Abhinav Avvaru

aavvaru7@gmail.com

My name is Abhinav Avvaru and I am a senior at Nashua High School South in Nashua, NH. Over the past few years, I have researched and learned about problems faced by communities around the world. What stood out to me the most, was how many communities lack the resources necessary to protect themselves from disasters around the world. The importance of having the right technology to combat such issues then became clear to me. I became dedicated to my goal of using engineering and technology to solve global issues.

What started as a passion project developed into something more. Prompted by what I had learned, I created two research projects aimed at solving two important issues: vaping and water contamination. My first project is a low-cost device that detects vaping in schools. My second project is a device and a filter that can detect and filter toxins in water. Both of my research projects target different, yet very important issues that many communities face.

In 2022 and 2023, I attended the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Expo (NHSEE) to present my projects. For both years, I am honored to have placed first in the fair and represented New Hampshire as a Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) Finalist. ISEF is the biggest international high school science fair (running for over 70 years) with ~1700 finalists for the international fair per year. In the 2023 Regeneron ISEF, for my water contamination project, I was the winner of the United States Environmental Protection Agency: Honorable Mention award. In addition, I became the New Hampshire state winner and national finalist in the U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize Competition for 3 years in a row.

My experience at these science fairs has been educational and absolutely fascinating! It encouraged me to work harder and bring further awareness to both my local community and globally as well. I gave three TEDx talks, one about nitrates in drinking water, one about vaping in teenagers, and another about the emerging technology of nanobubbles in water treatment, intended to raise awareness of these pressing issues. I also started a non-profit, Enliven Students , with the goal of spreading awareness of the dangers of vaping in local middle schools. Furthermore, I organized a TEDx event in my high school to provide a platform for my peers to speak on other current issues.

Along with my dedication to science and outreach about global issues, I am an avid tennis player and passionate pianist. I competed at various USTA tennis tournaments and ranked number 1 in New Hampshire for boys 16s and under. I am also the captain and top-ranked player of the Nashua South Boys Varsity Tennis Team. I have been playing piano for the past 12 years, and have played 8 winner recitals at Carnegie Hall, NY.

In my free time, I love to read and watch basketball, tennis, and football. I also lead a very active lifestyle in addition to all of my intellectual pursuits. I swim year-round, and I ski during the wintertime with my family.

Science Research

Using my knowledge of chemistry, engineering, and the environment, I have spent much of the last 4 years conducting research on two research projects: a sensor that could detect vaping in schools and a sensing and filtration system for nitrates in drinking water. I have participated in many science and research fairs, winning in many of these fairs while also publishing some of my research.

Science Fair Awards and Publications

2022 - 2023

Research conducted on “An Economical and High Precision Approach for Nitrate Detection and Filtration to Ensure Quality Drinking Water”

  • Regeneron ISEF Finalist and recipient of United States Environmental Protection Agency: Honorable Mention Award
  • New Hampshire Science and Engineering Expo (NHSEE) - 1st Place Overall Winner
  • NHSEE - 1st Place Environmental Science category
  • NHSEE - MITRE Corporation Award, $400 cash award
  • NHSEE - Stockholm Junior Water Prize Regional Award
  • New Hampshire State Winner and National Finalist - U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize
  • Research article was published in the Fall 2023 journal of the New England Water Environment Association
  • Genius Olympiad National Finalist
  • Project was highlighted in a post by the US Environmental Protection Agency on Twitter
  • Member of American Statistical Association (awarded from ISEF)

Research conducted on “An Economical Method to Detect Vaping, Preventing a Vaping Epidemic among Adolescents”

  • Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition (Project was the submission for Nashua High School South) - State Finalist

2021-2022

Research conducted on “An Economical Method to Detect Vaping, Preventing a Vaping Epidemic among Adolescents”

  • Regeneron ISEF Finalist
  • New Hampshire Science and Engineering Expo (NHSEE) - 1st Place Overall Winner
  • NHSEE - 1st Place Physics and Electronics category
  • NHSEE - MITRE Corporation Award, $400 cash award
  • Member of American Statistical Association (awarded from ISEF)

Research conducted on “An Economical High Precision Home Nitrate Detecting Device for Water Monitoring at Homes”

  • New Hampshire State Winner and National Finalist - U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize
  • Genius Olympiad National Finalist and Bronze Medalist
  • Research article was published in the Fall 2022 journal of the New England Water Environment Association
  • Invited to NEWEA (New England Water Environment Association) 2023 Annual Awards Ceremony/Luncheon
  • Project was highlighted in a post by the NEWEA on Twitter

2020-2021

Research conducted on “An Economical Method to Detect Vaping, Preventing a Vaping Epidemic among Adolescents”

  • NHSEE - 1st Place Physics and Electronics category
  • NHSEE - Office of Naval Research Award (Support of STEM research), $75 cash award
  • Northern New England JSHS - 1st Place Poster Presentation

Research conducted on “An Economical Approach for Detecting Nitrates in Water at Homes”

  • New Hampshire State Winner and National Finalist - U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize
  • Research article was published in the Fall 2022 journal of the New England Water Environment Association
  • Invited to NEWEA 2022 Annual Awards Ceremony/Luncheon

Internship and Work Experiences

Simons Summer Research Program Fellow

I was accepted to this 7-week program (43 total people accepted, ~5% 2023 acceptance rate) under Dr. Arjun Venkatesan , spending 35 hours a week in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences lab in Stony Brook University. I conducted research on contamination removal in water, and my project was titled "The Interactions Between Nanobubbles and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA)". I had the opportunity to present my research in the Simons Summer Program Poster Symposium.

I also was chosen to write a review of the Simons Summer Research Program for the Unity Network, a non-profit organization, founded with the goal of helping underprivileged highschoolers access critical resources to help them get involved into research.

Pleasant Smiles Dental

I worked in the Pleasant Smiles Dental in Merrimack, New Hampshire, during school vacations and the summers for around 10 hours a week. This included managing bookkeeping in QuickBooks, scanning papers for filing, keeping accounting for both offices, managing patient billing/aging reports for outstanding balances, along with helping with schedules.

TEDx

TEDx Event Organization

June 2023 Event

I have been a very involved member of my community, especially through the platform TEDx provides. I iniated the introduction of TEDx into my school, being the licensee and main organizer of the first ever TEDx event at Nashua High School in June of 2023. The event was a success, hosting 7 speakers that talked about wide variety of topics and attracting a large audience for the event. As a part of this, I curated a group of speakers after seeing many applications, organized the logistics of the event, ran the website , and also co-ran the instagram page.



The event was featured in a newspaper, the Nashua Telegraph.



Fall 2023 Event

Furthermore, I was the licensee and main organizer of our October 2023, Fall Event, held after the conclusion of the first event. This event was also success, hosting 7 different speakers with different viewpoints, also attracting a large audience for the event Again, as a big part of this event, I determined speakers after many applications, organized the logistics of the event, ran the website , and also co-ran the instagram page. I am also the organizer and licensee, along with planned speaker at the June 2024 TEDx event in Nashua High School South.



Furthermore, this event was featured in a newspaper, the Nashua Telegraph, with two articles. The first article was published before the event and the second article was published at the conclusion of the event.



TEDx Talks

I have also given 3 TEDx talks. These talks helped raised awareness on the pressing issues that I set out to solve in my scientific research. I gave my first TEDx talk at TEDxChelmsfordHS, about the issue of vaping in teenagers (with over 2.1k views on YouTube) in March 2022. I gave my second TEDx talk at a TEDx event in my school, TEDxNashuaHighSchoolSouth, about the issue of nitrates in drinking water (with over 900 views on YouTube) in June 2023. I also gave my third TEDx at a TEDx event in my school, TEDxNashuaHighSchoolSouth, about the potential of nanobubbles in water treatment in October 2023. My talks have totaled over 3.4k total views on Youtube.

Vaping in Teenagers (at TEDxChelmsfordHS)



Nitrates in Drinking Water (at TEDxNashuaHighSchoolSouth)



Nanobubbles: Miniature Marvels Altering Water Treatment (at TEDxNashuaHighSchoolSouth)

Enliven Students

Mission

Seeing how big of an issue vaping was in my school and in many schools in the surrounding regions, I decided to start Enliven Students, a nonprofit dedicated to bringing awareness to the issue of vaping in schools to improve public health. The mission of Enliven Students is to educate school-age students about the harmful effects of vaping to prevent future usage.

Talks Given

As a part of Enliven Students, I gave an assembly in a local middle school, World Academy, to around 80 students in both the 7th and 8th grades. I educated students about the risks of vaping and was able to help spread awareness on vaping to younger students in my community.

Tennis

I competed at various United States Tennis Association (USTA) tournaments in New England. I won 28 Level 6 titles, along with 29 Level 6 finalists and 1 Level 5 finalist. Furthermore, a top ranked player on my school varsity team, ever since my freshman year in 2021. I have been team captain since my sophomore year, in 2022. Under my leadership, I have guided the team to a 12-1 record and quarterfinal finish, along with the first playoff win in my school's history (2021) to a record of 12-2 and a semifinal finish (2022) and then to a record of 10-4 and quarterfinal finish in 2023. As a captain, I helped lead offseason practices, ran some of the tryouts, and lead my team through multiple coaching changes, while keeping our culture of winning alive.

High School Tennis Awards

  • Captain: Nashua South Boys Varsity Tennis Team
  • Top Ranked Player on the team
  • Winner of the team MVP award spring 2022
  • 2022: Qualified for Tennis Play-offs and the State Competition for Singles and Doubles, making it to the round of 16 in singles (upsetting the 6th seed) and semifinals in doubles (as the fourth ranked doubles team in the state).
  • 2023: Qualified for Tennis Play-offs and the State Competition for Singles and Doubles, making it to the quarterfinals singles (as the 5th ranked singles player in the state) and semifinals in doubles (as the third ranked doubles team in the state).
  • Ran the team instagram page.


USTA Tournaments

  • 28 winner titles and 30 finalist positions in USTA New England tournaments
  • USTA Tennis New England - Boys 16s Best Rank: in New Hampshire #1
  • USTA Tennis New England - Boys 16s Final Year-End Rank in 2022: #49
  • USTA Tennis New England - Boys 14s Best Rank in New England: #40
  • USTA Tennis New England - Boys 14s Best Rank: in New Hampshire #1


Nashua Telegraph Honors

  • Nashua Telegraph First-Team All Star (2022 , 2023)
  • Nashua Telegraph Honorable Mention All Star (2021)


School Clubs

Science and Engineering Research Club (Founder and President)

The club was created with the aim of increasing science research participation in my school district, especially in regard to the New Hampshire Science and Engineering Expo (NHSEE). I initiated recruitment drives through various communication channels and brought in teacher participation and guidance for the students. The club resulted in qualification for the international fair (ISEF) from the school increasing from 0 (in 2021) to 1 (in 2022) to 2 (in 2023) - all out of the 3 spots from New Hampshire. My club also resulted in the number of 1st place category awards winners from the school increasing from 2 (in 2021) to 3 (in 2023) out of 10 categories, along with resulting in the number of special awards winners from the school increasing from 3 (in 2021) to 7 (in 2022) to 10 (in 2023).

Innovations Club (President)

The club is a science club focused on creating new ideas. I was able to iniate the project that was submitted to the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Competition, in which the club was able to qualify as a state finalist.

TEDx Club (Founder and President)

The TEDx club was able to host the first TEDx event at Nashua South. I lead a team to create a completely student-organized event that garnered heavy attendance from the community. As a part of organizing the event, I managed the event, helped advertise the event, ran the social media pages and website, and was also a speaker at the event.

Math Honor Society (Co-President) and Science Honor Society (Member)

For the 2023-2024 school year, I am a co-president of the Math Honor Society. As a part of the Math Honor Society, we organize math-day school events, tutor students, and help promote math in our school. I am also a member of the Science Honor Society.

Student Government

I have been actively involved in student government for all my high school. I was elected class secretary in my freshman year and have been a part of the student senate and the class council. Through this, I helped plan activities and events for my school.

Math Team (Varsity Member)

I was a member of the 10-person varsity team that won 1st place in the New Hampshire SMASH Math league state meet (in largest division). I also placed 3rd (3rd highest total score) for my grade level in 2022 for the New Hampshire SMASH Math League.

Piano

I have played piano since I was 6 years old. I have played a range of pieces and have competed in several piano competitions. In my piano school, I have guided and motivated my fellow piano students to prepare and compete in future competitions after being one of the first students to win in both competitions.

Academic/School Awards