High school IB Diploma student from Mumbai, interested in physics, applied math, machine learning and computer engineering. Editor of the school newspaper, essayist and musician.
Recognition
Both submissions reached the finals. The in-person oral defense is in Hong Kong on October 23, 2026, at the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
One of five students from India selected, ranked fourth in the country after four qualifying rounds. Ran 80 independent experiments and derived graduate-level theory that predicted the results within 5%, then defended the work against teams from around the world. My report on the Magnetic Newton's Cradle received India's highest-ever individual report score. The team earned an honorable mention and its highest-ever rank.
Co-wrote a proposal on Cherenkov Diffraction Radiation for non-invasive beam position monitoring at DESY II. We were shortlisted in the top 50 of 712 teams worldwide.
Longlisted. My essay on determinism ranked in the top 2.6% of 1,500+ entries.
Qualified for the INAIO training camp, the Indian route to the official International AI Olympiad, through three selection rounds. Trained in sessions with INAIO mentors.
Distinction in all five. School rank 1 in each, except Avogadro, where I ranked 2nd in the school.
Principal's Honor Roll in Grade 10 (IB MYP5): 2 students out of 30, with the highest score in MYP5.
Awarded to 1 student out of 250+ for leadership, initiative and positive impact on the school community.
Research and Internships
Applied advanced electrochemistry, training a CNN and a transformer on battery voltage decay to better predict battery lifespan and prevent premature disposal. The CNN on voltage-relaxation curves estimates the state of health of lithium-ion batteries with an RMSE of 2.4%. I also analyzed a multi-frequency EIS dataset and reviewed model-based and data-driven methods. Presented a poster at an NSF REU event.
Built a computational pipeline for quadrillionth-of-a-second laser diagnostics on crystals, for use in next-generation medical imaging and semiconductors. It is a PyMoDAQ pipeline for time-resolved second-harmonic-generation (TR-SHG) on ferroelectric thin films, with custom plugins I wrote to drive a Zelux camera, a Newport DL325 delay stage and an optical chopper. I am the only high school student in the lab.
Used novel weighted graphs to show that semantics explain ideas in GPT-2 20% more accurately than context does, helping improve AI alignment. I wrote up the findings in a report of about 30 pages. The paper is under review at the TMLR journal and was accepted to the S.T. Yau High School Science Award.
Optimized image-recognition ML in C++ for offline devices in rural settings, reaching gaming-PC-level computing power on a $35 Raspberry Pi. Used ExecuTorch and the PyTorch C++ API to quantize EfficientNet models, and packaged the app in Docker for low-RAM devices.
In Grade 10, I built an 8-bit computer as a personal project, hand-wiring it from individual components.
Designed a 15-lesson machine learning curriculum for children, using Scratch. Produced instructional videos that guide teachers on running each lesson, and helped train two teachers to deliver the curriculum.
Beyond the Lab
Elected by student vote as president for 2025 to 2026, leading 20 representatives across Treasury, Spirit, Culture, Sports and Outreach, and 15+ events a year. I launched AscendConnect, a student-alumni initiative with a 200-person networking event and online AMAs. I also started House merchandise, raising 40% of future budget.
The Ascent is the school newspaper. I recruited and mentored 15 writers across print, Substack and social media. I wrote 20+ articles and edited 150+ pieces, and launched Humans of Ascend, a series of interviews with members of the school community.
I set up the paper's website on SNO, and The Ascent is the only Indian newspaper in the SNO catalog.
I play lead guitar and sing in the school band. We have performed at 6 concerts with 200+ attendees, and I have played 2 open mics. I composed 2 original fingerstyle songs.
Trinity Rock & Pop Grade 7, with Merit.
In July 2024 the school band played a concert to raise $1.3k to buy violins for 11 children at the Muktangan NGO.
Starting center for Ascend, one of the first five players. Played in 18 U19 district and national tournaments, won 8 school tournaments (10 teams) including OIS '25, and reached the ISSO quarterfinals among 40 teams.
Service and Coaching
I coach and mentor the Indian team for the International Young Physicists' Tournament this year.
Teaching volunteer. I taught 10 children Math and English every week.
Teaching volunteer. I tutored 16 students in reading and writing.
I coach students preparing for the SAT.
I coach students for Model UN.
I have run design workshops.
Education
HL Physics 7, Chemistry 7, Math AA 7. SL Economics 7, Spanish B 7, English A Literature 6. Predicted score: 44 of 45.
AP Physics: Mechanics, 5 out of 5. AP Physics: Electricity and Magnetism, 4 out of 5. AP Calculus BC, 5 out of 5. AP Calculus AB, 5 out of 5.
1570 (780 Reading and Writing, 790 Math).
Principal's Honor Roll, with the highest score in MYP5.
Python, C++, deep learning, PyTorch, CAD, design thinking.
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