Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair
2026 Awards

On behalf of our sponsors, board of directors, and staff, the Minnesota Academy of Science congratulates all student presenters for their excellent research and presentations in the 2026 state competition!

This year, over 400 students from across Minnesota were selected at Regional Science Fairs and competed at the Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair. Over forty companies and organizations awarded more than $20,000 in cash prizes and other awards, gifts, and opportunities. Additionally, top projects advanced to the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair. See below for more information about each award and the 2026 award winners.

Scroll down to learn more about this year’s awards!

Minnesota Academy of Science Awards

Maraike Fortin (Savage): HS-EBED-066, Dream Mornings - a sleep cycle adaptive alarm clock (raspberry pi based)

Aditi Gandhi (Edina): HS-EBED-620, Continuous Low-Cost Proxy Monitoring System for Chloramine Detection in Indoor Pool Air

John Liu (St. Paul): HS-ENEV-500, Passive Capillary-Evaporative Lithium Pre-Concentration from Dilute Brines Using Functionalized Corn Stalk Pith and Wheat Straw Scaffolds

Evan Morris (New Brighton): HS-CELL-610, SILENCE: On-demand seizure suppression via closed-loop sonogenetics

Vick Tan (Eden Prairie): HS-MATS-583, Colorimetric Arsenic Detection at Micromolar Concentrations and Machine Learning Assisted Development of a Composite Teabag for Arsenic Bioremediation in Drinking Water

2026 ISEF Alternates

Vedant Gupta (Maple Grove): HS-CBIO-493, Insulock-2E: A Computationally Designed Insulin Peptide Enhancing MHC-DQ8 Binding And Predicted to Disrupt Autoreactive T-Cells in Type 1 Diabetes

Anthony Dosev (Chanhassen): HS-EGSD-619, Development of cost-effective biochar supercapacitors for high-performance, sustainable energy storage

Jacob Lee (Minnetonka): HS-ENBM-533, A Novel Intraoperative Guidance and Real-Time Dosimetry for GammaTile Brachytherapy in Brain Tumor Surgery

Zack Berchenko (North Oaks): HS-SOFT-514, Recurrent Neural Networks on Directed Multigraphs

Riddhi Singhvi (Woodbury): HS-TMED-496, Bite Balance: A Novel Scoring System for Type 2 Diabetes Management Integrating Diet, Exercise, and the Gut Microbiome

Grand Awards

The Grand Awards recognize excellence in STEM research at the middle school and high school level. The top 5% of projects presented at SSEF receive the Gold Award. The next 10% of projects receive the Silver Award and the next 15% of projects receive the Bronze Award. Projects are ranked according to judge scores and the competitiveness of the category in which students present.

Gold Award

High School
Vick Tan (Eden Prairie): HS-MATS-583, Colorimetric Arsenic Detection at Micromolar Concentrations and Machine Learning Assisted Development of a Composite Teabag for Arsenic Bioremediation in Drinking Water

Bridger Weekley (Moorhead): HS-CELL-057, Utilizing Agroinifltration and Pistil Dripping to Investigate the IPT Gene's Role in Maintaining Osmotic Stress Resistance in Brassica rapa

Riddhi Singhvi (Woodbury): HS-TMED-496, Bite Balance: A Novel Scoring System for Type 2 Diabetes Management Integrating Diet, Exercise, and the Gut Microbiome

Rohan Kuruvila (Woodbury): HS-ROBO-562, How to detect and remove outliers in 3D point clouds using higher-order geometric cycles

Mattias Halloran (St. Paul): HS-MATS-508, Hemin-Activated Lipid Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery in Hemorrhagic Stroke

Alma Feldman-Chicoma & Cecilia Titan & Grace Pickering (Rochester): HS-BEHA-718, Predicting Small Business Survival after Economic Shock Using Economic and Operational Indicators

Nyel Uffa (Eden Prairie): HS-MATH-588, Revealing The Fragility Beneath: Engineering Dynamic Multi-Layer Financial Networks for Modeling Systemic Risk and Shock Propagation

John Liu (St. Paul): HS-ENEV-500, Passive Capillary-Evaporative Lithium Pre-Concentration from Dilute Brines Using Functionalized Corn Stalk Pith and Wheat Straw Scaffolds

Middle School

Evan Chen and Jayan Tollefson and Dash Hull (Rochester): MS-PLNT-749, How does Co2 effect algae growth

Lila Foster (Minnetonka): MS-MCRO-607, Using the Agar Disk Diffusion Method to Prevent Growth of Bacillus Subtilis with Plant Extracts

Isabella Garry (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-557, Microplastic Removal from Simulated Gastric Fluid Using Natural Mucilage Flocculants

Laura Hansen (Forest Lake): MS-BMED-630, Neural Signatures of Physical Activity: A Brain-Computer Study of Exercise-Driven Cognitive Performance and Reaction Time using EEG

Amir Kashani (Rochester): MS-ENBM-744, Heartbeat Detective: Using Sensors to Detect Irregular Heart Rhythms

Arika Kundu (Excelsior): MS-ENEV-511, LIGNEX - A Novel Biosorption-Based Approach that Uses Agricultural Waste Material to Eliminate Pesticide Residues from Fresh Produce

Autumn Lin (Plymouth): MS-PLNT-531, More Than Just Skin Health: How Do Chemical and Mineral Sunscreens Affect Photosynthesis in Freshwater Plants?

Morrison Randall (Cloquet): MS-CHEM-010, Blast opH! Antacid Rockets!

Mitra Suriyanarayanan (Lakeville): MS-BEHA-071, Understanding School Experiences of Students with Tourette Syndrome

Olivia Zhou (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-673, Make Ocean Clean Again – With the help of Ferrofluids and Sound Waves

Silver Award

High School
Lux Bodell (Minnetonka): HS-PHYS-538, Electrical charge recovery systems in solid-state linear accelerator-based proton-boron fusion reactors for enhanced efficiency and achieving breakeven

De-An Chen (North Oaks): HS-CBIO-582, Predicting Dementia Using a Novel Echocardiogram-Based Model

Milan Darji (Eden Prairie): HS-BCHM-578, Escaping the Matrix: Identifying ADAMTSL2 as the trigger for irreversible liver fibrosis through protein modeling

Jackie Fitzgibbons (Minnetonka): HS-MATS-490, Evaluation of copper and silver alloysâ€™ antibiofilm activity and immune cell compatibility

Lucas Granucci (Shorewood): HS-SOFT-604, Science Across Languages: Modular Multi-Agent LLM Framework for Document-Level Scientific Translation in Low-Resource Languages

Anish Kommalapati (Plymouth): HS-CBIO-532, Predicting Motor Recovery Trajectories in Sequential Spinal Muscular Atrophy Therapy Using Biologically Constrained Machine Learning

Graysen Lee (Chaska): HS-BMED-495, Exosomes from the infarcted heart breach the blood-brain barrier to potentiate inflammatory demyelination

Helen Liu (Minneapolis): HS-ETSD-592, The Adjustable Body Chute (ABC): A novel training parachute that prevents tangling and lets swimmers adjust their resistance

Aidan Moeller (Lake Crystal): HS-BEHA-070, Natural and Synthetic Dyes

Emilio Moreno (Chanhassen): HS-CBIO-665, Generative Exploration for Aptamers using Policy Value Networks

Evan Morris (New Brighton): HS-CELL-610, SILENCE: On-demand seizure suppression via closed-loop sonogenetics

Adi Narayan (Minneapolis): HS-CELL-540, The Therapeutic Rescue of let-7 Function Using a Soaking Delivery of Precursor miRNA in Caenorhabditis elegans

Veda Rao and Milena Vandover (Hopkins& St. Louis Park): HS-CELL-572, A Tool to Treat: Evaluating the Effects of CD200AR-L on Immune Checkpoint Signaling in a GFP-Tagged, Triple Negative Breast Cancer Model

Rahul Vinoth (Corcoran): HS-ROBO-659, SCOUT-LC: Swarm Coordinated Odometry and Uncertainty-Aware Temporal Localization Correction for Encoder-Free Multi-Robot Indoor Exploration in Urban Search and Rescue Environments

Isabella Wang (St. Paul): HS-ANIM-626, When Climate Changes, Bees Do Too: Characterization of pollinator foraging behavior under heat stress using remote motion-activated imaging

Middle School
Amir Alkateb (Blaine): MS-EAEV-570, Making and Comparing Potato starch vs Banana Peel Bioplastic

Jonah Bradley (Hermantown): MS-EAEV-008, Friend of Foe: Macroinvertebrate colonization of native alder and exotic crack willow in Keene Creek

Sophia Brazell with Toryn Rabehl (Rochester): MS-CHEM-717, Electrolytes project

Leo Bramante (Minneapolis): MS-ETSD-571, Model Rocket Project: does the fin size effect the altitude?

Henrik Carlson (Grand Rapids): MS-PHYS-040, The Physics of Hockey Stick Flex

Henry Clark (St. Paul): MS-EAEV-584, What Can Be Done To Mitigate The Effect Of Lead Sinkers In The Common Loon Population?

Alia Eiler (Elk River): MS-PLNT-575, Flowers that are to dye for

Eric Goedeke (Andover): MS-PHYS-563, Battle of the Brands

Erik Hansen (Forest Lake): MS-ANIM-614, Dawn, Dusk, and Darkness: Diel Activity Patterns of White-Tailed Deer and Predators Across a Large Forested Landscape

Kaia Holger (Rochester): MS-ETSD-707, Bridge Wars

Louie Kakar (Rochester): MS-BMED-728, Mapping Low Vision in Minnesota: What Public Data Reveals About Visual Disability and Eye-Care Access

Maria Kenderian (Rochester): MS-BMED-765, Identification of Microplastics in Bottled Beverages

Rikhil Kondadadi (Lakeville): MS-BEHA-587, Can AI Chatbots Safely Guide Medical Decisions? Evaluating the Reliability of AI Health Advice for Complex Clinical Scenarios

Anchit Kumar (Plymouth): MS-EBED-487, Tri-Way Communication Between Deaf, Blind, and Non-Impaired People

Noe Loots and Emma Steinert (Minneapolis & Edina): MS-PLNT-658, Do plants care if microplastics are biodegradable or not?

Hunter Smith and Mason Dubovich (Elk River): MS-PHYS-512, A Wheel-y Big Deal

Malcolm Steffen (Prior Lake): MS-ETSD-065, Inner Strength: Studying Infill Patterns of 3D-Printed Beams

Patrick Zeilstra (Rochester): MS-EAEV-741, Wilderness Water: Testing the best way to purify water in the wild

Mia Zoghby (Rochester): MS-EAEV-752, Estimating how ChatGPT usage in schools affect water usage

Bronze Award

High School
Dia Chaney (St. Paul): HS-BMED-535, Dose response of C-type Lysozyme and Recombinant Growth Factor in Planarian Regeneration Assays

Samuel Daniels (Plymouth): HS-EAEV-504, Analysing an ArcGIS simulation of erosion on Lake Superior’s shoreline

Joseph David (Corcoran): HS-ENEV-567 Pharmablast: A Synthetic Data Generation for Pharmaceutical Based Microplastic Detection in Water Systems

Ethan Finch (Afton): HS-TECA-631, ArticuRace: Closing the Global Speech Therapy Gap through a Low-Resource and Interpretable AI Framework

Natalia Gercheva (St. Paul): HS-EAEV-605, Heart of the Matter: Examining the Impact of Reef-Safe and Conventional Sunscreens on the Heart Rate of Daphnia magna

Adam Jacobson (Grand Rapids): HS-ENBM-030, Cast Away the Problem Cast!

Stella Kelliher (Plymouth): HS-PHYS-640, Optimization of apodized pupil Lyot coronagraph design for ground-based exoplanet observations

Jacob Lee (Minnetonka): HS-ENBM-533, A Novel Intraoperative Guidance and Real-Time Dosimetry for GammaTile Brachytherapy in Brain Tumor Surgery

Colleen Mahr (Rochester): HS-BMED-761, Can a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) Identify Morphological Features in Cutaneous Melanoma that Correlate with a Positive Family History of the Disease?

Mehreen Najeeb (Maple Grove): HS-CHEM-528, CARE: A novel enamel remineralization tooth tray for fluoridated water communities

Sahil Neelimandhu (Plymouth): HS-BEHA-671, Where Living, Working, and Belonging Come Together: An Empirical Study of Factors Correlated With Successful Vertical Mixed Use Development in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area

Shubham Panchal (Corcoran): HS-ROBO-652, Task-Aware Model-Agnostic Meta-Learning for Few-Shot Robotic Manipulation

Reva Patel (Rochester): HS-PHYS-723, Optimizing Navigator-Guided Motion Correction to Enhance Early MRI Detection of Prostate Cancer through Controlled Phantom Analysis

Paris Peng (Minneapolis): HS-CBIO-491, Love is Blind, but Proteins Aren't: Do AlphaFold 3-Predicted Monomer Alterations from Mutations Propagate into Capsid Assembly Defects?

Selena Qiao and Maria Rohlfsen HS-PLNT-577 Turf Trouble: Determining the toxic mechanism of N, N-diethyl meta-toluamide (DEET) in turfgrass (Year III)

Adhrith Rao and Aarnav Kodthivada (Medina & Corcoran): HS-BMED-793, Alternative Splicing Signatures as Prognostic Biomarkers in Glioblastoma Multiforme

Nora Seifert and James Welsh (St. Paul): HS-PHYS-525, Project LEO: Low Earth Orbit Space Debris Tracking and Removal

Aditi Sriram (Rochester): HS-ENBM-688, SonoVascAR: A Vascular Access Aid: Automated Real Time Ultrasound Vessel Detection with Augmented Reality 3D Projection

Kenrick Trinh (Golden Valley): HS-BCHM-623, Creating a biogas and extracting bio-flocculant from wastewater in order to create a self-sustainable and energy efficient method for purification

Birdie Walsh (Minnetonka): HS-CELL-590, Investigation of Pigmentation-Dependent Transcriptional Responses to IL-1Î± and KGF in Melanocytes: Implications for Post-inflammatory Hyperpigmentation

Michael White (Minnetonka): HS-ENBM-543, CNN-RNN Hybrid Model for Elbow Flexion Exoskeletons

Aizada Yernar (Savage): HS-CELL-549, Optogenetic Control of MyoD Signaling to Direct Satellite Cell Fate in Muscle Regeneration

Joy Zhou (Maple Grove): HS-BMED-551, The Uneven Distribution of Socioeconomic Stress as a Possible Driver of Racial Smoking Disparities: An NHANES Analysis

Middle School
Karmyn Augustine (Newfolden): MS-MATS-034, "Can you hear me now?"

Colton Dykstra (Champlin): MS-MATS-522, Comparing Capacity

Declan Edminster (Grand Rapids): MS-PHYS-042, Launch Angle Increase Effect

Sophia Edman (Elk River): MS-CHEM-585, Ice melt

Charlie Flynn (Rochester): MS-PLNT-770, The Effect of Light Color on Plant Growth

Caitlin Fox (Elk River): MS-PLNT-497, How does applied fertilizer concentration affect invasive compared to Minnesota native plant growth?

Kate Gao (St. Paul): MS-ETSD-622, Wipe it off - A Solution to Enable L5 Self-Driving

Alex Gochenaur and Elnur Yernar (Savage): MS-EBED-082, Artifact and Fossil Scanner

Julian Greene (St. Paul): MS-SOFT-544, How Training Data Affects Facial Recognition Accuracy

Cora Hill (Rochester): MS-PLNT-702, How does applied fertilizer concentration affect invasive compared to Minnesota native plant growth?

Rhea Hittin (Woodbury): MS-ENEV-612, StyroLoop: A decentralized approach to Styrofoam reintegration into the circular economy.

Matthew Hoffner (Deephaven): MS-BEHA-785, AI on Your Feed: Can We Still Tell What’s Real

Mariah Jones (Elk River): MS-PLNT-546, The Tiny Problem: The Impact of Microplastics on Plants

Rikita Joshi (Minneapolis): MS-ROBO-596, Enhancing the lives of visually impaired individuals with an electronic fruit sorter that sorts good and rotten fruits

Phillip Kohl and Everett Sparling (Minneapolis & Edina): MS-PLNT-669, How does adding supplements of glucose to a plant's water affect its growth?

Alek Kokotovich (Savage): MS-ROBO-080, Developing Low-Cost Household Aids for Visually Impaired Users

Kelsey Loftus and Pacey Trueger (Wayzata & Edina): MS-PLNT-674, Which is better: hydroponic or soil?

Sumana Mangipudi (Plymouth): MS-BMED-678, Fuel or Fallout? Testing The Biological Impact of Energy Drink Additives

Fatoumata Marong (Elk River): MS-EGSD-558, Harness the Wind: How Wind Turbine Designs Impact Electricity Generation

Mia Miller (Mendota Heights): MS-BMED-574, What is the Effect of Smoking Liquid Versus Cigarette Smoke Residue on Your Lungs?

Jack Mousel (Jacobson): MS-PLNT-038, Drinking in the Details: Measuring Transpiration Rate in Tomato Seedlings

Benedict Peichel (Andover): MS-PLNT-668, Compost Competition

Cruz Rosstedt and Henry Miller (Elk River): MS-PHYS-489, The Great Decent

Alex Samba (Edina): MS-ENEV-643, MOF's and Algae: Building a Machine to Capture Carbon in the Air

Tatem Stiller (Zimmerman): MS-ETSD-666, How do different wing profiles affect the distance a plane takes off

Andrew Vetscher (St. Paul): MS-BEHA-589, Does Listening to Music While Working Help Your Focus and Efficiency?

Ryan Warmka (Burnsville): MS-BCHM-494, Tame the Flame! Comparing Household Methods for Reducing Hot Sauce Heat

Josie Woodcock and Mia Casper (Rochester): MS-MATS-693, From Hive to Halfpipe: Testing Natural Beeswax vs. Synthetic Wax on Snowboards

Andrew Young (Rochester): MS-EGSD-690, Can You Make a Solar Powered Chromebook?

Minnesota Academy of Science Board of Directors Award

The Minnesota Academy of Science Board of Directors Award is given to 10+ students showing exceptional promise at the 2026 State Science and Engineering Fair. The prize is $50 and a certificate.

Caden Adams (Bloomington): MS-PLNT-632, Green Vs. Gray: Plants In A Polluted World

Kensley Alfaro (Cloquet): MS-BMED-011, Gasping for Air: Wildfire Smokes Effect on Health and Activity Levels

Ameya Bhaskar (Maple Grove): HS-CBIO-541, Teaching Machines to See Pain: Deep Learning Approaches to Histopathological Scoring of Intervertebral Disc Degeneration

Ella Capistran (Crookston): MS-EBED-050, Watts With My Dough?

Hadley Dans and Bella Marshall (Crookston & Fisher): MS-MATS-790, Hair Care

Alia Eiler (Elk River): MS-PLNT-575, Flowers that are to dye for

Eric Goedeke (Andover): MS-PHYS-563, Battle of the Brands

Rohan Kuruvila (Woodbury): HS-ROBO-562, How to detect and remove outliers in 3D point clouds using higher-order geometric cycles

Emmett Loth (St. Paul): MS-PLNT-644, Does the amount of natural bacteria in soil affect how an herbicide impacts the growth of lettuce?

Winnie Niu (Rochester): HS-CBIO-681, Designing a 3D Convolutional Neural Network for MRI-based Multiple Sclerosis Severity Classification with Machine Learning Explainability

Ruby Truong (Rochester): HS-CBIO-798, Analyzing Glycemic Variability in Diabetes Research: A Predictive Machine-Learning Model for Hemoglobin A1c

Ryan Warmka (Burnsville): MS-BCHM-494, Tame the Flame! Comparing Household Methods for Reducing Hot Sauce Heat

Olivia Vang (Blaine): HS-BMED-672, Examining Factors Associated with Left Atrial Appendage Leakage Following Occlusion and Exclusion Device Implantation

Medtronic Awards

The Minnesota Academy of Science is grateful to Medtronic, the Premier Sponsor of the 2026 Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair.

All award winners receive an exclusive invitation to the Medtronic Tech Fellows Day.

Medtronic Innovation Award

The Medtronic Innovation Award recognizes students whose projects exemplify excellence through innovative outside-the-box ideas, self-motivated independent work, passion for discovery and science, and the potential to impact their category or the world.

High School - 1st Place ($750)

Adam Jacobson (Grand Rapids): HS-ENBM-030, Cast Away the Problem Cast!

High School - 2nd Place ($500)

Eshaan Parnerkar (Plymouth): HS-CELL-568, Evaluating the impact of mutant ATXN1 microglia on phagocytic function and disease symptoms in Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 1

High School - 3rd Place ($250)

William Tan (Eden Prairie): HS-ENEV-593, Building the First AI-Enabled Smart Artificial Reef (AISAR)

Middle School - 1st Place ($750)

Isabella Garry (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-557, Microplastic Removal from Simulated Gastric Fluid Using Natural Mucilage Flocculants

Middle School - 2nd Place ($500)

Arika Kundu (Excelsior): MS-ENEV-511, LIGNEX - A Novel Biosorption-Based Approach that Uses Agricultural Waste Material to Eliminate Pesticide Residues from Fresh Produce

MIddle School - 3rd Place ($250)

Olivia Lin (Minnetonka): MS-ENEV-576, Making Water Soft-Is Soft Water Clean?

Medtronic Technical Achievement Award

The Medtronic Technical Achievement Award recognizes students whose projects demonstrate excellence through imagination and inventiveness, tackling a challenging technical question, rigorous scientific inquiry and execution, and the potential to solve a technical problem.

Medtronic Technical Achievement Award: Biomedical Applications
High School Winner ($500)

Martin Marshall and Yuchen Shi (Bloomington & Golden Valley): HS-CELL-565, Mind Mail: Optimizing cell-specific, brain-derived exosome isolation to enable minimally invasive detection of neuroinflammation

Middle School Winner ($500)

Alek Kokotovich (Savage): MS-ROBO-080, Developing Low-Cost Household Aids for Visually Impaired Users

Medtronic Technical Achievement Award: Science & Engineering
High School Winner ($500)

Avital Coleman (St. Paul): HS-CELL-633, Restoring Movement After Spinal Cord Injury: Optogenetic Dissection of Genetically Identified Spinal Glutamatergic Neurons in Larval Zebrafish

Middle School Winner ($500)

Olivia Zhou (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-673, Make Ocean Clean Again – With the help of Ferrofluids and Sound Waves

Medtronic Technical Achievement Award: Sustainability
High School Winner ($500)

Anthony Dosev (Chanhassen): HS-EGSD-619, Development of cost-effective biochar supercapacitors for high-performance, sustainable energy storage

Middle School Winner ($500)

Alex Samba (Edina): MS-ENEV-643, MOF's and Algae: Building a Machine to Capture Carbon in the Air

SPECIAL SPONSORED AWARDS

In alphabetical order

3M

3M science applied to life award

This award acknowledges students whose projects make a lasting, positive impact on their local or global community through innovation, creativity, and scientific exploration.

High School - 1st Place ($500)

Maraike Fortin (Savage): HS-EBED-066, Dream Mornings - a sleep cycle adaptive alarm clock (raspberry pi based)

High School - 2nd Place ($300)

Joseph David (Corcoran): HS-ENEV-567, Pharmablast: A Synthetic Data Generation for Pharmaceutical Based Microplastic Detection in Water Systems

High School - 3rd Place ($200)

Nathanim Tekle (Minneapolis): HS-MCRO-649, Effects of Ferric Citrate Concentration on the Growth of E.coli K-12 and Bacillus subtilis: Implications for Anemia

Middle School - 1st Place ($500)

Rhea Hittin (Woodbury): MS-ENEV-612, StyroLoop: A decentralized approach to Styrofoam reintegration into the circular economy

Middle School - 2nd Place ($300)

Anchit Kumarv (Plymouth): MS-EBED-487, Tri-Way Communication Between Deaf, Blind, and Non-Impaired People

MIddle School - 3rd Place ($200)

Albert Fay (Thief River Falls): MS-ENEV-035, Adaptive Fishing Pole

3M young inventor recognition

This award recognizes students who demonstrate unique resourcefulness in their approach to innovation, finding ways to do more with less, discovering new solutions to difficult problems.

High School Winners ($100)
Sloane Dunn (Eagan): HS-BMED-550, Vaccine Hesitancy Impact on Measles Outbreaks

Ethan Finch (Afton): HS-TECA-631, ArticuRace: Closing the Global Speech Therapy Gap through a Low-Resource and Interpretable AI Framework

Aditi Gandhi (Edina): HS-EBED-620, Continuous Low-Cost Proxy Monitoring System for Chloramine Detection in Indoor Pool Air

Mattias Halloran (St. Paul): HS-MATS-508, Hemin-Activated Lipid Nanoparticles for Targeted Drug Delivery in Hemorrhagic Stroke

Annika Kim (St. Paul): HS-TECA-503, Applying Analog Printing Effects to Digital Video

Jacob Lee (Minnetonka): HS-ENBM-533, A Novel Intraoperative Guidance and Real-Time Dosimetry for GammaTile Brachytherapy in Brain Tumor Surgery

Helen Liu (Minneapolis): HS-ETSD-592, The Adjustable Body Chute (ABC): A novel training parachute that prevents tangling and lets swimmers adjust their resistance

Evan Morris (New Brighton): HS-CELL-610, SILENCE: On-demand seizure suppression via closed-loop sonogenetics

Carter Olson (Prior Lake): HS-ENBM-064, CogniFlex

Meghana Parvath (Lakeville): HS-BEHA-085, Mental Health Challenges of Immigrant Mothers

Satva Patel and Mukil Iniyan Senthil Kumar (Carver & Victoria): HS-SOFT-087, Beyond Accuracy: A Cost-Aware CNN That Eliminates Catastrophic Wildfire Misclassification

Reva Patel (Rochester): HS-PHYS-723, Optimizing Navigator-Guided Motion Correction to Enhance Early MRI Detection of Prostate Cancer through Controlled Phantom Analysis

Shagun Shrivastava (Eden Prairie): HS-EBED-635, A.W.A.R.E.-Development of an AI-Based Real-Time Wearable Auditory Recognition and Emergency Detection System for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Individuals using Acoustic Analysis

Xinlai Tan (Plymouth): HS-EGSD-781, Optimal Design of Spread Foundations for Wind Turbines

Bridger Weekley (Moorhead): HS-CELL-057, Utilizing Agroinifltration and Pistil Dripping to Investigate the IPT Gene's Role in Maintaining Osmotic Stress Resistance in Brassica rapa

Huxley Westemeier (Minneapolis): HS-SOFT-534, INTRINSIC: Parameter-Free Private Keystroke Classification with Normalized Relative Compression

Middle School Winners ($100)
Abdulrahman Ali (St. Paul): MS-ENEV-547, Is a steamer or a UV box a better homemade alternative to industrial cleaning products?

Dominik Fortin (Savage): MS-EBED-067, Ghostwalker - A scent masking device for hunters

Kora Fuhrer (Thief River Falls): MS-EAEV-033, The Knot Wars

Isabella Garry (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-557, Microplastic Removal from Simulated Gastric Fluid Using Natural Mucilage Flocculants

Raqad Hasan and Maryama Musa (Minneapolis & Minnetonka): MS-EAEV-611, How Temperature Differences Can Expand Geothermal Energy Beyond Volcanic Regions

Sophia Iordanoglou and Kinaari Shah (Plymouth & Minneapolis): MS-MATS-663, How do different glues affect the life of a pointe shoe?

Corinne James (St. Paul): MS-PLNT-628, Hydroponics: The Way of the Future

Maria Kenderian (Rochester): MS-BMED-765, Identification of Microplastics in Bottled Beverages

Fatoumata Marong (Elk River): MS-EGSD-558, Harness the Wind: How Wind Turbine Designs Impact Electricity Generation

Asher Mays (St. Paul): MS-MATS-634, How does cheap vs expensive frisbees affect flight time and distance

James Postma (Blaine): MS-PHYS-527, Stick With It: The Effect of Friction on Adhesion

Yazhini Siva Arumugam (Rochester): MS-CBIO-772, Predicting Vaccine Effectiveness Using BLAST

Malcolm Steffen (Prior Lake): MS-ETSD-065, Inner Strength: Studying Infill Patterns of 3D-Printed Beams

Keyu Wang (Golden Valley): MS-BMED-787, Is boiled tap water more sanitary and healthy to drink than tap?

Patrick Zeilstra (Rochester): MS-EAEV-741, Wilderness Water: Testing the best way to purify water in the wild

American Chemical Society (ACS), Minnesota Section

Outstanding Experimental Project in CHemistry

This award recognizes an outstanding high school chemistry/biochemistry project. Honorable mentions will receive a one-year subscription to ChemMatters, the ACS publication for high school students.

High School Outstanding Project ($150)

Ella England (St. Paul): HS-CHEM-778, Applications of Different Growing Conditions on Fungi P. chrysosporium and Their Effects on Plastic Mass and Polycarbonate Treatment for BPA

High School Honorable Mentions (subscription to ChemMatters)
Mehreen Najeeb (Maple Grove): HS-CHEM-528, CARE: A novel enamel remineralization tooth tray for fluoridated water communities

Elizabeth Mader (Marine): HS-CHEM-542, Influence of pH and Dietary Ligands on Calcium Ion Availability in Simulated Gastric Media as Measured by Ion Specific Electrode

Ethan Lavan (Cloquet): HS-ENEV-015, Investigating the rate of hydrogen sulfide removal by Manganese GreensandPlus® for use in large-scale wastewater treatment

Middle School Outstanding Project ($100)

Morrison Randall (Cloquet): MS-CHEM-010, Blast opH! Antacid Rockets!

Middle School Honorable Mentions (subscription to ChemMatters)

Sophia Brazell with Toryn Rabehl (Rochester): MS-CHEM-717, Electrolytes project

Claire Dockendorf with Charlotte Noseworthy (Rochester): MS-CHEM-757, Testing Biofuel Ingredient ratios

American Fisheries Society, Minnesota Chapter

Aquatic Sciences achievement Award

This award recognizes projects focusing on aquatic science. Winners receive a book and a fishing pole, and two winners receive ice fishing bibs.

High School

Samuel Daniels (Plymouth): HS-EAEV-504, Analyzing an ArcGIS simulation of erosion on Lake Superior’s shoreline

Natalia Gercheva (St. Paul): HS-EAEV-605, Heart of the Matter: Examining the Impact of Reef-Safe and Conventional Sunscreens on the Heart Rate of Daphnia magna

Olivia Liu (St. Louis Park): HS-ENEV-597, Coral Alarm: A Simple, Affordable System for Detecting Coral Bleaching Early (Year III)

Amelia Lucke (St. Paul): HS-EAEV-486, A Silent Contaminant Beneath Our Feet: Multivariate Analysis of Geogenic Arsenic Pathways into Private Drinking Water Wells Across St. Louis, Lake, and Cook Counties

William Tan (Eden Prairie): HS-ENEV-593, Building the First AI-Enabled Smart Artificial Reef (AISAR)

Zoe Zhang (Rochester): HS-CBIO-715, Developing Machine Learning Software for Image-Based Color Biomarkers of Aging in African Turquoise Killifish (N. furzeri, GRZ Strain)

Middle School
Autumn Lin (Plymouth): MS-PLNT-531, More Than Just Skin Health: How Do Chemical and Mineral Sunscreens Affect Photosynthesis in Freshwater Plants?

Henry Clark (St. Paul): MS-EAEV-584, What Can Be Done To Mitigate The Effect Of Lead Sinkers In The Common Loon Population?

Jonah Bradley (Hermantown): MS-EAEV-008, Friend of Foe: Macroinvertebrate colonization of native alder and exotic crack willow in Keene Creek

Alex Samba (Edina): MS-ENEV-643, MOF's and Algae: Building a Machine to Capture Carbon in the Air

Olivia Zhou (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-673, Make Ocean Clean Again – With the help of Ferrofluids and Sound Waves

Sumana Mangipudi (Plymouth): MS-BMED-678, Fuel or Fallout? Testing The Biological Impact of Energy Drink Additives

American Heart Association

American heart association community impact award

This award is given to a student whose project demonstrates community impact and equity in the pursuit of optimal health for all.

High School

Meghana Parvath (Lakeville): HS-BEHA-085, Mental Health Challenges of Immigrant Mothers

Middle School

Louie Kakar (Rochester): MS-BMED-728, Mapping Low Vision in Minnesota: What Public Data Reveals About Visual Disability and Eye-Care Access

American Institute of Professional Geologists

AIPG Earth & Environmental Sciences Award

This award is given to thoughtful and creative projects using concepts about earth and environmental sciences. Winners receive $175 each, a book about Minnesota geology, and a fossil or rock specimen as the prize.

Amelia Lucke (St. Paul): HS-EAEV-486, A Silent Contaminant Beneath Our Feet: Multivariate Analysis of Geogenic Arsenic Pathways into Private Drinking Water Wells Across St. Louis, Lake, and Cook Counties

Patrick Zeilstra (Rochester): MS-EAEV-741, Wilderness Water: Testing the best way to purify water in the wild

Mia Zoghby (Rochester): MS-EAEV-752, Estimating how ChatGPT usage in schools affect water usage

American Psychological Association

Achievement in Research in Psychological Science

This award recognizes outstanding research in psychological science under the category of behavioral and social sciences or any category related to psychology (e.g., animal sciences, biomedical and health sciences, translational medical science). The winner will receive a certificate and student membership.

Enin Kopischke (Frazee): HS-BEHA-060, Activity Participation and the Effects on Mental Health

American Society of Plumbing Engineers

MN ASPE Mechanical Engineering Award

This award is given to students at the high school level whose projects display the best use of mechanical engineering.

First Place ($350)

Aditi Gandhi (Edina): HS-EBED-620, Continuous Low-Cost Proxy Monitoring System for Chloramine Detection in Indoor Pool Air

Second Place ($150)

Olivia Lin (Minnetonka): MS-ENEV-576, Making Water Soft-Is Soft Water Clean?

Association for Women Geoscientists

Student Award for Geoscience Excellence

This award is given to a student who identifies as a girl/woman (including cis-gender, transgender, gender fluid, and non-binary persons) whose project exemplifies high standards of innovation and scientific excellence in the geosciences. Special consideration is given to projects that increase the public awareness of the geosciences, illustrate the interdisciplinary nature of the geosciences, and/or promote the sensitivity to the Earth as a global system. The prize is a certificate and honorary membership.

Amelia Lucke (St. Paul): HS-EAEV-486, A Silent Contaminant Beneath Our Feet: Multivariate Analysis of Geogenic Arsenic Pathways into Private Drinking Water Wells Across St. Louis, Lake, and Cook Counties

Beckman Coulter

A global leader in advanced diagnostics, Beckman Coulter has challenged convention to elevate the diagnostic laboratory’s role in improving patient health for more than 80 years. Our mission is to Relentlessly Reimagine Healthcare, One Diagnosis at a Time – and we do this by applying the power of science, technology and the passion and creativity of our teams. We are honored to recognize students at the Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair for their excellence in STEM fields. The Beckman Coulter scientists and engineers who volunteered as judges were impressed by the skill, knowledge and creativity of all of the award winners.

Beckman Coulter Awards FOR EXCELLENCE IN biology

High School ($1,000)
Milan Darji (Eden Prairie): HS-BCHM-578, Escaping the Matrix: Identifying ADAMTSL2 as the trigger for irreversible liver fibrosis through protein modeling

Graysen Lee (Chaska): HS-BMED-495, Exosomes from the infarcted heart breach the blood-brain barrier to potentiate inflammatory demyelination
Middle School ($500)
Laura Hansen (Forest Lake): MS-BMED-630, Neural Signatures of Physical Activity: A Brain-Computer Study of Exercise-Driven Cognitive Performance and Reaction Time using EEG

Kimaya Shah (Minneapolis): MS-MCRO-521, Natural Antiseptics vs. Commercial Antimicrobial Agents

Beckman Coulter Awards FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING

High School ($1,000)
Anthony Dosev (Chanhassen): HS-EGSD-619, Development of cost-effective biochar supercapacitors for high-performance, sustainable energy storage

Maraike Fortin (Savage): HS-EBED-066, Dream Mornings - a sleep cycle adaptive alarm clock (raspberry pi based)
Middle School ($500)
Julian Greene (St. Paul): MS-SOFT-544, How Training Data Affects Facial Recognition Accuracy
Ansh Mohapatra (Mankato): MS-ENBM-081, Gamified Live Visual CPR Coach to Improve CCF

All students at the science fair, as well as the winner of this prize, are encouraged to showcase their coding projects at Coolest Projects Global. Find out how.

Broadcom Foundation

Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award

This award recognizes a middle school student whose project shows a remarkable passion to improve a problem or concern in their community and who has made the link with creating a solution or the start to a solution with coding/computation in their project. The award includes a $250 gift card and a Raspberry Pi Foundation Official Raspberry Pi Pico Kit.

Albert Fay (Thief River Falls): MS-ENEV-035, Adaptive Fishing Pole

Christian Aurup

Dr. Lise Aurup Memorial Award

This award is presented in honor of the late Dr. Lise Aurup to an outstanding high school project in medical science. The prize is $100.

Emma Zucchi and Sara Ali (Minneapolis): HS-CELL-601, Restoring Rhythm: Investigating the Effects of Inhibiting CD40-TRAF6 Signaling Pathway on Fibroblast and Macrophage Populations in a Mouse Model of Pressure Overload–Induced Heart Failure

Citadel

Citadel Securities Innovation Prize

This award recognizes a project which exemplifies the ideals of innovative thinking combined with thorough statistical analysis and problem solving.

High School ($100)

Riddhi Singhvi (Woodbury): HS-TMED-496, Bite Balance: A Novel Scoring System for Type 2 Diabetes Management Integrating Diet, Exercise, and the Gut Microbiome

Middle School ($100)

Isabella Garry (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-557, Microplastic Removal from Simulated Gastric Fluid Using Natural Mucilage Flocculants

DiaSorin, Inc.

DiaSorin, MERIT Award

Diasorin Merit Award is for a middle school project which demonstrates exemplary experimental design using accessible, everyday methodologies, demonstrating rigorous application of the scientific method. There are five $500 prizes.

Abdulrahman Ali (St. Paul): MS-ENEV-547, Is a steamer or a UV box a better homemade alternative to industrial cleaning products?

Amir Alkateb (Blaine): MS-EAEV-570, Making and Comparing Potato starch vs Banana Peel Bioplastic

Nam Do (Lakeville): MS-CBIO-566, Transcriptional Cell-Adhesion States Drive Context-Specific FAK (PTK2) Dependency in Cancer

Erik Hansen (Forest Lake): MS-ANIM-614, Dawn, Dusk, and Darkness: Diel Activity Patterns of White-Tailed Deer and Predators Across a Large Forested Landscape

Amir Kashani (Rochester): MS-ENBM-744, Heartbeat Detective: Using Sensors to Detect Irregular Heart Rhythms

Ecolab

A trusted partner at nearly three million customer locations, Ecolab is the global leader in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. With annual sales of $12 billion and more than 44,000 associates, Ecolab delivers comprehensive solutions, data-driven insights and personalized service to advance food safety, maintain clean and safe environments, optimize water and energy use, and improve operational efficiencies and sustainability for customers in the food, healthcare, hospitality and industrial markets in more than 170 countries around the world.

Ecolab water vision award

Award winning projects are clearly presented, using excellent scientific data gathering and presentations practices, showcasing innovative ideas around the topics of water access, clean water, or water conservation.

High School ($700)

Kenrick Trinh (Golden Valley): HS-BCHM-623, Creating a biogas and extracting bio-flocculant from wastewater in order to create a self-sustainable and energy efficient method for purification

Middle School ($700)

Chen Liang and Wilson Wang (Rochester): MS-EGSD-289, Solar Desalination Reverse Osmosis

ecolab Food Safety Award

Award winning projects are clearly presented, using excellent scientific data gathering and presentations practices, showcasing innovative ideas around food safety—preserving the quality of food to prevent contamination and foodborne illness.

High School ($700)

Shivam Srivastava (Plymouth): HS-MCRO-615, From Tradition to Treatment: Rediscovering Turmeric as a Natural Antibiotic for E. coli K-12 (Year II)

Middle School ($700)

Kavya Bhandari (Rochester): MS-BCHM-734, Best Method for Washing Fruits

Emerson

STEM Excellence Award

This award is given to one high school student and one middle school student. Winning projects are clearly presented, exemplify excellence in their category, and demonstrate a high degree of difficulty, complexity, creativity, and innovation using outstanding scientific data-gathering and presentation practices.

High School ($500)

Maraike Fortin (Savage): HS-EBED-066, Dream Mornings - a sleep cycle adaptive alarm clock (raspberry pi based)

Middle School ($500)

Olivia Zhou (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-673, Make Ocean Clean Again – With the help of Ferrofluids and Sound Waves

Empowering Women in Science

Rosalind E. Franklin Perseverance in STEM Award

The Rosalind E. Franklin Perseverance in STEM Award recognizes woman-identifying or gender minority-identifying students who have demonstrated creativity, dedication, and perseverance in completing an exemplary research project. Winners receive $100 and a science journal.

High School

Hannia De la Rosa (Ada): HS-MCRO-051, Microorganisms in Different pH Conditions

Middle School

Emily Alzamora (Rochester): MS-PLNT-745, Can Compost Supercharge Electricity from a Pothos Plant Microbial Fuel Cell

Hamline University Department of Physics

Excellence in Renewable Energy and Sustainability Award

This award recognizes high school students whose projects excel in utilizing renewable energy and driving sustainability initiatives. The prize is a certificate and a $100 scholarship toward a Hamline Physics Summer Camp (Young Physicist Camp or Microscope Adventure Camp).

Sabrina Abdi (Rosemount): HS-EGSD-545, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Solar Still, Filtration and SODIS on Water Quality

Jibril Mohamed and Ayub Ahmed and Humza Shaikh (Columbia Heights & St. Paul & Blaine): HS-ENEV-788, Hybrid Bio-Photovoltaic Solar Panel System: The Future of Green Energy

Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) - MN Section

2026 Special Award In Food Science

This award recognizes an outstanding food science-related research project. Learn more about careers in food science.

High School - 1st Place ($500)

Shivam Srivastava (Plymouth): HS-MCRO-615, From Tradition to Treatment: Rediscovering Turmeric as a Natural Antibiotic for E. coli K-12 (Year II)

High School - 2nd Place ($250)

Rachel Lou (Rochester): HS-BMED-774, Effect of the Fermentation of Tea on the Antioxidant Abilities of Tea

Middle School - 1st Place ($500)

Ryan Warmka (Burnsville): MS-BCHM-494, Tame the Flame! Comparing Household Methods for Reducing Hot Sauce Heat

Middle School - 2nd Place ($250)

Norah Boylan (Chanhassen): MS-BCHM-618, The Great Bread Race

Kailey Soller

Woman in Science - Impact Award

This award is presented to a student who is expected to make an impact in the scientific world as demonstrated by their creative project idea, strong presentation skills, or unique way that they demonstrated the potential for their project to transfer into a product. The prize is a Women in Science book award and a $50 gift card.

Sophia Edman (Elk River): MS-CHEM-585, Ice melt

Corinne James (St. Paul): MS-PLNT-628, Hydroponics: The Way of the Future

Land O’ Lakes

Land O’Lakes Award for Food Innovation

For projects that demonstrate creativity, innovation, and excellence in the study of food science. The prize is $500.

High School Winners

Rachel Lou (Rochester): HS-BMED-774, Effect of the Fermentation of Tea on the Antioxidant Abilities of Tea

Kendra Swanson (Maple Grove): HS-MCRO-591, The Effect of Red 40 on Bakers Yeast

Middle School Winners

Lila Foster (Minnetonka): MS-MCRO-607, Using the Agar Disk Diffusion Method to Prevent Growth of Bacillus Subtilis with Plant Extracts

Arika Kundu (Excelsior): MS-ENEV-511, LIGNEX - A Novel Biosorption-Based Approach that Uses Agricultural Waste Material to Eliminate Pesticide Residues from Fresh Produce

Lemelson Foundation

Lemelson Early Inventor Prize

The Lemelson Early Inventor Prize highlights a young inventor at the middle school level whose project exemplifies the ideals of inventive thinking by identifying a challenge in their community and creating a solution that will improve the lives of others. The prize is $100 and a certificate.

Rikita Joshi (Minneapolis): MS-ROBO-596, Enhancing the lives of visually impaired individuals with an electronic fruit sorter that sorts good and rotten fruits

Minnesota Environmental Health Association

Award for Excellence in Environmental Health Science

These awards recognize the best projects investigating environmental factors impacting public health.

High School - 1st Place ($200)

Megan Eisenmann (Shorewood): HS-ENEV-625, Computational design of low-cost air filtration for mitigating dust pollution in the Sahel

High School - 2nd Place ($100)

Amelia Lucke (St. Paul): HS-EAEV-486, A Silent Contaminant Beneath Our Feet: Multivariate Analysis of Geogenic Arsenic Pathways into Private Drinking Water Wells Across St. Louis, Lake, and Cook Counties

High School - 3rd Place ($50)

Aditi Gandhi (Edina): HS-EBED-620, Continuous Low-Cost Proxy Monitoring System for Chloramine Detection in Indoor Pool Air

Middle School - 1st Place ($100)

Arika Kundu (Excelsior): MS-ENEV-511, LIGNEX - A Novel Biosorption-Based Approach that Uses Agricultural Waste Material to Eliminate Pesticide Residues from Fresh Produce

Middle School - 2nd Place ($50)

Lila Foster (Minnetonka): MS-MCRO-607, Using the Agar Disk Diffusion Method to Prevent Growth of Bacillus Subtilis with Plant Extracts

Muminah Nihaar Mohammed

The Ripple Effect Award

This award recognizes a middle-school project whose impact extends beyond the laboratory or prototype, creating ripples of change in communities, education, or society. It celebrates work that demonstrates how science and engineering can influence lives, spark awareness, or encourage others to adopt innovative solutions, turning small ideas into widespread positive transformation.

Esther Rude and Aspen Vogel (Grand Rapids): MS-MATS-046, Pottery Glazes

The Trailblazer Award

Presented to a high-school student or team whose project breaks new ground in science or engineering. This award honors those who explore uncharted territories, challenge conventional thinking, and pioneer approaches that inspire others to push boundaries. It recognizes bold creativity, fearless experimentation, and the courage to tackle questions no one has dared to ask.

Maraike Fortin (Savage): HS-EBED-066, Dream Mornings - a sleep cycle adaptive alarm clock (raspberry pi based)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Earth Systems Science Award

The winning high school project incorporates studies including different spheres of the Earth system, their interactions, and change over time. The award is a certificate and Invitation to a Webinar with a NASA Scientist.

Jeremiah Bents (Cloquet): HS-ENEV-022, A Mars Mission: Testing Filtering Effectiveness of Mars Soil Simulants When Removing Ammonia From Water

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award

This award recognizes a high school project with research that demonstrates the principles and technical innovations that offer the greatest understanding of the earth's dynamic processes. The award is a certificate and lapel pin.

Anish Peri (Eden Prairie): HS-ENEV-637, From Smoke to Source: Inverse Atmospheric Dispersion Modeling for Wildfire Localization with Gas Sensor Networks.

Regeneron

Regeneron Biomedical Science Award

This award recognizes an exceptional high school student scientist who not only demonstrates an impressive command of biomedical science and research but also embodies Regeneron’s core values and behaviors, known as The Regeneron Way. The winner receives $375 and a certificate.

Graysen Lee (Chaska): HS-BMED-495, Exosomes from the infarcted heart breach the blood-brain barrier to potentiate inflammatory demyelination

Ricoh

Sustainable Development Award

The winning project shows outstanding effort in addressing issues of environmental responsibility and sustainable development. The winner receives a certificate.

Jibril Mohamed and Ayub Ahmed and Humza Shaikh (Columbia Heights & St. Paul & Blaine): HS-ENEV-788, Hybrid Bio-Photovoltaic Solar Panel System: The Future of Green Energy

Robocyclers

Outstanding Experimental Design Award

This award recognizes a project at the middle school level with with a detailed plan for collecting and using data.. The winner will receive $100 and a certificate.

Yazhini Siva Arumugam (Rochester): MS-CBIO-772, Predicting Vaccine Effectiveness Using BLAST

Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB)

Outstanding Achievement for Ability and Creativity in In Vitro Biology

This award recognizes the most outstanding 11th grade student exhibiting in the areas of plant or animal in vitro biology or tissue culture. The award is a certificate and membership in SIVB.

Rohan Sharma (Plymouth): HS-BMED-539, Influence of Interfering Variables on Blood Sugar accuracy in Diabetes Care: A controlled in vitro study

The Thinking Spot

The Thinking Spot Science Award

This award recognizes an outstanding middle school science project demonstrating curiosity and creative scientific inquiry.

1st Place ($50 Thinking Spot bookstore gift card)

Rikita Joshi (Minneapolis): MS-ROBO-596, Enhancing the lives of visually impaired individuals with an electronic fruit sorter that sorts good and rotten fruits

2nd Place ($30 Thinking Spot bookstore gift card)

Anchit Kumar (Plymouth): MS-EBED-487, Tri-Way Communication Between Deaf, Blind, and Non-Impaired People

3rd Place ($20 Thinking Spot bookstore gift card)

Cora Hill (Rochester): MS-PLNT-702, How does applied fertilizer concentration affect invasive compared to Minnesota native plant growth?

Society for Science & Thermo Fisher Scientific

Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge

The top 10% of middle school projects receive certificates and an invitation to apply to the National Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.

Jonah Bradley (Hermantown): MS-EAEV-008, Friend of Foe: Macroinvertebrate colonization of native alder and exotic crack willow in Keene Creek

Sophia Brazell and Toryn Rabehl (Rochester): MS-CHEM-717, Electrolytes project