Inspiring Minds: Bright Students Compete At The Intel STS Event In Washington D.C.

March 11, 2013

This post brought to you by Intel. All opinions are 100% mine.

This past Sunday, I was invited to attend the Intel Science Talent Search in beautiful Washington D.C., an incredible event that showcased some of the brightest young up-and-coming minds! I stayed at the super nice Westin Hotel, which wasn’t too far from the iconic White House.

The show – which was basically a not-so-typical science fair (no baking soda volcanoes here!) – brought together 40 high school students from around the country, each hand-selected by technological leader Intel to compete for prizes worth over $630,000! (Past winners and attendees have even won Nobel prizes – can you imagine?!)

The grand prize for the event itself is a $100,000 – a deserving prize for any of the brilliant, hard-working high school students I met at the event. (Seriously, these kids were geniuses!)

While inside the Intel STS show, which was held at the gorgeous National Geographic Society, I was blown away by all the creativity and intelligence of the kids showing their projects. I met so many incredibly talented young students, and learned about their interesting science projects that covered everything from sustainable agriculture to advanced cancer research. Not going to lie – some of the projects and exhibitions I saw I could barely understand! Believe me when I say these kids were smart – not just “A student smart,” but “future-world-leaders smart” in the sense that these are the science rockstars who are going to build and shape the future of our global community. I think the coolest part about the event though was watching the young teens just be, well, teenagers! Watching them mix and mingle and catch up excitedly with their friends, family, and peers was so humbling. It’s hard to imagine that these brilliant kids have normal lives – but many of them do!

My favorite was a project by 18year old Chris Traver, who was able to study noise pollution by location via technology like smartphones. He equipped his subjects with an app on their smartphones that allowed them to track noise levels in their local communities. It really opened my eyes to all the noise that surrounds us in a city atmosphere!

Another memorable standout was by 17 year old Westview high schooler Raghav Tripathi whose project theorized the design for a nonaddictive painkiller with effects similiar to that of cannibis but without the side effects. Can you imagine a prescription-grade painkiller that is safe without the chances of someone becoming addicted to it? Raghav can! Pay attention to these young scientists – they are the inventors and saviors of our very future! Thank you again to Intel for having me. It was such an eye-opening experience!