60th Annual STS (2000–2001)
Finalists
Parimalram Achintya Madduri

VIRGINIA
Parimalram Achintya Madduri, 17, of McLean, has been named a finalist in the Intel Science Talent Search for a chemistry project expected to have significant implications not only for chemistry, but also for high-pressure physics and planetary science. Through high-pressure and temperature studies of nitrous oxide (N2O), Parimalram discovered the existence of a quartz-like phase of N2O-never previously reported. He also found evidence of N2O-H2O clathrates-solid mixtures in which molecules of one substance are trapped in the crystal lattice of another-which had not been expected to exist, and could open a new field of study. Parimalram's work was accepted for publication by Physical Review Letters, and he will present his findings at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society. At Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Parimalram participates in swimming and track, and has earned several awards at regional science fairs. Born in India, he is fluent in Hindi and plays both the Indian and Western flute. The son of Drs. Maddury Somayazulu and Arundhati Jayarao, he hopes to study at MIT and plans a career in engineering.