Twelve-year-old Hari Bhimaraju of Kennedy Middle School in Cupertino presented at the 2016 White House Science Fair.
Her project, "The Elementor," is a portable, low-cost teaching tool to help visually impaired students learn the periodic table of elements.
Bhimaraju, one of the youngest at the national fair who presented on her own, was selected after participating in the Santa Clara County Synopsis Science Fair.
"I didn’t think I would ever get to go to the White House," Bhimaraju said.
While at the White House, Bhimaraju shook hands with President Obama as he congratulated her on her work.
"He seemed so casual," Bhimaraju said. "He talked to us like a normal person."
She also met Bill Nye the Science Guy and White House staffer DJ Patil, Chief Data Scientist at the White House. Patil also attended Kennedy Middle School in Cupertino.
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"He fist pumped me when he was leaving and said "Go Cougars!" which is our school mascot," Bhimaraju said. "That inspired me that I could do great things."
