A junior at Episcopal Academy, Kush Mishra recently finished in first place in the regional round of the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) and The Exceptional Analysis Award for his work – Foreign Substances’ Effect on the Magnus Effect of Baseballs – which measured the impact substances have on the vertical rise of a baseball. Last year, he finished first in the regional FBLA competition for his research on cyber security. For the past three years, Kush has been a summer intern with local non-profit, Philadelphia Futures, which supports low-income and first-generation students to and through college. Kush reported to the organization’s CEO as a rising freshman grader and was the youngest intern in the organization’s history. Kush is a member of EA’s Astronomy Club, Save the Planet Club, Chemistry Club, along with PJAS and FBLA. He also plays baseball and squash for EA.
Main Line Media News: What was the most interesting thing you’ve learned in doing research for your PJAS project?
Kush Mishra: The most interesting thing I learned is the sheer amount of increase in spin rate and vertical break that foreign substances can create on a baseball. I learned that applying pine tar and rosin to a baseball can increase spin rate by 50 percent and double the vertical break of a four seam fastball. I had thought that foreign substances would only have a marginal effect: maybe at most two or three added inches of vertical break, but I was shocked when my experiments showed that it could increase the vertical break of a ball by more than 10 inches!
Main Line Media News: What do you think is the most interesting thing about the effect of foreign substances on a baseball that most people would be surprised to learn?
Kush Mishra: Most people would be surprised to learn that more than 50 percent of major league pitchers in 2021 were suspected to have used foreign substances. This implies that the Foreign Substances Scandal parallels the Steroid Era of the 1990s and 2000s in both performance and scale. No wonder there were four no-hit games, and batting average was at an all-time low in April 2021, before MLB decided to crack down severely on foreign substances.
Main Line Media News: What was the most interesting thing you learned in your research on cyber security?
Kush Mishra: The most interesting thing I learned during my research is that cyber security has become a new frontier in warfare in the modern era. Most governments have cyber security attack and defense departments. Just like countries have trained Army, Air Force and Navy units, countries also have trained hacker units that work to breach opponent firewalls to unlock data that military forces can exploit. Occasionally, cyber attacks spread to civilian networks and can wreak havoc on a country’s economy. That is why people must be aware of cyber attacks and be vigilant against suspicious emails, messages, and downloads.
Main Line Media News: What sparked your interest in joining Philadelphia Futures? What has been your most interesting experience as an intern?
Kush Mishra: It was a baseball game against a North Philadelphia team in 7th grade that made me join Philadelphia Futures. The other team did not really know how to play and we easily won 15-0. Instead of being happy, I walked away feeling disappointed as I realized how unfair it was for those players. They were as athletic as us but lacked equipment and training and received very little coaching. Later, I researched the Philadelphia public school district and found that it was the worst rated and poorest school district in the country. I did some research and found Philadelphia Futures, a non-profit organization that helps Philadelphia school district kids go to college and obtain stable work careers. I have been interning with them ever since. My most enlightening experience as an intern was going to the organization’s annual conference at Temple University. Several Futures alumni spoke during the conference about how the organization helped them go to college and escape their families’ cycle of poverty, drug addiction, and violence. This touched me emotionally and gave me intense pride for the small part I played in the organization’s noble and altruistic mission.
Main Line Media News: Tell us a little about the goals and activities of Save the Planet Club. What has been your favorite activity with the club, and why?
Kush Mishra: The goal of Save the Planet Club is to provide easy, environmentally-friendly practices that students and staff at EA can incorporate to create a more sustainable and green school. Save the Planet Club has built a massive compost bin, which compresses compostable items into compost. This compost serves as the soil for the school garden, which grows many fruits and vegetables for the school. We have also installed many recycling bins and hung posters all around the school to encourage recycling and conservation. It is important for every citizen to do their part to combat climate change so that collectively we can preserve Earth.
Main Line Media News: What is your favorite book, and why?
Kush Mishra: My favorite book is Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. I enjoy reading survival books and how people triumph in nearly impossible situations. Escape from Camp 14 describes the story of Shin Dong-Hyuk, the only person born and raised in a North Korean prison camp to escape from the West. This book has given me the perspective that any setbacks I experience are nothing compared to the harsh conditions faced by so many people in the world.
Main Line Media News: Who is your favorite author and why?
Kush Mishra: My favorite author is Neil deGrasse Tyson. I love how Dr. Tyson is able to explain complex scientific ideas through simple, elegant language. I am also brightened by his tangible excitement of astrophysics and space exploration demonstrated in televised shows and interviews. I am an avid follower of his show, Startalk, and watch any televised segment featuring him.
(To be selected as Main Line Student of the Week, a student must first be nominated by his or her school.)
To view a gallery of the Main Line Students of the Week from 2018 to present click here
