TPHS student second at Brain Bee competition

Brain bee second place finisher Samvit Ramadurgam, a TPHS, senior, and winner Omar Shahrior, a senior from the Audeo Charter School.

Omar Shahrior, a senior from the Audeo Charter School, competed with 45 students from 23 local high schools and came out the winner of the second San Diego Regional Brain Bee Competition held at The Neurosciences Institute on Jan. 30.
Omar will go on to represent the San Diego area at the National Brain Bee Competition to be held on March 19 and 20 in Baltimore, Maryland. He took home a trophy and a $500 gift certificate to the UCSD bookstore, and will also receive two round-trip tickets to the national competition with a three-night hotel stay.
Samvit Ramadurgam, a 12th grader from Torrey Pines High School, was first runner up and received a $100 gift certificate to the UCSD Bookstore. All participants received t-shirts, a take-away bag of goodies, and a certificate of participation. They competed in front of an audience of parents, siblings, teachers, and neuroscientists.
The Brain Bee is a live Q&A competition which tests students’ knowledge of brain function and dysfunction, physiology and chemistry. Using "Brain Facts," a text developed by the Society for Neuroscience and the Dana Foundation, all students answered three randomly picked questions during the First Round. Students were partnered with a neuroscientist and a graduate student over lunch, which was served on the Institute’s rooftop terrace. The 11 finalists were announced after lunch and also included Alex Alim (Canyon Crest Academy), Leo Zhou and Nick Alteri (Scripps Ranch High), Rebecca Koppel (Patrick Henry High), Priya Bisarya, Caroline Yu and Praneet Mylavarapu (Torrey Pines High), Jordan Lynn (Heritage Christian), and Nali Gillespie (Mountain Valley Academy). Each was eliminated after they missed three questions in the final round.
For additional information, contact Debbie Honeycutt at 858-626-2020 or honeycutt@nsi.edu