Bhushan Prakash, a Standard XI student of Father Agnel's college in Vashi, Navi Mumbai, has won the prestigious Intel International Science & Engineering Fair award.
He stood fourth in the chemistry section of the awards. His area of research was 'Carbon nanotubes, CNT: A new frontier in nano-technology, their production from vegetable oils and studying their applications'.
Speaking to rediff.com, Prakash said, "I am very happy to win this award and I hope to do something more in the near future to make our country proud."
Asked if being placed fourth was disappointing, he said, "Initially yes, but later my disappointment turned into joy after one of the judges, who was of Indian origin, told me that I didn't have access to the latest technologies in the world compared to students from other countries. So, my achievement was much bigger than theirs."
The annual International Science & Engineering Fair by Intel Inc. was held at Cleveland in Ohio, from May 11 to 16. Bhushan was one among the six students selected from India to represent the country.
The other Indian students who won the award were Sharanya S and Senthalir P of Avila Convent Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, for their work on 'Suppression of branches in eucalyptus trees'.
When asked about his future plans, Bhushan said, "I am preparing myself to get admission in the Indian Institute of Technology, right now. My plan is to work more on my research of nanotubes."
He adds, "I am very grateful to Dr Maheshwar Sharon of IIT. He has been my guide throughout the project since August 2002."
This is not the first time that Bhushan has won an international award. Last year, he was selected from India to work for two weeks in NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). There were 10,000 entries from different students of various countries, but only eight made it to the list, in which Bhushan also figured.
"At that time I worked in NASA for two weeks and that experience is worth remembering. I was working on a project on Mars and interacted with many senior scientists over there. It was a dream come true," Bhushan said.
Proud father Prakash Mahadik said, "This time Bhushan has bagged three other awards too. He won the DuPont Excellence Award for Outstanding Research in Chemistry, NASA's honorable mention for research and also a complimentary award from the American Chemical Society."
When asked if he had a science background that his son might have inherited, Prakash said, "No, I am from a commerce background. Chemistry is inbuilt in him."