Publishing original scientific research in a peer-reviewed journal is an achievement many scholars work toward for years. Achieving this feat early in one's academic journey requires exceptional intellectual rigor, creativity, and persistence.

Aaditya Punatar and Muskan Sadana have reached this remarkable milestone, successfully publishing their collaborative research paper in the prestigious Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI).

Understanding the Significance: What is JEI?

Founded by graduate students and postdocs at Harvard University, the Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI) is an open-access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing original research led by middle and high school scientists.

Unlike standard student showcases, JEI models the exact peer-review pipeline used by leading scientific journals worldwide. Submitted manuscripts undergo rigorous evaluation by university scientists and subject-matter experts, who review the work for methodological soundess, clarity, and mathematical validity. To earn a spot in JEI, authors must refine their work through technical revisions, proving both the originality of their ideas and their ability to defend them scientifically.

The Breakthrough: Geometry Meets Econometric Forecasting

The co-authored paper, titled "Testing the Impact of a Geometric Curvature Variable on the Accuracy of Econometric Forecasting Models," addresses a long-standing challenge in quantitative finance.

Standard econometric tools often fail to capture the unpredictable, highly volatile dynamics of financial markets because they rely on linear or simplified statistical assumptions. Aaditya and Muskan approached this issue by introducing concepts from differential geometry directly into time-series analysis.

• The Problem: Financial price movements are non-linear, making traditional forecasting models susceptible to lag or significant error during market shifts.
• The Innovation: The authors conceptualized financial data as geometric trajectories, incorporating a geometric curvature variable into predictive forecasting algorithms.
• The Outcome: By measuring how the "shape" of data changes over time, their hybrid model aims to enhance forecasting accuracy, bridging complex abstract geometry with applied economic modeling.

This interdisciplinary approach demonstrates a sophisticated grasp of both advanced mathematics and practical data analysis.

Celebrating a Standout Achievement

Aaditya Punatar and Muskan Sadana have demonstrated what is possible when curiosity meets sustained effort. Pushing a project from an initial theoretical question all the way through dataset selection, model validation, draft writing, and reviewer rounds demands an extraordinary work ethic.

Congratulations to Aaditya and Muskan on this outstanding publication! Navigating the academic review process and contributing genuine value to applied mathematics is an inspiration to aspiring young researchers everywhere.

The full paper can be accessed directly via the Journal of Emerging Investigators.

Her project on quantum-accelerated Steiner trees for 15-minute cities earned a place among the finalists at the world's largest pre-college STEM competition.

Prishaa Shrimali of Marymount School of New York, was selected as a Grand Finalist at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Phoenix, Arizona. Her project was Optimizing Urban Accessibility: Quantum Acceleration of the Steiner Tree for the 15-Minute City (Project ID MATH037).

About Regeneron ISEF

Regeneron ISEF is the world's largest pre-college STEM competition. The 2026 fair ran from May 9 to 15 and brought together more than 1,700 young scientists, engineers and innovators from over 60 countries, regions and territories. Students earn their place by winning top honors at affiliated science fairs. Prishaa qualified through the Terra New York City STEM Fair, where she won first place in Mathematics.

The Research: Can Quantum Computing Help Build Better Cities?

The "15-minute city" is an urban planning vision in which essentials such as groceries, pharmacies and post offices are a short walk from home. Planning one means finding the most efficient network connecting many service locations. Mathematicians model this as a Steiner tree problem. It works well for small areas but becomes computationally intractable at metropolitan scale, especially with hundreds of service points.

Prishaa asked whether quantum algorithms could remove that barrier. She developed a hybrid quantum-classical framework that builds on the Miyamoto et al. quantum algorithm for the minimum Steiner tree problem and adds quantum shortest-path subroutines. It combines quantum parallelism, flow-state sparsification and quantum minimum finding with classical dynamic programming.

She tested it on a real-world case study, the Manhattan street network, across thousands of nodes and hundreds of service terminals. Her project reports:

• Analysis of 100 service locations, compared with a classical limit of about 50
• A 1.94 × 10⁴ speedup on the Manhattan case
• Support for equity-focused optimization and scenario analysis across different service types

The framework helps planners weigh accessibility, environmental impact and fairness together. The same approach could apply to other large combinatorial problems, such as supply chain management and telecommunications.

From Classical Roots to Quantum Ambition

Her quantum work grew out of earlier research on building 15-minute cities with classical Steiner tree approximation. That study used OpenStreetMap data and Manhattan's pedestrian network to evaluate access to essential services. The ISEF project asks what becomes possible at much larger scales.

Her Achievements

• Grand Finalist, Regeneron ISEF 2026, representing the United States
• American Mathematical Society: Karl Menger Memorial Award, Honorable Mention, with a one-year AMS student membership
• 1st Place in Mathematics, Terra New York City STEM Fair (NYU Tandon School of Engineering)
• U.S. Air Force Award for an Outstanding Science or Engineering Fair Project, Terra NYC STEM Fair

Project at a Glance

Student	Prishaa Shrimali
School	Marymount School of New York
Project ID	MATH037 (Mathematics)
Competition	Regeneron ISEF 2026, Phoenix, AZ
Affiliated fair	Terra New York City STEM Fair
Recognition	Grand Finalist; AMS Karl Menger Memorial Award, Honorable Mention

See the full listing on the official ISEF project page.

Congratulations, Prishaa

Reaching ISEF takes curiosity and persistence, and Prishaa brought both to a problem where mathematics, quantum computing and city planning meet. Congratulations on this achievement.

In 2025, 5 students from Cheenta successfully secured acceptance to two of the most prestigious universities, Oxford and Cambridge University. Most of these outstanding achievers were part of Cheenta's renowned Path to Ivy League Program, which continues to guide talented individuals toward top-tier global institutions.

Oxford Achievers : 

• Nandagovind Anurag 
• Varun Bhalla 

Cambridge Achievers : 

•  Arjun Gupta 
•  Arjun Narasimhan 
•  Inaya Aggarwal 

In this video, you’ll learn the effective path toward the Ivy League Program.