Mangalore:

Two class X students of Sri Ramakrishna High School in Puttur have made the state proud by winning bronze medals in the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Enviornment Project Olympiad (ISWEEP) held as part of the International Science Fair in Houston, Texas, USA in May.

The duo – Karthik Bhat A, 14, and Ramnath Rao , 15, – won the prize for their innovation of a bio-pesticide that can be used for preventing damages caused by termites to buildings. They developed the bio-pesticide using the leaves of Schleichera Oleosa tree that grows in the Western Ghats. “Chemical pesticides will create several health issues and many farmers suffer from life-threatening diseases like cancer because of over exposure to them. The bio-pesticide will help prevent such diseases,” they said.

The Science Society of India (SSI) sponsored the students to participate in the science fair.

“I consider traveling to USA with kids from different countries to participate in the event an achievement in life. If not for the event, I would never have visited a foreign country as my parents cannot afford it,” said Karthik, son of Gopal Krishna Bhat, a farmer of Bettamapady near Puttur.

Ramnath son of Satheesh Rao Bekal, an employee in a grocery shop, said that the victory in an international-level science competition had motivated him to take up more research works in the field of bio-pesticide. Vasanthi Kedila, the science teacher of Karthik and Satheesha said that they had become role models for students in the school.

“They have made us proud. They were selected by SSI a few months back,” she added.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / Home> City> Mangalore / TNN / June 30th, 2012