The High School South Science Bowl team won the U.S. Department of Energy’s New Jersey Regional High School Science Bowl at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory on Saturday, February 21, and will compete against 49 other teams in the National Science Bowl in Washington D.C. from April 30 to May 4.
The team was undefeated in 12 rounds of competition during the Science Bowl with a total of 32 teams competing in a double elimination format. The team beat Millburn High School in the final round of the competition, leaving Millburn in second place with Bridgewater High School coming in third place.
The team was coached by Sunila Sharma. The team captain is Ishan Mazumdar and team members include Dhruva Byrapatna, William Jiao, Aleck Zhao, and Eric Mischell.
This is the 22nd year the U.S. Department of Energy’s Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory has hosted the Science Bowl. Many of the lab’s physicists, engineers, and staff members volunteer at the event, with 20 volunteering for the middle school contest and 40 volunteering for the high school event.
The team had also won the contest in 2013. Many of the current team members were on the Grover Middle School team in 2012 when it won the middle school contest. “This win feels awesome,” said Dhruva Byrapatna. “We’re the redeem team.”
