We were overwhelmed and impressed with quality of the applicants so much that we decided to expand the scholarship from one to three. Here are the 2006-2007 Ahura scholarship recipients:

1. Ms. Perinaz Bhada with the amount of $3000
2. Mr. Shahin Shayandeh with the amount of $3000
3. Ms. Pantea Farahmand with the amount of $500

Here is each recipient’s short biography:

	Perinaz Bhada is currently pursuing her MS in Earth Resources Engineering at Columbia University in New York , where she also received her Master of International Affairs in Environmental Policy.  Perinaz came to the US from India for undergraduate studies at Franklin & Marshall College in Business, Environmental Policy, and Economics. At Columbia , she has been involved in organizing the Global Roundtable on Climate Change, an initiative to bring together top-level executives from around the world to reach consensus on climate change.  Perinaz is currently doing research on the feasibility of introducing waste-to-energy technology in her hometown, Bombay , in order to combat the garbage problem and to provide a supplemental energy source. Her career goals include representing India internationally on environmental matters and creating better environmental regulations there.
	Shahin Shayandeh was born in Tehran , Iran . He received the B.S. degree (with honors) in computer engineering from Sharif University of Technology, in 2004. He is currently a graduate student in Computer Science department of University of Southern California (USC) working as a research assistant in the database systems laboratory of USC toward his PhD degree. Besides his academic engagements, he has served Iranian Zoroastrian society by being an active member of different Zoroastrian communities and holding related events. He was a member of the board in Zoroastrian Students Organization (ZSO) for 2 years from 2001 to 2003. During these 2 years he was on the organizing committees of numerous events held by ZSO and two workshops titled “Challenges of youth Zoroastrian Iranians” has been hosted by him in Sharif and Tehran Universities . He is a recipient of several academic awards which USC Viterbi School of Engineering Graduate Award was the most recent one.
	Pantea Farahmand is a fourth year honors student in University of California , San Diego . She is currently in the process of applying to medical school with the hopes of becoming an Oncology Surgeon. In addition to studying the courses necessary to get a diploma in the Neuroscience and Animal Physiology field, she also participates in various extracurricular and clinical research activities. She is a mentor in the organization Friends Understanding Needs, the Publicity Chair in the Pre-Health for the Deaf Club, and an independent researcher in the Language and Cognitive Science Laboratory of Professor Tracy Love in UCSD. She is also very proud of her involvement as the co-founder and an active member of UCSD’s Zoroastrian Club. The club has been successful in educating university students—Zoroastrians and non-Zoroastrians—of the religion’s historical significance. Since she believes it is important to be immersed in socially conscious involvements she makes it her life’s goal to work hard and deduce new ways of improving the world’s condition.