Mangalore :
Rashmiparvathi K ,17, has made her remote village Nekkila near Bannur in Puttur taluk, 60 km from the city, proud.
She has won the gold for her science project in the International Sustainable World Energy Engineering Environment Project Olympiad (I-SWEEP) 2013 held in Houston, Texas, USA from May 8 to 12.
Her project titled, ‘Salt from coconut palm petiole & its anti-microbial activity’ was among the four projects selected to represent India at I-SWEEEP, an international science fair that focuses on energy, engineering, and environmental projects. The team won one gold, two silvers and one bronze medal.
Rashmiparvathi, who returned home on Wednesday, told TOI that it was a wonderful experience to be a part of an international event. “I could present my project and I shared the happiness with other students. I want to be a scientist in future,” said Rashmiparvathi, who is the daughter of Ravishankar K, an agriculturist and Durgarathna, head of the department of Hindi, Vivekananda Degree College, Puttur.
Rashmiparvathi, who has secured 93% in the PUC exams, is keen on studying basic science at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
“Her dedication and hard work helped her bag international laurels. She was guided by a progressive farmer Shankar Bhat Badanaje in her research,” said her father Ravishankar.
Rashmiparvathi is a student of Vivekananda PU College, Puttur.
Her study has found that the bio-waste of coconut petiole can be used as a substitute for increasing the plant soil nutrients and as anti-microbial agent against certain fungi that cause skin diseases.
Ayush Panara from Rajkot, Nambirajan Konar, Kushal Suvarna, Dhanyeshwari Manoj Kumar from Mumbai are the other students from India bagged medals at the I-SWEEP. The students were qualified to participate in the I-SWEEEP fair through the Indian Science and Engineering Fair (INSEF) organized by Science Society of India (SSI).
source: http://www.articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Mangalore / by Vinobha KT, TNN / May 18th, 2013