Buffalo Grove Sixth-Grader Wins National Math, AI Contest

BUFFALO GROVE, IL — A local sixth-grader beat out middle school girls from more than 20 states to win a national math and artificial intelligence competition. Amritha Praveen, a sixth-grader from Aptakisic Junior High School, recently won first place in the Math and AI 4 girls contest.

Math and AI 4 Girls, a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit, held the inaugural contest for middle schoolers to demonstrate their interest, passion, and ability in STEM by completing a Math and AI problem set and writing short essays.

Praveen was selected from a pool of very talented middle school girls, according to a news release. Her problem set was clear and concise, and her essays detailed her extraordinary accomplishments, vision and leadership in STEM.

According to the news release, judges were incredibly impressed by Praveen's dedication to assisting the neurodivergent community. "She shows immense initiative — she has created her own IOS app — which uses machine learning to help kids with executive functioning challenges," the judges said.

"Amritha is not only extremely talented, but also dedicated and passionate," they also said.

For the win, she will receive $1,000 in cash, a mini drone, as well a swag bag donated by sponsors, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and AI startup Automation Anywhere.

Praveen is a Davidson Young scholar and has received awards and scholarships for her achievements in math, science and music. She was recently awarded the Maryam Mirzakhani AMC10A award. She received the highest level of distinction as a top scorer in the 2020 Northwestern University's academic talent search.

Praveen is also a veena (an Indian classical instrument) player, according to her biography. She has been playing the instrument for more than six years and has won numerous national awards since the age of six. She has played several concerts in the Chicago area.

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