The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Battle to be one among the greats

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Sunday, Oct 28, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Battle to be one among the greats

Krishna Velupillai

CHENNAI: Students from several schools in the city gathered at the Chettinad Vidyasharam School auditorium on Friday to seriously exercise their brain cells; and what a workout it turned out to be!

Questions at the 5th Annual National Texas Instruments (TI) Jack Kilby Science and Technology Quiz 2007 regional final ranged from chaos theory to photosynthesis. Though quizmaster Ochintiya Sharma attempted to imbue a little humour and entertainment, the contest was all about proving one’s quizzing mettle.

After a few close rounds, winners Jayadev Bhaskeran and Aaslesh Y. of Vidya Mandir, Mylapore, began to whiz past the others. But, the competition was still close for the second and third places, and were finally secured by teams from Sankara Senior Secondary School, Adyar, and Padma Seshadri School, T.P. Road, respectively. For Jayadev and Aaslesh the win “felt great.” T.I. human resources director Ravi Kyran said, “All we are trying to do with the quiz programme is ignite a spark which will lead these young people towards a future of science and technology.” Frederick J. Kaplan, Consul for Public Affairs, U.S. Consulate-General in Chennai, distributed the prizes to the winners. Quoting Thomas Edison’s famous words, he stressed that both inspiration and hard work were needed in order to succeed.

A total of 520 students from 43 schools participated in the contest. Great prizes aside, the battle was for being one among the greats, as the Texas Instruments India Foundation’s catchline read “Newton, Einstein, Kilby, You?”

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