Dubai student makes it to elite New York Academy of Sciences list

Dubai - The Grade 10 student was chosen from among the elite 55 out of the 500 aspirants from all over the world to present her research based on the United Nations Global Sustainable Growth goal on Challenge 2030

Standing at her bus stop waiting for her school bus, 15-year-old Samiksha wondered if she could bring about a radical change in the world vis-à-vis the universe, technology-wise.
"As I stood there waiting for my bus and I saw so many fast moving vehicles on the road and a thought crossed my mind, 'what if every movement of all these vehicles could be harnessed into energy." This got her thinking, researching and working to develop a revolutionary sustainable, clean and energy efficient method of electricity generation.
The Grade 10 student of GEMS Millennium School, Sharjah was chosen from among the elite 55 out of the 500 aspirants from all over the world to present her research based on United Nations Global Sustainable Growth goal on Challenge 2030.
Her school principal Teressa Verman encouraged and recommended her for the programme. Samiksha's research concept based on revolutionary sustainable, clean and energy efficient method of electricity generation was accepted into The Junior Academy (TJA), part of the New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) and she was invited this May to present one of her projects on Challenge 2030. Her invention has been kept undercover as the NYAS is further testing it. It will only be revealed by 2030 after further researching and developing it on a big scale by the NYAS.
An overjoyed Samiksha told Khaleej Times: "This is the best experience I've ever had, it was like a dream come true."
The event was held last month at NYAS at the World Trade Center in New York. During the event, Samiksha along with the other shortlisted students met several Nobel Laureates, which gave them an exposure to the scientific realm. The list included Dr James Watson (who discovered the structure of DNA); Dr Jerome Isaac Friedman (who proved an internal structure for quarks); Dr Martin Chalfie (who discovered and developed the green fluorescent protein). She also met the CEO of NYAS and founder of TJA, Ellis Rubinstein, whom she described as "A wonderful person, who is very knowledgeable, highly cooperative and supportive".
Samiksha wrote a thesis on her newly developed theory, which she also incorporated in her sci-fi novel titled "The Adventures of Paradoxical Time Travelling".
Samiksha's journey
When asked about her most cherished dream, Samiksha said: "I want to take mankind on to the next level. I want to make space travel available for all. My ambition is to become a space-tech and theoretical physicist in Astrodynamics and Cosmology."
"When I was in Grade 7, I was fascinated by space sciences and wanted to get a deeper understanding of the universe - how it was formed, how does it work and when and how it will end. This led me to research on it and different ideas came to my mind and I developed my own theory about it."
The teenager has also researched over numerous scientific topics such as cross species genetics, neural networking, cryptography, data encryption, and extra-terrestrial intelligence, to name a few. She has also written about five other scientific books along with a non-sci-fi novella.
Samiksha converts even her relaxing time into quality time that sharpens her mind. In her free time she solves puzzles, makes movies, develops apps and even creates musical masterpieces.
She added: "Whatever I have achieved all credit goes to my mother Sunitha, who is the guiding force behind me and supports me at each step in my career."
With more institutional and individual support for advanced research and projects, she is sure to bring in wonderful innovations that make the world a better place to live.
saman@khaleejtimes.com
Thesis leads to sci-fi novel
Samiksha's passion for science took root in her heart at the tender age of 9. Her interest in science can be gauged by the fact that she wrote a 50,000 word sci-fi novella at the early age of 12.
Talking about her unpublished book, "The Adventures of Paradoxical Time Travelling," Samiksha said: "My thesis is incorporated in my book and mainly focuses on the birth, the life, and the death of the universe."
She had submitted her thesis at the Amateur Scientist Competition held in Bangalore, India in 2015 and it was rated among the top 300 projects in India in. Her thesis is currently under review in Columbia University (USA), RICE University (USA) and Oxford University (UK).