Washington, May 19 (ANI): Sidharth Krishnan, a student of Indian origin from Singapore, has won top honors in the non-US category of a high school supersonic research contest.

Teenagers from eight states and 11 foreign countries took part in the competition, which was sponsored by NASA.

The students were asked to write a well-documented research paper describing what needs to be accomplished to make supersonic flight available to commercial passengers by 2020.

More than 120 teenagers submitted 60 entries in four categories: US individual, US team, non-US individual and non-US team.

While Edric San-Miguel, a junior from Norfolk Technical Center in Norfolk, Virginia, earned the top score among all the entries, Sidharth Krishnan, a senior from Anglo-Chinese Junior College in Singapore, won top honors in the non-US category.

“All the conceptual designs were imaginative and innovative,” said Bob Mack, a veteran supersonics researcher at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, who reviewed all the top papers.

“The design in the winning paper showed the student had a definite respect and appreciation for technical realities while still being imaginative,” he added.

Students could choose from two options in the competition.

They could write a research paper to discuss the challenges and solutions of supersonic flight or propose a design for a small supersonic airliner that could enter commercial service in 2020.

A group of NASA engineers reviewed all the entries.

The judges based their scores on how well students focused their papers and how well they addressed four basic criteria: informed content, creativity and imagination, organization, and writing.

NASA will award the top scoring papers from the US a cash prize of 1,000 dollars for the individual award winner and 1,500 dollars for the team.

Non-US students will receive an engraved trophy, but are not eligible for cash prizes. All participants will receive a NASA certificate. (ANI)

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