Success follows excellence, and excellence follows innovation. This is what 16-year-old Indian American Ankush Dhawan has lived up to. His latest achievement, the distinction of having an asteroid named after him, is an unquestionable testimony to it. Ankush Dhawan from the US state of Indiana will soon enter the elite club of 15,000 achievers who have been conferred upon the same honor.

A high school junior at Signature School in downtown Evansville, Indiana, Ankush Dhawan will get an asteroid in the Milky Way galaxy named after him through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory. One of the most coveted distinctions in the world, this award is presented to him for finishing second in the 2018 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.

Picture Credit: Courier & Press

The winner of the 2018 Top Young Scientist Award at the Hoosier Science and Engineering Fair, Ankush Dhawan has been showcasing his innovations in national and international science fairs since the seventh grade. He credits his interest in engineering and environment to his parents.

Indian American Ankush Dhawan’s innovative project – an advance, cost-effective method to test arsenic concentration in water – was declared the second best at the 2018 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He asserts confidently that his arsenic-testing kit is 10 times cheaper, more effective and more cost efficient than the existing methods.

Arsenic is a toxic heavy metal which contaminates water and renders it undrinkable. Over 130 million people worldwide suffer from short-term and long-term health effects of arsenic contaminated water. The Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in drinking water must not exceed 0.010 mg/L as per the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Sahithi Pingali, a Bengaluru City teen, got a planet named after her in 2017 as an award for her extensive, insightful study on the unchecked pollution of lakes in the Silicon Valley of India.

Indiana-based Ankush Dhawan has already applied a patent for his invention. He wants to economically commercialize his award-winning arsenic test kit once it is patented, so that people suffering from arsenic contamination in the developing countries can benefit from it. Arsenic contamination of groundwater has become a major public health concern over years. The number of people affected by arsenic contaminated water has meteorically gone up in more than 20 countries including India and Bangladesh.

Ankush was among over 1700 teens from 80 countries, whose projects were selected for a display at the 2018 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Only the winner and the runner-up are bestowed upon the honor of having an asteroid or planet named after them.

Inspiring Stories of Young Indians in America 

• Indian American Nikhil Devanathan Invents Portable Air Quality Censor
• 22-year-old Shubham Goel Runs for California Governor Office
• Indian American Human Calculator Apoorva Panidapu
• Two Indian American Girls Help Dementia Victims with Chess
• These Indian American Siblings Teach Kids History of India
• These NRI Girls Raise Fund for Children with Cleft Lips in India 

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One of the major recipients of H1B visas in India, Infosys is going overseas at an aggressive pace to strengthen its global workforce with trained American workers. After having announced to create over 1000 jobs at its upcoming $21-million technology and innovation hub in Hartford, CT in March this year, Infosys plans to open an education center in Indianapolis for American workers and create nearly 3000 new jobs by the end of 2023.

It seems the beginning of a downward or reverse trend for the few Indian IT companies including Infosys, which have been sending their Indian professionals to the United States on H1B visa for years. Owing to the Trump government’s stiff anti-immigration stance, the number of H1B visa approvals for the top 7 Indian IT conglomerates dropped by 43% between 2015 and 2017. In FY 2015, 14792 H1B visas were granted to Indian IT giants including Infosys, TCS and Wipro. The figure was cut by almost an half in FY 2017.

To be integrated into Infosys’ new technology and innovation hub in Indianapolis, the proposed education center is supposed to transform a 70.5-acre site at the old Indianapolis airport terminal. Infosys will initially invest $35 million to develop 125,000 sq. ft. of the facility at the first phase, where the IT giant’s American workers will be equipped with requisite skills for the coming decades of digital technology.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the initial phase of the proposed Infosys education center in Indianapolis is expected to be held before we ring in 2019. The first phase, which will include a training center with a 250-person residential facility, will be completed by the end of 2020. The center will also be used as a seat for development of next-gen digital tools and technologies.

In a recent media release, Infosys asserted its hiring plans to create new jobs from 2000 to 3000 until the end of 2023, as part of the previous commitment to build a US workforce of 10,000 and invest in their training for the changing digital landscape.

The US state of Indiana and its capital Indianapolis have announced to offer incentives worth $101.8 million for the upcoming Infosys education center in Indianapolis over a period until the completion of the project. Infosys’ plan is to develop a $245-million campus over an area of 141 acres in a phased manner. Infosys will receive conditional tax credits up to $56.5 million and training grants worth $1.5 million from the state government. The incentives and grants depend on the company’s capital investment strategy and job creation plan. Indianapolis and the state will jointly contribute $37.8 million to the project’s infrastructure development.

The upcoming Infosys education center in Indianapolis will deploy the best practices and training methodology from the company’s Global Education Center in Mysore, India. It will seek partnership with the world’s leading education providers. The Indianapolis education center of Infosys will have training programs designed combining classroom-based teaching and immersive, interactive learning. Infosys’ American workers will be given lessons on key competencies including big data, cloud technology, computer science, user experience and digital economy.

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Five Indian American teenagers are among the top 10 awardees of the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition, one of the most popular science contests in the world. Indrani Das, a 17-year-old Indian girl from New Jersey, won the ‘Junior Nobel’ award, which this science talent search competition is also known as, and bagged a whopping grant of $250,000 in addition. Indrani Das was felicitated along with other 39 finalists by the committee comprising some of the best in the field of science and technology.

Indrani Das (left), Prathik Naidu (middle), Archana Verma (right)

New Jersey-based Indian American Indrani Das was awarded $250,000 for her intensive study of a new approach to treating the death of neurons in the brain, which results from brain injuries and which causes neurodegenerative diseases like cerebral attack, and Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases. The winner of the Junior Nobel Prize 2017, Indrani Das demonstrated how the cerebral neurons can be saved, using a laboratory model.

The death of neurons in the brain is called Astrogliosis in medical science. Astrogliosis is a cerebral condition caused by an abnormal increase in the growth of the brain cells called astrocytes as a result of some infection or injury or trauma to the brain. Glutamate, a toxic substance, secretes more and more due to the reduced functionality of astrocytes. Excess glutamate destroys neurons in the brain, thereby causing neurodegenerative diseases.

The second prize of the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition went to an 18-year-old American teenager. Arjun Srinivasan Ramani from Indiana, an 18-year-old Indian American boy, bagged the third prize of $150,000. Arjun worked on a project about network analysis among social media users. He developed an algorithm to analyze different patterns of user behavior on Facebook and identify potential physical issues like neurological disorders among the users. He emphasized that early diagnosis of diseases leads to early treatments.

17-year-old Archana Verma from New York is another Indian American finalist of the 2017 Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition. She received a grant of $90,000 for her project on chemistry behind energy efficiency. A student of Jericho Senior High School in New York, Archana Verma studied on where the energy that window panes absorb from sunlight goes. She is looking to convert window panes into a solar energy source.

Among the five Indian American awardees of the Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition in 2017, Prathik Naidu from Virginia developed a software application to identify new cancer therapeutics as alternatives to chemotherapy. The Massachusetts General Hospital has started using the software to analyze new aspects of cancer genome in the human body in a pilot program. Prathik Naidu is a senior student of Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria.

17-year-old Vrinda Madan from the Indian community of Orlando walked away with a $50,000 award for her project on effective treatment of malaria. One of the young Indians in the US state of Florida, Vrinda found that the existing drugs of malaria are gradually losing their effectiveness to the increasing resistance of plasmodium parasite, which is transmitted to the human body through bites by infected mosquitoes. She has been trying to create compounds which can be used in drugs to fight the malaria-causing parasite.

The awardees of the Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition, formerly known as Intel Science Talent Search, are selected among school students from across the United States for their scientific competence and their individual ability to make the most of it.

There are nine more Indian Americans among the 40 finalists of the Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition in 2017. 14 young Indian Americans among the 40 finalists make an outstanding figure especially when the Indian American community accounts for only 1% of the total US population.

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An India-born Muslim police officer became an epitome of religious harmony when the air of the United States is rife with racism before the upcoming presidential elections. He is trusted with the security of the largest Hindu temple in the US state of Indiana. He also conducts self-defense training programs.

Lieutenant Javed Khan from the Indian state of Maharashtra is the security-in-charge of a Hindu temple in Indianapolis City. He is at the helm of security for hundreds of devotees visiting the temple daily. He makes sure that there is no loophole in the overall security system either during his presence or absence. A huge number of visitors throng the temple in Indianapolis on weekends and special occasions, but the temple authority is not worried about the security due to Javed Khan’s hawk-eyed supervision.

“There is only one God. We are all children of Him. It is we who choose to worship the Almighty in different names, different forms and different languages. One half of my family is Hindu and the other half is Muslim. I revere both religions. However, I am an Indian first,” Javed Khan said in an interview with PTI.

Born in Mumbai and brought up in Pune in Maharashtra, Lt Javed Khan is a kick boxing champion. He is an eight-degree black-belt Taekwondo too. Martial art is his passion. He used to visit the United States for martial art competitions till he relocated there in 2000. He permanently settled in Indiana in 2001.

This Indian American Muslim, who married off his only daughter to a boy from the Telugu community in USA, believes in humanity, brotherhood and camaraderie. He says that he feels being in India, not in America, when he is at this Indianapolis Hindu temple. He thinks that strengthening and supervising the security of the temple is his duty.

Imran Yousuf, a New York based Indian American Muslim who rescued many people during the Orlando nightclub shooting on June 12, is one of those who worship humanity and champion social harmony irrespective of religions.

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Yesterday, the US First Lady Michelle Obama hosted a dinner in the White House recognizing and congratulating the young winners of the 2016 White House Recipe Contest which is also known as Healthy Lunchtime Challenge. Three Indian American children were among the invitees to the State Dinner in recognition of their winning recipes. A matter of pride for the Indians in USA!

Healthy Lunchtime Challenge is one of the most popular events at the White House in Washington DC. A nationwide recipe contest for young culinary aspirants, it helps to promote healthy cooking and eating. Since its launch in 2012, the contest has been won by 270 young chefs from across the United States and seen submission of over 6000 recipes. Sponsored by the US Department of Education and the US Department of Agriculture, the White House recipe contest is part of Michelle Obama’s initiative ‘Let’s Move’ to keep kids in good health.

The Indian American winners of the 2016 White House Recipe Contest are:

• 8-year-old Shakthi Ramachandran from Indiana
• 10-year-old Priya Patel from Texas
• 11-year-old Abhijith Jenkins from Missouri

Shakthi Ramachandran from the US state of Indiana won the White House Recipe Contest for her recipe of chicken tikka pita with cucumber raita. She owes her love of Indian food to her father who is from India. Any Indian dish having a lot of vegetable is her favorite. She gets most of the vegetables from their outhouse garden.

Priya Patel from the US state of Texas won the contest for her recipe of delicious Tex-Mex vegetable lasagna. She owes this winning recipe to her mother who always inspires her to add vegetables to food. She shared, “My mom says that not liking one ingredient or not having an ingredient of your choice is not an excuse to buy fast food or avoid trying a recipe.”

Abhijith Jenkins from the US state of Missouri won the 2016 Healthy Lunchtime Challenge for his tropical catfish and quinoa delicacy.

Michelle Obama gave a warm welcome to all 56 winners of the 2016 White House Recipe Contest, including the three kids from the Indian American community, praised them eloquently for their culinary creativity and treated them to a delicious dinner in the White House.

During her congratulatory speech at Kids’ State Dinner in the White House, the First Lady said, “This annual recipe contest is not only competition but an opportunity to adopt healthy eating habits for lifetime.” She added, “The right food for the body is the right fuel to make you feel better, stronger and more active.”

A special performance by Walt Disney World Resort’s “The Jungle Book: Alive with Magic” was organized for the young chefs, as the kids were referred to. Television Chef Rachael Ray whose Yum-O organization is a partner of the Healthy Lunchtime Challenge turned up to catch up with the winners at the State Dinner.

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