October 20, 2020

Plano ISD students competed in the annual Texas Junior Academy of Science (TJAS) competition held virtually on October 15 and 16. High school students (grades 9-12) from across the state conducted research during the school year and presented results at TJAS through both spoken and written word.

At the 2020 competition seven first place awards were earned by Plano ISD students. First place winners competed in a second round of competition to determine grand prize winners in various science categories. Plano ISD captured five of the six grand prize awards.

All seven first place winners have been invited to attend the American Junior Academy of Science virtual conference, where they will present their research to prominent scientists in the field.

Congratulations to all participants and the following winning students:

Grand Prize Awards

Natural Science

• Parisa Vaziri, Plano East Senior High, Medicine and Health – first place grand prize
• Tanaz Muhamed, Plano East Senior High, Behavior and Social Science – second place grand prize
• William Yan, Plano West Senior High, Biochemistry/ Microbiology -  third place grand prize

Physical Science

• Raghav Ramki, Jasper High School, Computer Science  - first place, grand prize
• Ananya Sridhar, Plano East Senior High, Engineering II - third place, grand prize

First Place

• Sophie Krajmalnik, Plano West Senior High, Engineering I  
• Rachel Mammen, Plano West Senior High, Botany/Zoology  
• Tanaz Muhamed, Plano East Senior High, Behavior and Social Science
• Raghav Ramki, Jasper High School, Computer Science
• Ananya Sridhar, Plano East Senior High, Engineering II
• Parisa Vaziri, Plano East Senior High, Medicine and Health
• William Yan, Plano West Senior High, Biochemistry/ Microbiology

Second Place

• Shriya Bhat, IB World School at Plano East, Biochemistry/ Microbiology
• Rithvik Ganesh, Plano West Senior High, Medicine and Health  
• Pratyush Mallick, Plano East Senior High, Behavior and Social Science  
• Pranav Nathan, Plano West Senior High, Engineering I
• Brianna Phan, Plano Senior High,  Botany
• Arjun Raghuram, Plano East Senior High, Engineering I  
• Navya Ramakrishnan, Plano Senior High, Computer Science
• Shakti Ramakrishna, IB World School at Plano East, Biochemistry/ Microbiology
• John Rho, Plano West Senior High, Medicine and Health  
• Alay Shah, Plano West Senior High, Computer Science  
• Anushka Sridhar, IB World School at Plano East, Engineering II
• Kevin Sun, Jasper High School, Environmental Science
• Devika Sunil,  Plano Senior High, Medicine and Health

Third Place

• Akanksha Deka, Plano East Senior High, Biochemistry/ Microbiology  
• Syed Husain, Jasper High School, Computer Science
• Anjali Iyer, Jasper High School, Botany/Zoology
• Shrey Joshi, Plano East Senior High, Computer Science  
• Amitha Mandava, IB World School at Plano East, Chemistry
• Aashna Mangal, Plano West Senior High, Medicine and Health  
• Olivia McCoy, Plano East Senior High, Botany/Zoology  
• Nitya Mirle, Plano East Senior High, Behavior and Social Science  
• Aditya Panda, Plano West Senior High, Physics/Earth and Space Sciences  
• Sophia Perez, Jasper High School, Environmental Science
• Aithreya Thoppay, Jasper High School, Environmental Science
• Akshay Unnikrishnan, IB World School at Plano East, Engineering I
• Greyson Wong, Williams High School, Engineering II
• Lillian Ye, Plano West Senior High, Biochemistry/Microbiology

Honorable Mention

• Jay Bhalala, IB World School at Plano East Senior High, Engineering I
• Harshal Bharatia, Plano Senior High, Computer Science
• Bhavya Chandran, Plano East Senior High, Botany/Zoology
• Charvi Goyal, Plano West Senior High, Physics/Earth and Space Sciences
• Shreya Halbe, Jasper High School, Engineering
• Megan Ho, Williams High School, Behavioral and Social Science
• Zehra Jaffery, Jasper High School, Biochemistry/ Microbiology
• Rizwan Khan, Shepton High School, Computer Science
• Shruthi Madhugiri, Plano West Senior High, Chemistry
• Sneha Nadella, Plano West Senior High, Biochemistry/ Microbiology
• Keshav Vasanth, Plano East Senior High, Engineering II
• Ishan Vemireddy, Jasper High School, Environmental Science
• Joshua Wong, Plano West Senior High, Engineering II