Oregon Episcopal Student Wins $100,000 Science Prize

A senior at Oregon Episcopal School who developed a battery that can power ingestible medical devices has won a prestigious science prize for his work. Vineet Edupuganti won the $100,000 grand prize in the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology.

Edupuganti's battery, which dissolves after the device has served its purpose, can be swallowed without doing harm to the body. This allows doctors to use medical devices that track and diagnose conditions that affect internal organs, like gastrointestinal disorders, which currently require complex imaging or invasive procedures to diagnose.

"This is very important technology, as implantable biocompatible devices play an increasingly important role in the future of medicine, as well as in environmental sensing with devices that themselves do not pollute the environment they are sensing," explained competition judge Dr. David Crouse, Professor and Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Clarkson University, in Potsdam, NY.

"But current technology in this area is unreliable and poor performing. Vineet’s project doesn’t just incrementally improve upon current capabilities – it represents a truly transforming step in creating a device that is both degradable and compatible with the body."

Crouse says what is also remarkable about Vineet’s work was focused approach to developing the battery.

"Not only did he come up with the idea, he chose the materials, conducted the research, and then engineered a practical and cost-effective device," Crouse said. Through this project, he exhibited the entire spectrum of skills, from innovation, through science, to engineering – and this impressed the judges greatly."

Edupguanti, who lives in Portland, says he has always been attracted to science and figuring out how things work.

In sixth grade, he first became intrigued by the interactions between materials and their application and found himself drawn to the field of biodegradables.

"I admire Leonardo Da Vinci because he was a polymath, learning about and attaining success in several distinct disciplines," says Edupuganti. "His quote 'simplicity is the ultimate sophistication' is a reminder that even in an age that even in an age where things are becoming highly complex, creative, intuitive solutions are often best."

Edupuganti, who speaks Spanish and plays on the school's tennis team, is a leader of OES's Intercultural Student Association and works with disadvantaged students from public schools, tutoring them in Spanish and math.

Edupuganti's work has also been honored with a 3rd place grand award at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in 2015 and 2016 and also received the special award for Best Project in Chemistry from the American Chemical Society (ACS) at the same competition.

He is mentored by Dr. Raj Solanki, professor of physics at Portland State University.

Photo courtesy Siemens Foundation