Kendrick School student Sreenithi Bhuvaneshwaran received her AWE Young Scientist of the Year trophy from an AWE team during a special assembly.
The AWE scientists and engineers joined the applause as Sreenithi accepted a silver cup. They then entertained pupils with a lively presentation on careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) followed by a question and answer session. The students heard how the scientists were involved in projects ranging from Mars probes to measuring earthquakes and have the opportunity to work with scientists across the world. Sreenithi was nominated for the award by her physics teacher, Eileen Sheppard. The pair travelled to London in December with VIP tickets for the famous Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, also part of Sreenithi’s prize.
The 2016 AWE Young Scientist of the Year competition invited science teachers across North Hampshire and West Berkshire to nominate one exceptional Year 9 student from their school. All the finalists received an award for outstanding achievement in science. The students had to demonstrate how they have excelled in science inside and outside school, including projects and school clubs. Eileen said: “Sreenithi is exceptional in science lessons and is a gifted student in all three science disciplines. She can be found helping others in her group and I am convinced that, as a future scientist, she will make a difference in her field through her diligent committed approach and her enquiring, challenging thinking.”
Sreenithi said that the scientist who most inspires her is Charles Darwin: “He kept faith in his scientific beliefs, even though his concepts and theories went against people’s faith at the time, and his own religious beliefs. Because he persevered in spreading his ideas, his theories are now considered the most plausible explanation of how and why humans evolved, which inspires me to never give up on what I believe in either.”
Her scientific aim is to invent methods for growing resilient, organic crops; developing effective and inexpensive large-scale water purification and reducing carbon and sulphur emissions from vehicles and factories, so that the world has enough food, clean water, and clean air. With objectives like that, let’s hope it’s not long before Sreenithi is putting her talent for science to good use.