The project
Intel's release is specific about the technology. Omattage's biosensors used quartz crystal microbalance, or QCM, technology, and the stated goal was to screen for food additive contaminants more efficiently and more affordably than existing methods.
A quartz crystal microbalance works on a simple physical principle: a quartz crystal vibrates at a characteristic frequency, and when mass binds to its surface the frequency shifts. Measuring that shift measures the mass, which is what allows the device to register the presence of a target substance. The source does not identify the contaminants she targeted or report her detection limits, so this page does not state them.
Why ports and warehouses
The application named in the release is import screening: detecting harmful imports at ports and warehouses. That framing matters for understanding the project's design goal, which was affordability rather than sensitivity alone.
Laboratory-grade analysis of food contaminants is accurate and slow. A screening device that is cheap enough to deploy where goods arrive addresses a different problem — volume — and the release positions her work in those terms.
Three grand prizes, three fields
Intel named three grand prize winners in 2008, each with $50,000. Omattage's co-winners were Sana Raoof, 17, of Muttontown, New York, who applied knot theory to the structural classification of molecules, and Yi-Han Su, 17, of Chinese Taipei, who worked on high-activity catalysts for methanol reforming to produce hydrogen.
All three were the same age. What separated them was subject matter: analytical instrumentation, pure mathematics applied to chemistry, and catalysis for energy.
The fair in 2008
The Atlanta fair drew more than 1,550 young scientists from 51 countries, regions and territories. Eighteen Best of Category winners received $5,000 and a laptop each, and more than 500 participants took home scholarships or prizes.
Intel's chairman Craig Barrett used the occasion to argue that "dedication to science inquiry can transcend boundaries and show what we can accomplish when we focus on education and science" — a claim the fair's roster of 51 territories was assembled to support.
What is documented — and what is not
The press release establishes her full name, age, home town, prize and the technology she used. It does not name her school, her mentor, or the laboratory where the sensors were built and tested.
It also stops at the award. No source used here reports her later studies, any publication of the work, or her current occupation. Her birth year is inferred from being 17 in May 2008 and is approximate.
How ISEF prizes work
Intel ISEF's awards are layered. Category awards recognise the best projects within each scientific field; Best of Category awards sit above them; and a small number of top awards — three grand prizes in 2008 — are chosen across the whole fair.
Hundreds of special awards from scientific societies, government agencies and companies are judged in parallel, which is how more than 500 participants left Atlanta with something. The grand prizes are the narrow top of a wide structure.
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sawsan Ahmed | United States | Broward College's youngest graduate, at 12, in December 2021 | Age 12 |
| Arvind Mahankali | United States | Won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Kerry Close | United States | Won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Shania Muhammad | United States | Langston University's youngest graduate, at 15 | Age 15 |
| Natalie Saranga Omattage | United States | One of three $50,000 grand prizes at Intel ISEF 2008 | Age 17 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- One of three $50,000 grand prizes at Intel ISEF 2008 at 17 (Intel press release, 16 May 2008)
- From Cleveland, Mississippi
- Project used quartz crystal microbalance biosensors to screen food additive contaminants
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No contaminants, detection limits or results given in the source
- No school, mentor or laboratory named
- No information on her education or career after 2008
Questions people ask about Natalie Saranga Omattage
How old was Natalie Saranga Omattage when she won?
Seventeen, in May 2008. No date of birth appears in the source used here.
What did her project do?
It used quartz crystal microbalance biosensors to screen for contaminants in food additives more efficiently and affordably.
What is a quartz crystal microbalance?
A sensor that detects mass binding to a vibrating quartz crystal by measuring the resulting shift in its vibration frequency.
How much did she win?
$50,000, one of three grand prizes at Intel ISEF 2008 in Atlanta.
Where is Natalie Omattage now?
No source used here reports on her studies or career after 2008.
Is she on Wikipedia?
No Wikipedia article on her was confirmed for this entry.
Which contaminants did she test for?
The source does not name them. It describes the application as screening food additives and detecting harmful imports.
Who are her parents?
No source used here names her family or her school.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Natalie’s story?
What technology did Natalie Omattage's biosensors use?
What were the sensors intended to screen?
How many grand prizes were awarded at Intel ISEF 2008?
Sources
- Intel Announces Winners of World's Largest Pre-College Science Fair — Intel, 2008-05-16
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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