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Interstellar Travel Is the Goal of This Gates Millennium Scholar
Education May 25, 2016
Julie Bank. - Courtesy photo
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John Muir High School’s Solar Cup Team poses before the competition at Lake Skinner in Riverside County. Prakash is second from the right, back row. – Courtesy photo
By May Ruiz
For many people Albert Einstein’s theories are topics that just go way over their heads. For Prakash Dass, a senior at John Muir High School who has been awarded a Gates Millennium Scholarship, they are matters to wrap his head around.
As Prakash states, “Einstein proved to us that we cannot travel faster than the speed of light. He started the conversation which became a jumping off point for many scientists in much the same way that Isaac Newton inspired his work. My life’s ambition is to accomplish the counter argument to Einstein’s theory – that we indeed can.
“We would need an infinite amount of energy to reach the speed of light, but what if we found a way to bend space instead? We wouldn’t be bending the laws of physics; we aren’t using energy to propel us but we’re still getting to a different location because the space around us is moving.”
For Prakash that concept did not just come about from too many hours watching “Star Trek,” “I think there’s a group of people at NASA researching it but there isn’t enough science to back it up yet. I would like to be one of those scientists who can come to a definite conclusion.”
Interest in things that are out in the galaxy was something born from Prakash’s early passion for stargazing. He says, “I love to look up the night sky and stare at these twinkling, bright lights; they’re so fascinating to me. As a child, I dreamed of being an astronomer. Then I started to be more specific – I wanted to learn the physics behind stars and other things in the universe; which led to my absorption with particle and nuclear physics. Then that led me to aerospace engineering because I want to build interstellar spaceships.”
Prakash and some members of his team after their turn on the lake. – Courtesy photo
A student at John Muir’s Engineering and Environmental Science Academy, Prakash has participated in the Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation summer program at Pasadena City College. He has also been actively involved with the school’s Solar Cup (a seven-month educational program, sponsored by The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) Team. Of this year’s competition, held at Lake Skinner in Riverside County on May 13 to 15, he enthuses, “We made a much different boat from last year’s – we overhauled it and went completely the opposite direction. We had a rudder made of wood last year, this time we drew it out on Auto Desk Inventor and 3-D printed it in pieces then attached them. We applied more engineering aspects to it, and built new parts for the boat.
“While our team did not win the grand prize at the competition, we earned first place in the region for the technical report we wrote. John Muir also received an award for greatest teamwork in helping other teams at the Solar Cup, and communicating with them the best,” Prakash relates.
“I learned a lot of hands-on skills and gained valuable experience working with my team. It’s exhilarating to be with a group of people who share a common scientific and engineering endeavor – these are friends who, like me, have big dreams,” Prakash explains further.
It helps that Prakash has all his plans laid out to make his wishes come true. He reveals, “I’m going to attend Cal Poly Pomona because I believe it’s a strong engineering school. It offers more practical applications as well as teaches other methods of engineering, including astronomy. It will better prepare me for master’s and doctorate degrees. I have already figured out what I need to do in order to be accepted to Cal Tech for graduate education.
“I intend to earn three doctorate degrees – particle and nuclear physics, and aerospace engineering. They’re all intertwined in pursuit of interstellar travel – comprehending stars and particles on a smaller scale, and understanding how to build ships to get us out there. Those three subjects are essential for me to succeed.
“There isn’t very much support for the things I want to do because right now there isn’t a lot of evidence it’s even possible for that to happen. While there is a great deal of research going on, it isn’t compelling enough for everyone get on board, so to speak. It’s something you see only on TV; but I want to be a pioneer in this field,” Prakash asserts.
Funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Gates Millennium Scholarship was established in 1999 with the goal of developing leaders and removing financial barriers to education for high-performing, low-income students. Prakash is John Muir High School’s seventh winner of this academic scholarship since 2005. He joins the ranks of a prestigious group of talented students from across the country awarded the scholarship that can be used to pursue a degree in any undergraduate major and selected graduate programs at accredited colleges or universities. Last year’s Muir HS winner, Kimberly Mejia, is currently at UC Berkeley studying engineering.
Most scientists do not believe in a “Higher Being” who watches over us, mere mortals. But Prakash is certain that God has a hand in his good fortune. “I believe God gave me all the wonderful things I have. Winning the Gates Millennium Scholarship is something that doesn’t often happen in Pasadena, and yet I did. I feel really blessed because I know how much my education is going to cost. This scholarship will help immensely and it truly is a gift from God,” Prakash says with conviction.Dr. Ben Aroyan, Prakash’s counselor, must have had tremendous confidence in him because he nominated Prakash for the Gates scholarship. Judges for the prestigious foundation, likewise, must have believed in his potential. And whether it was an “Act of God,” or his persuasive essays, or that the stars had all aligned for him to receive the much-coveted scholarship, he is most assuredly on a path to his intended destination.
