By Pepper Parr
July, 2nd, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Graduations have taken 0place – students are off to whatever they are going to do this summer.
This is an opportunity to both celebrate those students who have excelled during the school year and take a look ahead and see what will happen in September when they return from the summer holiday..
Aldershot High School student Keerthana Srinivasan
Aldershot High School student Keerthana Srinivasan went quite a bit further than most graduates did in her final year of high school..
Mentioned in media in the city media and named during a comments by Burlington MP Karina Gould, in the House of Commons, Keerthana was on a media whirlwind for a few days.
With school over she has headed to MIT – the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and work as an intern for the summer and then register as an undergraduate at Princeton University.
What is of particular interest is what got this remarkable young lady to this point in her life.
Her mother, who writes computer code for a living, was certainly a big help.
The computer program she wrote was named SARAH: System Analysis and Reporting for Advanced Hardware (SARAH) an algorithm capable of detecting, classifying, and locating faults on photovoltaic systems as large as 20 MW (120 acres). The best part? It is capable of doing this in 11-40 seconds with minimal hardware setup. SARAH can be used on PV systems in both Space and on Earth. What follows is very technical and will be difficult to follow for most people. We include some of her description and the rationale for what she set out to do.
I was inspired to develop SARAH through my experience on the Mission Support Team at The Mars Society, where I acted as Mission Control during a simulated Mars mission in the Arctic on Devon Island. During this time, there was a significant fault due to electrostatic discharge. As part of protocol, the crew was supposed to communicate with me in order to solve this issue. With the high-simulated-communication delays, I realized the inefficiency behind the current protocol, and how detrimental it could be for astronauts living on Mars. Imagine if astronauts on Mars didn’t have electricity-wouldn’t that be crazy!?
In order to alleviate the communication inefficiency, I realized a more automated approach is crucial, especially in emergency situations.
Software Considerations
Keerthana is very deliberate in the work she does
All code for this project will be run in either Python or C++. Code for the bifurcation model, EKF, and QMCMC will be in Python, while code for the Arduino Pro Micro will be in C++ through the Arduino IDE. Code representing the governing equations for the photovoltaic emulator will be in both Python and C++. As aforementioned, all Python programs will be able to command the Arduino Pro Micro through the serial library.
At this point, the only way for me to actually run the program in a few seconds would be to use a quantum computer or processor. Since I am very committed to making sure my algorithm can be run on a classical computer, it was important to find another ( cheaper) way around this.
Postsecondary Education and Lifelong Learning
This is remarkable work – done at the high school level.
The mathematical proof of convergence for SARAH i s something I submitted to Princeton, Columbia, and other universities I applied to. Therefore, doing the research I did with SARAH and other projects in high school were one of the reasons I got into university. Moreover, working on SARAH opened doors at the University of Waterloo, the Cubes In Space program, and many mentors f rom accredited institutions ( l i ke the White House) that came my way. I have been given the opportunity to receive so much mentorship and assistance through working on SARAH. In terms of lifelong learning, I had the opportunity to improve my skills in circuitry and PCB design. I also got to learn more about quantum computing.
Science Fair winners
Students from the Halton District School Board (HDSB) achieved outstanding success at the 2025 Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF), held from June 1–6 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. The CWSF is Canada’s largest annual youth science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) event. For more than 60 years, the CWSF has united young thinkers from across Canada to present their research and innovations, compete for prestigious awards and engage with like-minded peers who are passionate about discovery and innovation.
This year, 11 students from HDSB elementary and secondary schools earned 40 awards across a range of categories, recognizing excellence in innovation and research. Highlights of HDSB student achievements include:
Those from Burlington include:
Evan Budz, Grade 9 student at Dr. Frank J. Hayden Secondary School for Development of an Autonomous Bionic Sea Turtle Robot for Ecological Monitoring using AI
- Best Project Award – Innovation
- The Beaty Centre for Species Discovery Award
- Excellence Award – Gold
- Challenge Award – Environment and Climate Change
- Youth Can Innovate Award
- European Union Contest for Young Scientists
- Mount Allison University Entrance Scholarship
- Western University Entrance Scholarship
Anish Rathod, Grade 12 student at Burlington Central High School for PIONEER: Pipe Inspection and Observation for Non-Destructive Evaluation and Environmental Review
- Engineering Innovation Award
- Excellence Award – Silver
- Dalhousie University Faculty of Science Entrance Scholarship
- Mount Allison University Entrance Scholarship
- University of New Brunswick Canada-Wide Science Fair Scholarship
- University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship
- Western University Entrance Scholarship
- Mount Allison University Entrance Scholarship
- Western University Entrance Scholarship
Claire Marsh, Grade 11 student at M.M. Robinson High School for Autism Identification Tool: An AI Approach to Reducing Diagnostic Barriers
- Excellence Award – Bronze
- Mount Allison University Entrance Scholarship
- University of Ottawa Entrance Scholarship
- Western University Entrance Scholarship
The impressive results at the Canada-Wide Science Fair reflect the strength of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) learning across the HDSB. With students from a variety of schools represented, these achievements highlight how the HDSB fosters curiosity, encourages innovation and provides meaningful opportunities that help students develop their passions and deepen their learning.
