Vickram Gidwani, a junior at Horace Mann High School in the Bronx, N.Y., along with Blake Smith, a senior at Oceanside High School in Oceanside, N.Y., won the third prize for their biochemistry project in the team competition at the Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology. They will split a $30,000 scholarship.

Vickram Gidwani (right) with Blake Smith

The year’s highest science honor for high school students was awarded on Dec. 5 to biochemistry research on cancer stem cells and an innovative use of gaming technology in the area of leg injuries and prosthetics in the 2011 Siemens Competition in Math, Science & Technology, America’s premier science research competition for high school students.

Administered by the College Board, the Siemens Competition is a signature program of the Siemens Foundation, which supports science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education. The thirteenth annual awards were presented this morning at The George Washington University, host of the 2011 Siemens Competition National Finals. Six individuals and six teams competed at the National Finals after winning one of six regional competitions in November. They presented their research to a panel of judges comprised of nationally renowned scientists and mathematicians.

Vickram is a senior member of his school’s fusion club and has competed in the Science Olympiad, Physics Olympiad and JETS (Junior Engineering Technical Society) Competition. This high school junior divides his extracurricular time between music and tennis as a saxophonist with two school bands and a tennis player on two teams. He hopes to major in business and engineering and to become the CEO of his own company. “I am awed by the level of detail we, as humans, know about our bodies and the tools and methods we have developed to  study them,” says Gidwani.

Cited from:

http://www.nritoday.net/national-briefs/941-vickram-gidwani-stands-3rd-in-siemens-science-team-competition