Biographies of Students

Biography Of Shiv Gaglani

On January 16th, 1989, Shiv Gaglani became the first Indian child ever born in Namibia, a country in Southwest Africa because his parents were among the first Indians to move there after the abolishment of apartheid. He lived in Harding, South Africa for seven years until he moved to Florida.

Ever since he moved to this “Land of Opportunity,” Shiv has pursued his vast scientific interests, especially in the field of behavioral science and medicine. He has founded the Brevard County Chess Initiative which is an expanding chess research study aimed to increase the success rate of elementary school students. Early on, he decided that he wants to become an innovative biomedical engineer and invent a process or device that can enhance millions of lives simultaneously.

Currently, he sees that in his science fair project, “Curbing the Embryonic Stem Cell Controversy: Cardiac Differentiation of Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells Following Epigenetic Modification.” Shiv performed this professional research at the University of Central Florida under the guidance of Dr. Kiminobu Sugaya. He believes this research may be used in combination with his award-winning organ printing research of last year.

 Shiv has won a number of awards and has achieved many successes, a few of which are mentioned below:

  1. Winner, 2004 Dr. Nelson Ying Science Competition
  2. 2nd place Medicine and Health at the 2004 International Science and Engineering Fair in Portland, Oregon
  3. 1st place Medicine and Health and Best of Show Biological at the 2004 and 2005 Brevard County South Regional Science and Engineering Fair
  4. Top Speaker and 1st place winner at the 2005 Junior Science, Engineering, and Humanities Symposium, in which only twenty 11th and 12th grade students from all around Florida were selected to present their research at the University of Florida; He is representing Florida at the 2005 National JSEHS in San Diego, CA.
  5. Scored a perfect 1600 on his SAT as a junior
  6. Top Junior in Brevard County; selected as Brevard County Governor’s High School All-Star and represented the students of the county at Governor Bush’s mansion in April 2005
  7. Named “One of 12 Emerging Leaders under 40” by Leadership Brevard
  8. Won 1st place Behavioral and Social Sciences at the 2003 Florida State Science & Engineering Fair.
  9. Published chess research in the United States Chess Federation national magazine, Chess Life, as a 9th grader
  10. Placed 10th at the National Scholastic Chess Tournament at Dallas, TX in 2002
  11. Captain of the 2005 West Shore Academic Team
  12. Winner of the 2004 Brevard County High School Debate Competition
  13. Winner, Harry T. Moore Speech/Debate Competition on Civil Rights 04/09/2004
  14. Won 2003-2004 “Volunteer of the Year” award at West Shore Jr / Sr High School

 Shiv enjoys playing tennis on the undefeated school team, swimming, writing articles (he is a journalist for Florida Today’s teen section The Verge), debate and speech competitions, chess, and video games.

Biography of Gabrielle Gianelli;

My name is Gabrielle Gianelli; I am 17 years old.  I am a junior at Lake Highland Preparatory School in downtown Orlando. My teacher is Dr. Judith Legault.  I have done science fair projects since sixth grade, with an emphasis on space research.  This year I will be attending the International Science and Engineering Fair.  I am also captain of my school's Quiz Bowl team and the founder of my school's Linguistics Club.  My interests include science, math, Chinese language (I take it at school), and creative writing.

Biography of Nimish Ramanlal

Nimish Ramanlal, 16, attends the International Baccalaureate Program at Seminole High School. He enjoys math and science, and has won numerous awards including being selected for United States Math Olympiad for three straight years and winning the second place Grand Award in mathematics at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. He is consistently at the top of his field at the Mu Alpha Theta mathematics competitions at the regional, state and national levels. Nimish started young in his achievements, placing in the top 10 at the National Mathcounts competition in Chicago and 1st place in the computer science category at the Florida State Science and Engineering Fair while in middle school. More recently he won the Grand Award at the Orlando Science Center Science Challenge and will be spending this summer at MIT as part of the Research Summer Institute sponsored by the Center for Excellence in Education. To relax, Nimish plays tennis and piano. Most importantly, he hasn’t forgotten his roots, Jackson Heights Middle School, where he volunteers under Mr. White, teaching middle-school students the virtues of mathematics.

Biography of Craig Levoy

Craig Levoy, the third of five children, was born on September 28, 1987 in Plainview, New York to Gary and Christle Levoy.  At the age of six, Craig and his family moved to Palm Coast, Florida, then later to Ormond Beach, Florida, where Craig attended Pine Trails Elementary, Pathways Elementary, Ormond Beach Middle School, and eventually Spruce Creek High School in order to enter into the International Baccalaureate Program, where he is a senior today. At Spruce Creek High School, Craig is the Vice-President of both the National Beta Club as well as the French Club. Craig is also a member of numerous other clubs including National Honor Society and the Young Democrats Club. In addition to his many science awards, Craig has received numerous art awards. Craig will be attending the University of Florida this fall.

Biography of Paul Draper

Paul is a freshman at Palm Bay High School.  He stays busy with science fairs, scouting, church activities, and schoolwork.  He maintains a 4.0 GPA.  When he has free time, he likes to play basketball, do math, and spend time with his family and friends. He has enjoyed his experiences in the senior division of science fair competition this year.