2014 NSF Worcester Regional Education Bees

This year marks the 25th anniversary for North South Foundation (NSF), a volunteer driven non-profit organization established in 1989 by Dr. Ratnam Chitturi. The organization aims at providing an opportunity for kids in India to seek a higher education. The NSF Scholarship program in India encourages excellence among the poor children who excel academically but need financial aid to attend college. A scholarship of $250 will enable a student to attend one year of college.

The organization has provided over 10,000 scholarships since its inception. This year, NSF has given out over 2500 scholarships and counting!

Educational contests organized by over 80 NSF chapters across the country are designed to encourage academic excellence among Indian American children. Two-thirds of the contests registration fee goes towards the scholarships. We conduct spelling, vocabulary, math, essay writing, public speaking, brain bee and geography bees. NSF children have achieved top ranks in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, MATHCOUNTS and National Geographic Bee.

NSF Massachusetts, Worcester chapter recently conducted our regional contests over the April 5-6th weekend. NSF has 84 chapters in the US, including 2 in Massachusetts. Over 400 kids participated in the contests. Dr. Meledath Govindan, Fitchburg State University and MatScience21 sponsored the event. In addition Karen Frank-Mays, the Director of Grants/Development at FSU provided t-shirts for all registered children.

Dr. Mahadevan Padmanabhan, technical advisor at Alden Research Laboratory in Holden and Adjunct Prof. in the Dept of Mechanical Eng. at WPI, presided over the awards ceremony on Saturday. He teaches Fluid Mechanics and Thermo-Fluid Applications at WPI. In 2011, he received the American Society of Civil Engineers Hydraulic Structures Medal for achievement in the area of analysis and physical modeling of hydraulic structures, including pump intake, discharge outfall, dam and navigation structures. In 2013, The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Center honored Dr. Padmanabhan with an award for his outstanding achievement in his field of specialization.

Poonam Ahluwalia, the President of Youth Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (YES) Inc. presided over the awards ceremony on Sunday. Since the inception of YES in 1998, 5 Global Summits ; 5 Regional Summits and countless in-country forums were organized. 2012 marked the final year of the YES Campaign. Ahluwalia sits on the World Economic Forumâ€™s Global Agenda Council for Youth Unemployment. She was named the New England News Woman of the Year for 2013.

Nihal Gowravaram, a Harvard or MIT bound high school senior from Acton, MA; Sathwik Karnik, winner of the 2013 National Geographic bee, his brother Karthik Karnik Massachusetts State Geographic bee winner for 2011 and 2012; and Surabhi Iyer winner of an episode of the Kids Jeopardy week in 2011, all NSF alumni, were youth speakers at the event.

Our next set of contests will be held on April 27th at Tufts University. For more information, please visit our website : www.northsouth.org. NSF â€“ Encouraging Excellence in Education.