Uma Sethuraman is currently (2016) an 11th grade student at William P. Clements High School. In her 2016 Science Fair Project, Uma developed a new, innovative approach to the problem of school scheduling by creating a genetic algorithm to optimize school scheduling. For this project, Uma won the 1st place award for her category in both the Science and Engineering Fair of Houston and the Texas Science and Engineering Fair. She also won the Oracle Academy First Award in the Systems Software Category at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF).
Uma is the Vice President of the Girls in Computing Club at her high school and is an officer of the Computer Science Club at her school. She mentors students at the local middle school coding club in order to instill an interest for computer science in younger generations. In addition, Uma enjoys volunteering as a part of the Red Cross and Interact clubs at her school and is a member of her school’s Science, Math, and Spanish National Honor Societies. Uma has a strong passion for computer science and plans to pursue a career in computing in the future.
Uma’s academic accomplishments include the following:
- National Runner-Up in the 2016 NCWIT (National Center for Women In Computing) Award for Aspirations in Computing Competition
- Winner of the 2016 NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing Texas: Houston Competition
- Winner of the 2016 NCWIT Energy Day Award for Aspirations in Computing
- 1st Place Award in the Computer Sciences Division at the 2016 Science and Engineering Fair of Houston
- Grand Award for 1st Place in the Systems Software Division at the 2016 Texas Science and Engineering Fair
- Winner of the 2016 Texas Science and Engineering Fair Intel ISEF Award à Mine was one of the 8 Texas Science and Engineering Fair projects chosen to move on to the 2016 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF)
- Intel ISEF 2016 Finalist
- Winner of the Intel ISEF 2016 Oracle Academy First Award of $5000 for Outstanding Project in the Systems Software Category
- 2016 Semifinalist in the Technovation App Challenge Competition
- Received Academic Excellence Award in middle school and high school
- Vice President of the Clements High School Girls in Computing Club
- Officer of the Clements High School Computer Science Club
- Member of Clements Science National Honor Society, Spanish National Honor Society, and Math National Honor Society
- Member of Clements Red Cross and Clements Interact
- Mentor/coordinator at the Fort Settlement Middle School Coding Club