10 Indian-Americans among 40 Intel science finalists

Ten Indian-American school students have made it to the 40 finalists of the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search for the year 2013.

These 40 students were selected from 300 semi-finalists and more than 1,700 entrants to compete in Washington, DC from March 7 to 13 for USD 630,000 in awards, with the top winner receiving USD 100,000 from the Intel Foundation.

The 10 Indian-American students include the maximum three from California -- Paulomi Bhattacharya from Cupertino, Pavan Mehrotra from Simi Valley and Sahana Vasudevan from Palo Alto.

Two Indian-Americans are from Portland in Oregon -- Naomi Shah and Raghav Tripathi.

The other five are Surya Bhupatiraju from Lexington in Massachusetts, Naethan Mundukur from Louisville in Kentucky, Akshay Padmanabha from Collierville in Tennessee, Raja Selvakumar from Alpharetta in Georgia, and Mayuri Sridhar from Kings Park in New York.

"This year's Intel Science Talent Search finalists are presenting a wide range of research, from optimising algae oil for biofuel to developing a new treatment for blood cancer," said Wendy Hawkins, executive director of the Intel Foundation.

"It's exciting for the future of innovation because the US needs these 40 high school seniors, and others like them, to question, explore and help solve some of the world's greatest challenges," Hawkins said.

Young innovators chosen to participate in the Science Talent Search over the past 72 years have gone on to receive some of the world's most prestigious honours.

For example, Science Talent Search alumni have gone on to win seven Nobel Prizes, two Fields Medals, five National Medals of Science, 11 MacArthur Foundation Fellowships and even an Academy Award for Best Actress.

The finalists are from 40 schools in 21 states. Among the finalists, there is an equal gender distribution with both 50 per cent males and females.

California and New York represent over 30 per cent of this year's finalists.

Finalist projects are distributed among 16 categories, including bioengineering, chemistry, mathematics, computer science, physics and space science, behavioural and social sciences, and plant science.