GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. — A 16-year-old in Greenwood Village took home $75,000 when he won the top prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair after an accidental discovery nine months ago.
Krithik Ramesh, a junior at Cherry Creek High School, competed against 1,800 teenagers from around the world. His discovery developed a machine that could help orthopedic surgeons.
“I developed a live-time navigational system for spinal reconstruction surgery." said the 16-year-old. "The reason being is that the existing system of navigation called the fluoroscope is a live-time x-ray, so it has significant radiation admission and as a result of that has significant physiological repercussions, damage to the body."
He made this discovery thanks to being obsessed with the video game, Just Dance. Songs are played and players mirror dance moves performed by actors on the screen. Points are awarded for accuracy.
“Shakira’s 'Hips Don’t Lie,' it’s really hard," he said.
Because it was so hard, Ramesh decided to figure out the mechanics of the motion tracker system on the game to master the moves for the song.
“Essentially Just Dance’s motion tracking system definitely inspired me to predict high-level surgery for spines," he said.
Using similar technology that the tracking system uses to predict scores, he created a way for surgeons to see where they can place screws in the spine without using radiation.
“People, in general, have this misconceived notion that like all science fair projects start out very complex and are very hard to approach," he said. " And I think that learning that they’re all very approachable and can come from anywhere is super important."
In addition to winning the top honor at the largest pre-college science fair, he also gets five stars in Just Dance every time he does Shakira's song.
"Always," he laughed.
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