San Ramon Valley Unified Student Awarded $75,000 Through Intel Science Talent Search

Announcement submitted by San Ramon Valley Unified School District:

Dougherty Valley High School senior Saranesh Thanika Prembabu, 17, is one of three second-place winners from across the nation to receive $75,000 in the Intel Science Talent Search.

Prembabu, a 12th grader, received the recognition for his work on how varying the layers of lead titanate and strontium ruthenate in nanocrystal superlattices can affect their electrical and magnetic properties, which could be harnessed for a variety of electrical and computing applications.

This is just one of many of Prembabu’s achievements. Earlier this school year, he was one of 20 students nationwide to be invited to attend Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden, through the National Society of High School Scholars.

“We are proud to have such an outstanding young scientist at the San Ramon Valley Unified School District,” said Superintendent Mary Shelton. “Saranesh is a wonderful example of what students can do through a dedication to STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math).”

The prestigious Intel Science Talent Search recognizes America’s most promising young scientists. The Intel Corporation awards over $1 million to the winners of the nation’s most prestigious pre-college science and math competition and a program of Society for Science & the Public (SSP).

More school articles on San Ramon Patch:

• San Ramon Valley Unified Announces Teachers of the Year

Starting this year, the Intel Science Talent Search tripled the top awards to further recognize finalists and highlight the variety of research conducted. In place of the previous grand prize of $100,000, three first-place Medal of Distinction awards of $150,000 were presented to students who showed exceptional scientific potential in three categories: Basic Research, Global Good, and Innovation.

In addition to the top awards, three second-place winners received awards of $75,000 and three third-place winners received awards of $35,000.

This year’s finalists come from 36 schools in 18 states. Of the 1,844 high school seniors who entered the Intel Science Talent Search 2015, 300 were announced as semifinalists in January. Of those, 40 were chosen as finalists and invited to Washington, D.C., to compete for the top nine awards. These finalists join the ranks of other notable Science Talent Search alumni, who over the past 74 years, have gone on to win eight Nobel Prizes, two Fields Medals, five National Medals of Science, 12 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and even an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Society for Science & the Public, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to public engagement in science and science education, has owned and administered the Science Talent Search since its inception in 1942.

To learn more about Society for Science & the Public, visit www.societyforscience.org, and to get the latest Intel education news, visit www.intel.com/newsroom/education, and join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo via Shutterstock

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