Strongsville Student Competing For $100,000 Grand Prize

STRONGSVILLE, OH — Strongsville High School will again be represented in the prestigious Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, which awards college scholarships to students working on incredible projects throughout the U.S. This year, Suraj Srinivasan has been named a semifinalist in the annual contest.

Suraj isn't like most teenagers. He's careful about what he says, thoughtful. And he's excited about being part of the Siemens Competition.

"The competition has been an enriching experience in which I was able to develop my scientific writing skills. I look forward to representing our school and presenting my research in the regional competition," Suraj told Patch.

He is working on a medically-inspired project called "Development of a Mosquito-Inspired Insertion Guide to Prevent Flexible Intracotrical Microelectrodes from Buckling During Implantation." His impressive project was one of 491 selected for semifinalist status.

From there, Suraj will have the opportunity to advance to a regional competition Nov. 4. There he will compete against students in the Midwest region, meaning students from North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and Ohio.

If his project wins there, Suraj will move onto the National Finals in Washington, D.C. Win in the nation's capital and Suraj could find himself the winner of the competition's top prize: $100,000. There will also be $500,000 in scholarships awarded.

For now, Suraj is focused on the regional competition and his own future. Unlike so many teenagers, he seems to have his future pretty well mapped out.

"Post-graduation, I plan on studying engineering and economics with a minor in computer science. More specifically, I plan to study one of the pure engineering disciplines (electrical, mechanical, chemical) and then doing graduate studies in biomedical engineering," he told Patch.

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