Sai Preethi Mamidala, a senior at Garnet Valley High School, has been awarded $25,000 for being a finalist at this year’s Regeneron Science Talent Search, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious science and math competition for high school seniors, writes Geeta Goindi for The American Bazaar.

Mamidala, compelled by the effects of fossil-fuel pollution in India, studied an optimal catalyst to make renewable energy more accessible.

“The biggest barrier to the widespread use of our renewable energy sources is the fact that we don’t have efficient storage regeneration processes,” she said. “This bridges the gap between the amount of energy that is being produced by renewable sources today and the amount of energy that is demanded by the world.

“Right now, we mostly use non-renewable sources of energy, but those are not good for humans and they are bad for the environment.”

Mamidala, who would like to major in energy engineering in college, has examined the catalyst in “a fuel cell that can store energy while it is being produced and generate it when it is needed,” she said. “The actual catalyst being used in the fuel cell makes a world of difference in its performance.”

Click here to read more about Sai Preethi Mamidala in The American Bazaar.