NINTH GRADER WINS
FIRST PLACE IN NATIONAL
SCIENCE COMPETITION
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FOX CH APE L AR EA SC H OO L NE WS
ox Chapel Area
project that earned Mihir Garimella a first
place in the 74th Annual Pittsburgh Regional
Science and Engineering Fair while he was a
student at Dorseyville Middle School led to
a first place award in the Broadcom MASTERS National
Science Fair. Mihir was named the first place winner in
engineering at the competition and was awarded a new
iPad and a $3,500 scholarship to attend a STEM summer
camp. Additionally, he joins the ranks of such greats as
Albert Einstein and Neil Armstrong with a minor planet
named after him – a pretty cool prize for the current high
school ninth grader!
As one of 30 national finalists selected to compete in
the Broadcom MASTERS, Mihir packed up his project,
“ScentIt: Digitally Recreating Smells,” and traveled to
Washington, D.C., at the end of September to attend
the five-day event. Each of the finalists presented
their projects, interacting with hundreds of people
who attended. But that was only a small part of the
In his project, “ScentIt: Digitally Recreating Smells,” Mihir studied the
competition. The finalists were placed on teams and then
sense of smell and embedded scents from inexpensive air fresheners
asked to work on science and technology challenges,
into movie clips played on a computer. The smells he included were
lemon, apple, and cinnamon.
including building a model roller coaster, deciphering
Mayan numerals, studying reverse engineering of the brain
in an effort to discover how it works, and determining
how much Alka Seltzer® and water it would take to launch a rocket to Mars. These
he Broadcom MASTERS
challenges made up a major portion of each participant’s final placement in the
competition.
is a program of the
Top national scientists and engineers were also on hand at the Broadcom MASTERS
competition to share their expertise with the participants. Among them was Eben
Upton, the creator of the Raspberry Pi, an inexpensive open single-board computer
the size of a credit card. Meeting Mr. Upton was especially interesting for Mihir
because of his affinity for computer science.
Another highlight of the competition was a visit to the Oval Office at the White
House conducted by surprise tour guide – President Barack Obama. “The President
took us inside the Oval Office, showed us patents and some artwork, and his desk.”
Mihir also said a White House photographer took photos of the 30 finalists with the
President. “It was a really special experience and exciting.”
Following the tour, the group met John Holdren, Ph.D., the chief scientific and
technology advisor to the President. Dr. Holdren talked with each of the students
about their projects.
As a result of Mihir’s national first-place efforts, Dorseyville Middle School teacher
and academic science coach Peter Pinko also had a planet named after him. “Having
a minor planet named after me is amazing. My granddaughter thinks I am a hero.
I have Mihir to thank for that,” Mr. Pinko stated. “My name is among a list of greats
like Albert Einstein, Neil Armstrong, and the Beatles – but most impressive is that my
name is listed with Mihir Garimella.”
12 Fox Chapel Area
T
Society for Science
& the Public (SSP).
MASTERS stands for Math,
Applied Science, Technology, and
Engineering for Rising Stars. The
program is the national Science,
Technology, Engineering, and
Math (STEM) competition for
U.S. sixth, seventh, and eighth
graders and prizes were awarded
in each of the STEM disciplines.
Mihir was among 1,695 students
from across the nation invited
to apply to enter based on
results of regional science and
technology competitions. He,
along with one of his classmates,
Suvir Mirchandani, were named
among 300 semifinalists this
past summer, and Mihir was then
selected as one of the 30 finalists
and invited for an all-expensespaid trip to Washington, D.C.