Dulles High School
Dulles High School
Neil Maredia, Coach
Coach Neil Maredia teaches Pre-AP biology at Dulles High School. He graduated from the University of Houston with a B.S.in biology and obtained his teaching certification through the teachHOUSTON capstone program. Mr. Maredia is the biology team lead and also serves as a sponsor for the Red Cross Club. His interests include scientific discovery, innovations in technology, and travel.
Anant Asthana
Anant Asthana, a sophomore at Dulles High School, has decided to include the National Science Bowl in his plan for ultimate domination. The third-tallest member of the DHS SciBowl team, Anant can never decide if he wants to stand in the front or the back during team photos; he does rapid calculations, solving the Schrodinger equation for his body for each decision he has to make. Anant’s prowess in simulating the universe not only makes him the most accurate fortune teller known but also gives him the ability to ace any test in his sleep and predict any chemical reaction perfectly. Recently crowned a US National Chemistry Olympiad Study Camp qualifier, Anant will use his molecular orbital modeling skills to impress every camper and mentor, securing him a spot on the International Chemistry Olympiad team. Although Anant’s performance in chemistry is unquantifiably remarkable, he is more well-known as a popular kid in school, always talking to his friends instead of eating his lunch and even venturing into Dulles’ C-wing to talk to the daunting English teachers. His skills will help him succeed in Science Bowl, winning enough money to buy the Massachusetts Institute of Technology instead of applying there.
Justin Li
Justin Li is a sophomore at Dulles High School, but everyone else pretty much considers him a junior. Having skipped a grade in math, science, and history, Justin is practically just a junior disguised as a sophomore. In fact, he should be a junior since he is older than one of the juniors on his science bowl team. In addition to being insanely talented at school, Justin makes time for the love of his life, biology. Having read Campbell before he could even read (he had his parents read for him), Justin has embraced biology ever since he was born. Using his monumental biology knowledge, Justin is definitely a USA Biology Olympiad camper and hopes to represent Dulles at the International Biology Olympiad. However, Justin is also very cracked at math, qualifying for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination in 8th grade! He also enjoys hanging out with his girlfriend while also making sure he spends at least forty hours a day playing League of Legends.
Viraj Negandhi
Viraj Negandhi is an insanely smart potato with a junior Einstein’s brain. He is a National US National Chemistry Olympiad Qualifier, has already signed an agreement to represent the U.S. at the 55th International Chemistry Olympiad, and has started preparing for it by dominating the Science Bowl. He also has plans to camp physics two more times, and bio camp is too easy for him. He is USA Computer Olympiad platinum and has also coded his own program to answer Science Bowl questions for him. In his free time, he likes to roast people and be smart. He also enjoys playing Alto’s Adventure and speaking in Spanish.
Akul Saxena
Akul Saxena is a senior at Dulles High School. He has competed four times at Math Olympiad three times at USA Physics Olympiad (gold/2x Camp), is a US National Chemistry finalist, and has competed at the USA Biology Olympiad t625. Akul has also participated in the USA Computer Olympiad (platinum), and a US Earth Science Organization open exam qualifier. In his free time, he enjoys entertaining others as well as running his nonprofit corporation in bioinformatics. In the fall, Akul plans to attend Indian Institute of Technology - Kharagpur majoring in computational biology and minoring in Russian folk dance.
Rushil Shah
Rushil Shah is a five-foot-seventeen junior; the tallest member of his school’s Science Bowl team. His favorite subjects are (in order): biosystematics, ecology, evolution, biogeology, and pure physics. While Rushil is not poring over every nook and cranny of Atkins’ Physical Chemistry, he can be found inside his school’s gym pumping iron. He currently can bench 210, deadlift 390, and back squat 20. He hopes to once again win the United States Wrestling Olympiad as a senior this coming fall. While he is not slamming bodies on the mat, Rushil can be found at your local home auction. He is an avid investor in real estate, currently owning over a dozen duplexes in the Greater Houston area. Oh, and he also was an alternate for the US International Physics Olympiad team. Rushil intends on majoring in agribusiness at Texas A&M University, in hopes that he will become a cowboy at Ram Ranch.
