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Six Plano ISD Students Named in Broadcom MASTERS Top 300

September 7, 2022

Six Plano ISD middle school students were named as Top 300 competitors in the 2022 Broadcom MASTERS® — the nation’s premier STEM competition for middle school students by the Broadcom Foundation and the Society for Science & the Public. The Broadcom MASTERS seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve the challenges of the 21st Century.

Middle school students across the nation were invited to apply for the Broadcom MASTERS competition by placing among the top 10% of participants at Society-affiliated science fairs. The 2022 Top 300 MASTERS were selected from 1,807 applicants hailing from 35 states, plus Guam. 

Congratulations to these Plano students who have been named in the Top 300 and will receive a $125 award from the Department of Defense STEM Education Consortium:

  • Dhroov Bharatia, eighth grade, Wilson Middle School, project title: QuakeWake: AI to the Rescue

  • Kaitlyn Zhu Fan, eighth grade, Rice Middle School, project title: AI Detective: A Machine Learning Approach To Diagnose and Categorize Alzheimer's Disease

  • Arya Gurumukhi, eighth grade, Otto Middle School, project title: Supercapacitors—Improving Upon the Lithium-Ion Battery Technology

  • Isabelle Hou, eighth grade, Schimelpfenig Middle School, project title: iSkin: A Computer Vision and Neural Network-Based Diagnosis for Skin Cancer Using Pigmented Lesions

  • Ana Spiride, seventh grade, Rice Middle School, project title: drEYEve: A Novel Gaze-Controlled Movement System

  • Jessica Zhang, seventh grade, Rice Middle School, project title: Is Biodegradable Plastic Actually Better for the Environment?

On September 21, 30 of the Top 300 Broadcom MASTERS will be selected as finalists by a nationally ranked panel of scientists, engineers and educators. The winners will travel to Washington, D.C. to present their research projects and compete as teams in STEM challenges to demonstrate their 21st Century skills in critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. Top awards include a grand prize of $25,000, stipends for STEM summer camps and more.