FAU HIGH STUDENT IS ONE OF FIVE NATIONAL WINNERS IN 2021 RISING SCIENTIST AWARDS
Tuesday, Oct 05, 2021
Vivek Sreejithkumar, a senior at Florida Atlantic University High School , received the 2021 Rising Scientist Award from the Child Mind Institute.
As a Rising Scientist, Vivek will be awarded a $2,000 scholarship for college expenses from the Child Mind Institute and Hunter College.
Sreejithkumar conducted mathematical modeling to analyze the spread of the COVID-19 disease in Florida using incidence and disease-induced death data from the Florida Department of Health.
Sreejithkumar's research started with guidance from the FAU High School Research Program and the research staff of the Owls Imaging Lab. He later went on to work under the direction of Dr. Tuncer, an associate professor of mathematics at FAU. He has represented FAU High School and The Cane institute at several competitions and fairs, including the Palm Beach County Science Fair.
The Rising Scientist Awards are an increasingly competitive sign of student excellence. Each year, hundreds of applications are submitted, with only 53 finalists being selected. Vivek is one of five students in the United States who show exceptional promise in research in the fields of psychology, neuroscience, or biomedical engineering.
During today's annual On the Shoulders of Giants scientific symposium, Vivek received his scholarship and was recognized by Child Mind Institute's 2021 Sarah Gund Distinguished Scientist, Dr. Yasmin Hurd, the Ward-Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience, and the Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai.
Founded by Dan Cane, The Cane Institute serves as the epicenter for research, education and technology transfer for A.D. Henderson & FAU High School. The Institute’s integrated approach to solving society's toughest problems engages the best and brightest students, faculty, and resources at A.D. Henderson & FAU High School to explore today's most complex challenges in arenas such as cybersecurity, autonomous vehicles, robotics, virtual reality, augmented reality, automation and artificial intelligence.