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CBS Colorado, along with Colorado Minds and Chevron, is proud to recognize high school students who excel in STEM fields, science, technology, engineering, and math. The Future Leaders Award offers a cash prize of $1,000 and a profile on CBS News Colorado.
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The latest Future Leaders Award winner is Shreya Senthilkumar. She is in her senior year at Peak to Peak Charter School and may be one of the better problem solvers of her generation.
“I think I’ve had a great imagination since I was a child. I always come up with weird ideas,” Senthilkumar told CBS News Colorado.
Currently, Senthilkumar is part of a team of students tracking the growth and water retention of about 20 newly planted trees on the Peak to Peak campus.
“A lot of trees at our school died this summer, and it was because of the quality of the soil. Especially after the Marshall Fire, we found that the soil was super dry and dehydrated,” she said. explained.
Through the school’s Innovation Lab, students came up with the idea of mixing mushroom plant mycelium into the soil to see if it would help retain moisture. Some trees are planted in untreated soil, some in compost containing shredded cardboard, and some in compost with mycelium.
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“We’re still collecting data so we can’t draw any conclusions, but we found that in the soils we sampled, mycelium and compost seemed to be much better at retaining water. ,” Senthilkumar revealed.
She and her classmates plan to present their data at Tree Summit in Fairview in April. Throughout her high school years, Senthilkumar has developed innovations and presented ideas in several national competitions such as the educational competition ‘Samsung Solve for Tomorrow’ and the Conrad Innovation Her Challenge. Her innovation and her lab led her down this path.
“Ultimately, it was my gateway to so many different opportunities and I really discovered my passion and how I could use it to change the world,” she explained.
In one project, she developed a biodegradable, plastic-free packaging system for computers.
“The original idea was to use plant-based starch, but we decided to use potato starch because we found it to be a cheap material to use,” Senthilkumar said.
The students planned to make foam used to insulate computers from potato starch.
“At the time, we were researching biomimicry using the hexagonal pattern of honeybee hives, which allowed us to understand how beehives become compact and how they break or become damaged in different weather conditions. “And I wanted to imprint that into our bubble,” she said.
Another project used tobacco leaves as part of a water filtration system, allowing tobacco farmers to move away from supplying tobacco manufacturers and instead contribute to clean water. Another project centered on using ultraviolet light to detect benzene, a carcinogenic chemical, in drinking water after the Marshall Fire.
“It all comes from empathy,” she said. “We identify and understand exactly what the problem is, who is affected, and what we can do to solve it.”
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In a separate project, Senthilkumar developed a plan to bridge the digital divide in Colorado.
“Our idea was to create an innovation center-like facility that offers a variety of curricula and workshops, especially for young children, and promotes STEM learning at an early age,” she explained .
This project inspired her to educate people around the world about women’s health. She and her friend founded a menstrual equity nonprofit. She packs sanitary products and sends them to women who don’t have any.
“This is something I’m very passionate about, not just from an access standpoint, but also from a women’s reproductive health and menstrual stigma standpoint,” Senthilkumar said.
Senthilkumar is passionate about making the world a better place and is committed to innovation through science.
“Whatever I do, I want to make an impact.”
Link: Future Leaders Award
CBS Colorado is seeking nominations for the Future Leaders Award through April 19, 2024. Nominate a high school student who excels in STEM by filling out the form linked above.
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