Houston Student Wins Grand Prize at Engineering Olympiad

HOUSTON, TX — Houston-area student Syamantak Payra walked away with the Grand Prize in Engineering this weekend for his “smart bionic leg brace” at the 10th annual International Sustainable World Energy, Engineering, Environment Project olympiad – or ISWEEEP.

Payra’s project assists individuals with limited mobility in their knees by reading the wearer’s movements and automatically bending their brace in response.

Payra, who attends Clear Brook High School in Friendswood, was one of four grand prize winners chosen this weekend from the thousands of students who traveled from around the globe to compete in the international science fair.

Allen Green from New York took home the Grand Prize in Energy; a team from California, Venkat Krishnan, Rohan Arora won Grand Prize in Environment: Health and Disease Prevention; and Adam Nayak from Oregon took Grand Prize in Environment: Management and Pollution.

The 430 competing projects were judged on the originality of their project, its benefits to society, scientific method, analysis, and presentation.

ISWEEEP is an international science olympiad whose mission is to inspire students to re-imagine the world around them using Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. ISWEEEP is produced by Harmony Public Schools, a Texas public charter school system with 48 campuses across the state which focus on providing rigorous, high-quality STEM education to students in traditionally underserved areas.

“Supporting students such as Syamantak Payra is exactly why Harmony Public Schools sponsors this amazing event each year. With the right support and encouragement every single one of these students has the potential to revolutionize the world in a positive way,” said Harmony’s CEO and Founder Dr. Soner Tarim. “We congratulate all our winners and look forward to seeing more amazing student research next year.”

Image via Pixabay