The Davidson Institute of Talent Development announced Aug. 11 its 2016 winners of the Davidson Fellows program and at least seven are Indian American or South Asian American.

The scholarship program offers $50,000, $25,000 and $10,000 scholarships to students 18 or younger who have completed significant projects that have the potential to benefit society in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, literature and music.

Meena Jagadeesan and Sriharshita Musunuri were named among the four Davidson Fellows Laureates, which netted them each a $50,000 scholarship.

Eight students were winners of a $25,000 scholarship, including Anurudh Ganesan, Raghav Ganesh and Maya Varma.

Another eight were honored with $10,000 scholarships, among them Surabhi Mundada and Kavita Selva.

“We are thrilled to recognize the 2016 Davidson Fellows not only for their incredible projects, but also for the journey they forged to reach this point,” said Bob Davidson, founder of the Davidson Institute. “Every year I am amazed by the depth of the Fellows’ accomplishments. Through encouragement and recognition, the Davidson Institute for Talent Development anticipates that gifted students like these will be among the pioneers who will solve the world’s most vexing problems.”

Jagadeesan, 18, of Naperville, Ill., was chosen as a fellow in the mathematics category for her project, “The Exchange Graphs of Weakly Separated Collections.”

Her project is at the intersection of algebra and combinatorics. From her research, she has proven an isomorphism between classes of these graphs, fully characterized these graphs in small cases, and also characterized these graphs in other special cases, according to a Davidson Institute news release.

The Indian American is heading to Harvard University in the fall, planning to major in mathematics or a related subject. Her brother Ravi was a Davidson Fellow Laureate in 2014.

She hopes to pursue a career in some quantitative field. Currently, she’s interested in math as well as its applications to other areas, especially biology. She is a Siemens semifinalist for a project in mathematical biology and a four-time medalist at the Math Prize for Girls Invitational Olympiad.

Munsunuri, 16, of Mill Creek, Wash., earned her scholarship in the science category for her project, “Application of Tetrahedrite and Magnesium Silicide in a Novel Thermoelectric Unicouple to Generate Electricity from Industrial Waste Heat.”

“Though I have been awarded at numerous science fairs and presented to both professional and technical audiences, becoming a Davidson Fellow Laureate represents acceptance to the larger scientific community, and allows me to communicate my research and its applications on a larger platform,” said Musunuri in a statement. “This scholarship not only enhances my opportunity to pursue a higher education, it also validates the fact that the world is ready to encourage people on the basis of the merit of their efforts, regardless of their age or seniority.”

Musunuri's project was a synthesis of the research that she conducted over the course of her freshman year of high school and involves engineering a novel, more-cost effective thermoelectric device to generate electricity from industrial waste heat. Her efforts culminated with creating and testing a novel tetrahedrite-magnesium silicide unicouple that can be applied in the industrial waste heat sector as well as the automobile industry to recover energy and boost efficiencies.

Ganesan, a 16-year-old from Clarksburg, Md., was recognized in the engineering category for his project, “VAXXWAGON: An Innovative Eco-Friendly 'No Ice, No Electric' Active Refrigeration System for Last-Leg Vaccine Transportation.”

Through his project, Ganesan designed and developed an eco-friendly, "No Ice, No Electric" active refrigeration vaccine transportation system, which is patent pending. He believes the system will solve the current global problem.

“It is a culmination of countless hours of hard work and self-discipline with my project that allowed me to be considered, and ultimately accepted as a Davidson Fellow,” said Ganesan. “This honor will continue to motivate me to work on VAXXWAGON to one day, soon, save lives.”

Ganesh, of San Jose, Calif., at just 14 is the youngest Davidson Fellow. He was honored in the technology category for his project, "Serene: An Assistive Biomedical System for Autism Spectrum Disorder."

The wearable device periodically monitors four environmental triggers and three physiological symptoms through sensors, predicting and preventing autistic “meltdowns.” A micro-controller regulates the device’s various functions, and will signal the caregiver on their smart phone when symptoms of a meltdown are detected A mobile application is paired with the device via Bluetooth. It operates in three modes: data collection, data analysis and detection.

“I am humbled and honored to be named a Davidson Fellow, and receive recognition for my project,” said Ganesh. “I feel inspired to continue my research and am happy that I can share my project with more people.”

Varma, 18, of Cupertino, Calif., was a Fellow recipient in the engineering category for her project, "A Wireless Smartphone-Based System for Diagnosis of Pulmonary Illnesses."

“Current spirometry equipment used in hospitals costs thousands of dollars, which is beyond the means of health care facilities in many developing nations,” Varma said. “With the increasing proliferation of Internet-connected smartphones across the world, low-cost smartphone-based medical devices are now an attractive alternative to traditional custom-made medical equipment, especially in developing countries.”

Varma, who is heading to Stanford University to study bioengineering and computer science, has been a Davidson Young Scholar since she was in the sixth grade.

Mundada, 17, of Olympia, Wash., was honored in the technology category for her project, "MyGlove: Assisting Hand Movements, Grip, and Tremor."

A 3D printed hand controlled by a different microcontroller circuit is used to model a human hand. MyGlove’s functionalities of assisting hand movements, improving grip, and detecting and controlling tremor have been developed and validated.

"The use of MyGlove will greatly lead to a higher quality lifestyle for a wide range of people impacted with tremor and the loss of hand motor control," Mundada said.

Selva, 16, of Houston, Texas, winning in the science category, was honored as a Davidson Fellow for her project, "From Nano Defects to Mega Power: Heavily-Zirconium-Doped Trapped Field (Gd,Y) BaCuO Superconductor Tapes for High Power Wind Turbine Generators."

Studying the shortage of rare-earth materials created by Chinese restrictions of exports, Selva’s project was focused on alternative materials used for magnets in superconductors.

Based on the results she had discovered in a sixth grade science project, Selva cooled stacks of ultrathin barium zirconate tapes to create lightweight, more efficient magnets to be used in wind turbines. Selva hopes that her results might be used to expand the use of wind energy and decrease the mining of rare materials.

The 2016 Davidson Fellows will be honored at a reception in Washington, D.C., Sept. 21.

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