Dec 19 2014 : The Economic Times (Delhi)

Global recognition for Indian student





Sultan Khetani of SRM University has won the BRIght Futures Prize 2014 for his work on a revolutionary microchip

Recognised as a leading private educational institute in India, the SRM University, based in Chennai, is celebrating a new milestone. Sultan Khetani, a postgraduate student of the department of biomedical engineering at the university, and his project instructor Dr Shafee Hadi (of Harvard Medical School) have won the BRIght Futures Prize 2014 for their research on fighting HIVAIDS using a low-cost flexible microchip.The BRIght Futures Prize is a prestigious award with a cash prize of $100,000 for which more than 200 teams from Harvard and MIT affiliates compete. was part of the research team at Harvard led by Dr Shafee Hadi. The project was called `Low-cost hand held microchip device for rapid HIV detection and treatment monitoring through viral load measurement on paper'.The SAP is an initiative pioneered by SRM University oneered by SRM Uni wh ich en able s bright young students to spend a semester abroad at leading world class universities, while still pursuing their undergraduate or postgraduate studies. The winning team was selected based on online voting conducted across the world. T he team att racted votes from approximately 120 countries worldwide as well as the 50 states in the USA . T he w i n ner s received the highest numbers of votes from India and the USA.
Sultan Khetani, a Semester Abroad Programme (SAP) student at SRM University The prize-winni ng lowcost chip can potentially revolutionise HIV man agement globally and will facilitate rapid, simple and inexpensive early diagnosis of infection and treatment for many sufferers.
With this latest feather in their cap, SRM University has inched closer to realising their goal of being among the top 100 universi ties in the world.