A TEAM of three high school students from Shanghai American School’s Pudong and Puxi campuses has been accepted to the finals of the “Intel International Science and Engineering Fair.”

Of the more than 7 million projects worldwide, Siddharth Chandra, Tiger Lu and Anna Serbent, after competing in a regional fair at Chengdu International School, were chosen to be among the 1500 finalists traveling to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States, from May 10 through May 15.

Among their other accolades was an award from the American Psychological Association, as well as second place in the fair overall.

Following their passion for helping others through technology, the team has been working on a device — known as VIBe — to help autistic children attend mainstream schools in the hope that these children will be able to learn the necessary skills for an independent life.

The team was awarded its place in the finals for its ground-breaking research on the effects of localized vibrations on the physiological signs of children.

It proved that localized vibrations can be used to effectively lower anxiety and stress in children. The project is step on the journey toward creating a product that can be marketed and alleviate problems that millions of children with autism face.

(Siddharth Chandra is a Grade 11 student at SAS Pudong campus.)