Intergalactic Success

Five University School of Milwaukee students competed as finalists at the prestigious Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix. Their work was up against nearly 2,000 of the top science fair projects from 80 countries, regions, and territories at the world’s largest science competition for high school students.

Congratulations to all five who competed at the prestigious event:

• Rohan Anne ’21: “The Potential Pathophysiological Role of STING in the Development of Hypertensive Nephropathy”
• Amogh Bhatnagar ’20: “Coupling Multiple Stresses to the Activation of Akt-Kinase Signaling Pathway”
• Neil Dogra ’21: “Using Grain Refinement to Improve the Corrosion Resistance and Mechanical Properties of A205-T7 Aluminum Alloy”
• Aayush Karan ’19: “Generating Set for Nonzero Determinant Links under Skein Relation”
• Afiya Quryshi ’20: “GATA6 and GATA4 CRISPER Cas-9 and shRNA Technology to Investigate Human Gastric Development and Disease Using Human Organoid Model Systems”

Of the five students who competed, three earned special recognition for their projects:

Amogh Bhatnagar ’20 earned the Second Award in Biochemistry, which includes $1,500 and the honor of having a minor planet named after him.

Aayush Karan ’19, who was previously named a Regeneron Finalist thanks to his work in the mathematical field of knot theory, earned the Second Award in Mathematics, which also includes $1,500 and the honor of having a minor planet named after him. Additionally, he won the American Mathematical Society Third Award, the National Security Agency Research Directorate Honorable Mention, and the United Technologies Corporation Award.

Afiya Quryshi ’20 earned the National Anti-vivisection Society First Award and the National Taiwan Science Education Center Award, which includes an all-expense paid trip to participate in the Taiwan International Science Fair.

It was a grueling week with each student defending his or her work in front of nine to 20 Ph.D.-level scientists. The students then engaged in a public viewing where they explained their projects to school groups and interested visitors who numbered in the thousands.