[May 2026, St. Paul, MN] – A total of 429 middle and high school students from schools across Minnesota competed in the 89th annual Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair on Friday, March 27th at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. The 2026 State Science Fair is made possible with the support of Medtronic, the event’s Premier Sponsor. Students advance from regional science fairs throughout Minnesota to participate in this prestigious state event organized by the Minnesota Academy of Science (MAS). Nearly 200 regional STEM professionals, including over 40 from Medtronic, served as volunteer judges, reviewing student projects to provide feedback and determine award winners.
2026 Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair Medtronic award winners
““Medtronic plays a vital role in supporting the statewide network of school and regional fairs that lead to the State Science Fair.” said Kevin Sands, MAS Executive Director. “We are incredibly grateful to have Medtronic as the Premier Sponsor of the State Science Fair again in 2026, demonstrating how Medtronic and its employees have a longstanding tradition of supporting the next generation of scientists in Minnesota.”
Dozens of companies and organizations, including Medtronic, awarded more than $25,000 in cash prizes and other awards at the State Science Fair. including:
The Medtronic Innovation Award, which recognizes students whose projects exemplify excellence through innovative ideas, self-motivated independent work, passion for discovery and science, and the potential to impact the world. All winners receive an invitation to spend a day at Medtronic with a Technical Fellow.
First place high school ($750): Adam Jacobson (Grand Rapids): HS-ENBM-030, Cast Away the Problem Cast!
Second place high school ($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
Third place high school ($250): William Tan (Eden Prairie): HS-ENEV-593, Building the First AI-Enabled Smart Artificial Reef (AISAR)
First place middle school ($750): Isabella Garry (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-557, Microplastic Removal from Simulated Gastric Fluid Using Natural Mucilage Flocculants
Second place middle school ($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
Third place middle school ($250): Olivia Lin (Minnetonka): MS-ENEV-576, Making Water Soft-Is Soft Water Clean?
The Medtronic Technical Achievement Award, which 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. All winners receive an invitation to spend a day at Medtronic with a Technical Fellow.
Biomedical Applications high school ($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
Biomedical Applications middle school ($500):Alek Kokotovich (Savage): MS-ROBO-080, Developing Low-Cost Household Aids for Visually Impaired Users
Science & Engineering high school ($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
Science & Engineering middle school ($500): Olivia Zhou (Eden Prairie): MS-ENEV-673, Make Ocean Clean Again – With the help of Ferrofluids and Sound Waves
Sustainability high school ($500): Anthony Dosev (Chanhassen): HS-EGSD-619, Development of cost-effective biochar supercapacitors for high-performance, sustainable energy storage
Sustainability middle school ($500): Alex Samba (Edina): MS-ENEV-643, MOF's and Algae: Building a Machine to Capture Carbon in the Air
Please visit https://www.mnmas.org/2026-ssef-awards to see the full list of award winners. The Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair is a program of the Minnesota Academy of Science. Medtronic is the event’s Premier Sponsor. Additional support comes from the Broadcom Foundation, the Hardenbergh Foundation, the Michael H. Baker Family Foundation, Ecolab, the State of MN Department of Education and other generous sponsors and donors.
