Biography
I was born in New York City on August 20, 1986. I moved to Delaware at age 2 and have lived there ever since. My parents wanted to give me a name that was unique and had a strong meaning. My name is Chintan, which means “the act of thinking.” Ever since I was little, I was very curious about the world around me. As my name implies, I loved to think. This sparked my interest in math and science. I have been participating in math and science competitions since 4th grade. I have participated in the Math League, Math League Press, AIME, Johns Hopkins Talent Search, Science Olympiad, Science Fair, Solar Wind Club, and the JETS Engineering Competition. For my science fair project two years ago, I used a nonlinear mathematical model to simulate the behavior of cardiac cells. For this project, I was named a Davidson Fellow Laureate by the Davidson Institute for Talent Development for this work, and earned a $50,000 scholarship. This year, I did a science fair project with one of my classmates that involved using a mathematical model to study the spread of smallpox through a social network and find the optimal vaccination plan. We placed first at the Delaware Valley Science Fair and were invited to participate in the International Science & Engineering Fair held in Cleveland, OH this year. I attended several residential academic camps, including the 2001 Canada/USA Mathcamp, the 2002 Rutgers Young Scholars Program, and the 2002 US Physics Team Training Camp. Currently, I am a senior at The Charter School of Wilmington, a selective school specializing in math and science. I have applied and been accepted to MIT, Caltech, Princeton, and Johns Hopkins. I have not completely decided where to enroll, but I am most likely going to attend MIT.