Page 67 - Innovation Delaware 2019

She started working on her proj-
ect following her sophomore year
in high school, after she attended a research seminar offered by Angelia Seyfferth, an associate professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences at the University of Delaware, who would become her mentor.
“I had never before seen a 10th-grade high-school student with so much ma- turity. It was clear that she already had the skills that many college students struggle with today — proper email correspondence, punctuality, interper- sonal skills and a true enthusiasm for learning,” Seyfferth says.
Arsenic, a byproduct of volcanic ash and metal ores, occurs naturally in many soils. It poses little danger with most food crops, but arsenic contamination
is a major concern due to growing and harvesting practices in areas of the world where rice is a daily dietary staple.
“It’s a huge public health threat,” Krishnamani says.
While other researchers have of-
ten focused on genetically modifying plants, Krishnamani has been exploring the use of silica, which also occurs natu- rally in soil and other organic matter, to minimize arsenic absorption.
Silica is found in rice hulls (some- times called rice husks), the hard, shiny outer layer of the grain. For years, these husks have been burned into ash and used as a binding agent in products like concrete and cement.
Through her research, Krishnamani has learned that burning the hulls and recycling the ash into rice paddies slows the absorption of arsenic into the rice, thus reducing contamination levels.
Krishnamani plans to continue her research wherever she decides to attend college, anticipating a major in materi- als science and engineering, and possi- bly an MBA, before undertaking
a career in agricultural research.
She thinks her first step after
college will likely be into a corporate research environment, possibly with
a company like Corteva Agriscience, the DowDuPont spinoff that will be headquartered in Wilmington but have research facilities in the Midwest.
“I want to hone my leadership skills, start my own business and lead scientific innovation in global agriculture,” she says.
NOAH ROSSI:
EMPOWERING KIDS WITH CODING SKILLS
Computers have always fascinated Noah Rossi, so much so that he even spent the summers of his middle- school years trying to learn more about them. But he often came away disap- pointed, feeling that the instruction he received wasn’t pushing him to reach his potential.
“To make it more meaningful, it should be project-based, more individu- alized,” the Newark Charter School senior says. “Students should come
in with a problem they want to solve. Maybe it’s a game they want to make
or a utility they’d like to build.”
THE FUTURE OF INNOVATION By the time he started high school, he
had begun to develop a curriculum, and he started teaching coding to younger kids at his school’s summer camp.
Then, in the fall of 2018, he was among the first group of students to participate in the experimental Dual School project. There he recognized the business potential of his program, if only he could scale it up.
He created his own business, Ground Up Computer Science LLC, began so- liciting clients and hired some friends as instructors. The hiring was easy, he says. “I wasn’t competing with Google but with Wendy’s. I would pay them better than before and they love the work.”
As for clients, he landed a place in the City of Newark’s summer camp calendar and giving after-school classes at the Independence School, a private elemen- tary and middle school near Newark. Best of all, Catherine Lindroth, founder
NOAH ROSSI
INNOVATION DELAWARE 65
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