Safire, John Peck, Orin Laney, Mike Ivanov, Atif Hashmi, Mort Grosser, Lee Felsenstein, Andrew Cromarty, Ralph Bernstein, Bob Baird, and Nik Baer," Ziedman said.