Governor Names STEM Team Winners

Iris Yan and David Simonetti

Governor Eric Holcomb has named the winners of the 2020 Governor’s STEM Team awards. Each of the four winning students will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship courtesy of the College Choice 529 Program administered by State Treasurer Kelly Mitchell.

This year, the in-person awards presentation was replaced with a video call between the students and Governor Holcomb. The governor’s office says the competition was developed to honor the work of Indiana high school students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

“Indiana is home to incredibly gifted and talented students. It gives me great pride to honor this year’s STEM Team for all their hard work. Each of these seniors have a promising future ahead of them. They represent some of Indiana’s finest and I look forward to seeing the amazing things they accomplish in the years ahead.” said Holcomb.

Science: Iris Yan, Carmel High School, Carmel
Yan attended the MIT Research Science Institute in 2019 and was a two-time honoree in the United States National Chemistry Olympiad Exam in 2018 and 2019, one of the top 20 student chemists in the nation. She plans to attend Harvard in the fall.

Technology: David Simonetti, Penn High School, Mishawaka
Simonetti led his team to a state championship in the Indiana Math Academic Superbowl, is a state champion and nationally ranked in Trig Star, a timed math contest, and was a standout at First Robotics Competition, a worldwide STEM program. Simonetti plans to attend the University of Notre Dame in the fall.

Engineering: Ankush Dhawan, Signature School, Evansville
Dhawan was a finalist in the Regeneron Science Talent Search, a top finisher in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, and the Indiana winner and overall 2nd place winner in the Stockholm Junior Water Prize U.S. National Competition, among others. His long-term goal is to continue working towards sustainability through research in water contamination and a major in environmental engineering.

Math: Vivek Hebbar, Columbus North High School, Columbus
Hebbar was a national finalist and scholarship winner in the MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge, a qualifier to the American Invitational Math Examination for 5 consecutive years. He plans to study math or physics.