Clarke senior is named an Intel semifinalist

Pavithran Ravindran's chemistry research earns him national accolade

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To understand how much W.T. Clarke senior Pavithran Ravindran enjoys science research, consider how he spent last summer. The 17-year-old’s vacation schedule closely resembled that of a full-time worker, as he boarded a 7 a.m. train each weekday morning, headed for Long Island University in Brooklyn, where he conducted research.
   
His hard work paid off. On Jan. 7, Ravindran (“Pav” to his friends and teachers) was named one of 300 semifinalists in the Science Intel Talent Search, the most prestigious pre-college science research competition in the country. He was the second semifinalist from Clarke in as many years, and the only student in the district to earn the distinction this year.

Ravindran was selected from a field of more than 1,800 student researchers from across the country. Forty finalists will be announced on Jan. 21, and invited to Washington, D.C., in March to show their work to the public, meet with noted scientists and take part in final judging as they compete for three top awards of $150,000 each.
   
For his research, Ravindran worked with LIU’s Dr. Nadarajah Vasanthan to try to reduce the crystallinity of polyhydroxybutyrate, or PHB, a polymer plastic that has many scientific uses, but is extremely brittle in its natural state and cannot be used to its full potential in the medical field — including encapsulating drugs.
   
Pav’s summer may have been very different than the typical high school student’s, but it was one he said he would never forget. “People are going to the beach, going on vacation,” he said. “I decided to do this. The reason why is because I do love it. It’s not like I really missed out on anything. I just gained a lot more.”
   
He has known he was destined to do science research, he said, since his freshman year, when a teacher showed students a documentary about Intel semifinalists, and the journey behind the science research. “From that day,” Ravindran said, “it’s been my goal to get to this point, and hopefully D.C.”

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