New Delhi, Apr 29 (KNN) A team of 30 students selected from across the country will showcase in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) of which 17 of them will compete against 1,700 finalists from over 70 countries, regions and territories while 13 other students will participate as observers at this prestigious event.

The largest ever team of young innovators from across India get set to compete at the at the world’s largest pre-college science competition to be held from May 10 to 15, 2015 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.

Team India will showcase 12 cutting edge ideas to compete for USD 4 million in awards, scholarships and honours such as a chance to be present at the Nobel Laureate ceremony or to have a minor planet named after them (courtesy MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory). The projects were in varied fields from mathematics, computer science, plant sciences, molecular biology, nano sciences and medicine.

The shortlisted students from India are the winners of the Initiative for Research and Innovation in Science (IRIS), a research-based national science fair, held in Ahmadabad, Gujarat in November 2014. The winners were selected by an eminent panel of scientists from the Scientific Review Committee, based on a rigorous process judging innovation and originality.

After Intel ISEF, as part of a joint initiative from Department of Science & Technology (DST), Indo-US Science & Technology Forum (IUSSTF) & Intel, Team India will spend an additional week in USA to gain more exposure and engage in scientific exchanges with the rich scientific community in USA.

In this additional week, students will travel to Washington DC for site-visits to science museums, universities, science labs; meet and interact with scientists, professors in their related fields and get an exposure to hands-on activities in labs and museums.

A special ceremony was held at the Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) here on Tuesday.

The US Ambassador to India, Richard Verma, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India Ashutosh Sharma, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group and Managing Director, South Asia, Intel Debjani Ghosh, Executive Director, Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) Rajiv Sharma, and the Head of the National Council for Science and Technology Communication (NCSTC), Department of Science and Technology, BPSingh had graced the occasion and gave their message to the students. (KNN/ST)