Eastside High School student wins spot in International Science and Engineering Fair

Press release from Alachua County Public Schools

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – An Eastside High School student is headed to the prestigious Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair after winning the top prize in the Alachua Regional fair.

Sophomore Pranav Mannam took both the first-place prize in the Engineering and Material Science Senior Division (high school) and Overall Best in Show for the Senior Division with his project, “Use of Dual Venturi Strips in a Positive Feedback Orientation to Improve Downforce Production in Modern Ground Effect Race Cars,” a study on increasing a race car’s grip on the track without sacrificing speed.

With the win, Mannam has automatically qualified for the international fair, which will be held in mid-May in Phoenix, Arizona. He is also among twelve students from Alachua County Public Schools (including one charter school student) who qualified for the State Science and Engineering Fair in Lakeland, March 31-April 2. High school students can also qualify for the international competition with strong performances at the state fair. (The International Science and Engineering Fair is not open to middle school students.)

Finnegan Alread, a 7^th-grader at Micanopy Academy, earned Best of Show in the Junior Division with a microbiology project, “Ancient Solutions for Modern Hygiene: Skincare Using Traditional Ethnobotanical Methods.” He has also qualified for the state competition.

The complete list of Alachua County students who are headed to the state fair is below:

Senior Division

• Pranav Mannam, Eastside High School (1^st Place, Engineering and Material Science)
• Trishaa Urs, Gainesville High School (1^st Place, Behavioral and Social Sciences)
• Pranav Parashar, Gainesville High School (1^st Place, Physics)
• Kaayana Sharma, Eastside High School (1^st Place, Microbiology)
• Shiven Sharma, Eastside High School (1^st Place, Biomedical and Health Sciences)
• Saharsh Pothu, Eastside High School (1^st Place, Intelligent Machines, Robotics and Systems Software)
• Samantha Bruner, Oak Hall (1^st Place, Cellular and Molecular Biology)
• Yifan Song, Frazer School (1^st Place, Intelligent Machines, Robotics and Systems Software)
• Maggie Gao, Frazer School (1^st Place, Environmental Engineering)
• David Rong, Frazer School (1^st Place, Earth and Environmental Science)

Junior Division

• Finnegan Alread, Micanopy Academy Charter (1^st Place, Microbiology)
• Aung Pyae, Fort Clarke Middle School (1^st Place, Physics)
• Avinoor Jutla, Lincoln Middle School (1^st Place, Environmental Engineering)
• Aradhya Kasala, Howard Bishop Middle School (1^st Place, Earth and Environmental Science)
• Jane Han and Meha Srivastava, Lincoln Middle School (1^st Place, Microbiology)