KEY POINTS:
Brothers Hiren and Hiten Mulchandani - two of a set of triplets - are among this year's Fulbright scholars heading to the United States to attend some of the world's top class universities.
The brothers, who have a sister named Heena, were last night among a record 66 scholars awarded a Fulbright award at the 60th anniversary awards ceremony at Parliament.
Valued at around US$25,000 ($33,000) each, the awards will enable the 21 year olds to complete Masters degrees at two top US universities.
Hiren will study towards a Masters in Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University, while Hiten will study for a Masters degree and PhD in Aeronautics and Astronautics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"Back in 2006 I visited MIT," Hiten said. "I was just looking around and saying to myself 'man, I wonder what it would be like to come here?'. When I found out I'd gotten the award, that feeling came to fruition."
Born in India, the brothers attended secondary school in Kuwait, before their family migrated to New Zealand. All three siblings graduated with honours from the University of Auckland this year.
Hiren, the eldest of the three, graduated with a Bachelor of Science and Hiten, the youngest, graduated with an Engineering degree.
Hiren said: "It's always been competitive between all of us. If Heena did something good, we'd try to do the same - we all looked at each other like that, we've always had that friendly rivalry."
Hiten added: "It drives you, it pushes you."
This year marks the 60th anniversary of New Zealand's involvement in the Fulbright programme, which was developed by American senator J William Fulbright in the aftermath of World War II, in a bid to promote peace among people from different countries.
Both men plan to come back to New Zealand after their study, with Hiten planning to become an academic and working for Nasa, while Hiren is keen to do some medical research.
