Shripriya Kalbhavi, a 9th grader at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, California, will receive a $2,000 prize for creating EasyBZ.
The 2023 3M Young Scientist Challenge, the nation’s premier middle school science competition, was won by an Indian American teen from San Jose, California. Shripriya Kalbhavi, a Lynbrook High School ninth-grader, will receive a $2,000 prize for developing EasyBZ, a low-cost microneedle patch that enables self-automated drug delivery without pills or needles.
Heman Bekele of Annandale, Virginia, won first place and the prestigious title of “America’s Top Young Scientist” for his compound-based Skin Cancer Treating Soap (SCTS).
Kalbhavi says she entered the 3M Young Scientist Challenge because she wants to help change people’s lives in a blog on the 3M Young Scientist Challenge website. “I have always been interested in scientific research and innovation, and I find the scientists, especially doctors, all around me to be extremely inspiring because they work to help people every day,” she said.
The young woman hosts a podcast called “Famous Personalities,” and as part of the show is theme, she interviews female scientists about their lives, accomplishments, and research. “I entered the 3M Young Scientist Challenge to gain experience and advice from a mentor in order to help improve people’s lives with my invention, BZ reaction-automated microneedle patches, by making their medication painless and more affordable.”
In 15 years, she hopes to realize her dream of becoming a practicing neurosurgeon, as she stated on her blog. “I have always felt a calling to serve my community in the field of medicine, particularly in neuroscience and women’s health, and I would relish the opportunity to perform precise work as a neurosurgeon.”
Along with Kalbhavi, five Indian American teenagers finished in the top ten of the competition.
They each receive a $1,000 prize and a $500 gift card. They include:
Anisha Dhoot of Portland, Oregon, is a 9th grader at Westview High School in the Beaverton School District.
Ishaan Iyer of Rancho Cucamonga, California, is a sixth-grade student at Etiwanda School District’s Day Creek Intermediate School.
Anish Kosaraju is a 9th grader at The Harker School in the Campbell Union School District from Saratoga, California.
Adhip Maitra is a 9th grader at Oviedo High School in the Seminole County School District.
Shruti Sivaraman, an eighth-grader at Canyon Vista Middle School in the Round Rock Independent School District, is from Austin, Texas.
