60th Annual STS (2000–2001)
Finalists
Vinod Easwaran Nambudiri

NEW YORK
Vinod Easwaran Nambudiri, 17, of Rye Brook, studied a way to help teenagers sleep better for his behavioral and social sciences entry in the Intel Science Talent Search. For six nights, he exposed light to the backs of the knees of ten adolescents as they slept using a "light pad," which resembles a small heating pad. After exposure, he measured the teens' test-taking ability and sleepiness. He had hypothesized that the light exposure would lead to an increase in REM sleep. Instead, he showed that the effect was decreased slow wave sleep, and he suggests that this decrease is strongly associated with the subjects' increased speed on several standard cognitive tasks and reduced sleepiness. First in his class at Blind Brook High School, Vinod is editor of the school newspaper, captain of the math team, co-captain of mock trial, president of both the student senate and the Model U.N. and plays trumpet in the school band. He enjoys photography and traveling and is fluent in Malayalam. The son of Easwaran and Dr. Draupathi Nambudiri, Vinod hopes to study medicine and biological sciences at Harvard preparing for a career in medical research.