Environmental Engineering
Third Award
Over the last decade, more than 140 new emerging pollutants have been identified in wastewater treatment effluents, placing stress on existing infrastructure. These emerging pollutants inhib…
Chemistry
Third Award
Conventional methanol production relies on a two-step process, where carbon dioxide is first converted into synthesis gas (syngas) and then methanol. This syngas step requires increased ener…
Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics
Third Award
Electrohydrodynamic ( EHD ) propulsion, also known as ionic wind, is capable of producing thrust with no moving components. Using emitter and collector electrodes, EHD thrusters ionize and a…
Software Design
Third Award
Delay Differential Equations (DDEs) are a more realistic and powerful version of regular Differential Equations, and are extremely common in anatomy, chemistry, ecology, and climate research…
Engineering Technology: Statics & Dynamics
Third Award
A self-developed, open-source High-Temperature Superconducting (HTS) Applied-Field Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster (AF-MPDT) platform for deep-space propulsion combines potential for high Isp…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Third Award
Climate change continues to disrupt agricultural systems, making crop yield forecasting a critical component towards enabling climate resilience in agriculture. This project aimed to deciphe…
Medicine & Physiology (Senior Division)
Third Award
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), a major subtype of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC), is characterized by aggressive extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation driven in part by…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Third Award
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder characterized by recurrent seizures, and affects nearly 50 million people, causing ~140,000 deaths worldwide annually. Many of these deaths could be preve…
Translational Medical Science
Third Award
Visual impairment (VI) affects 2.2 billion people worldwide, and 1 billion cases are preventable with early diagnosis. Retinal diseases are preventable causes of VI. Clinical Decision Suppor…
Translational Medical Science
Third Award
Purpose: About 7.2 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's Disease (AD), with the number expected to to double by 2060. Currently used drugs for AD only reduce disease symptoms and mar…
Cognitive Science (Junior Division)
Third Award
This project explores how different types of AI assistance influence human learning and knowledge acquisition. Through a randomized controlled experiment, participants learn about the histor…
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design
Third Award
Thermoelectric materials convert thermal energy directly into electrical energy based on Seebeck effect. An effective thermoelectric material must simultaneously possess a low thermal conduc…
Microbiology (Senior Division)
Third Award
The rapid rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria, coupled with stagnating antibiotic discovery, makes once-treatable infections increasingly lethal. Bacteriophage (phage) therapy offers a pro…
Environmental Engineering
Third Award
Urban flooding is escalating into a critical global challenge, driven by the inability of conventional drainage inlets to handle increasing rainfall intensities due to rapid urbanization and…
Chemistry
Third Award
With the rapid expansion of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) to EV cars and modern-day electronics, battery waste is projected to reach 8 million tons by 2040. Current recycling approaches, enco…
Embedded Systems
Third Award
Flashing lights are a common everyday occurrence that may seem insignificant but for people who suffer from migraines, neurodivergence with light sensitivity or photosensitive seizures, cert…
Materials Science
Third Award
Globally, every 1 in 10 babies are born prematurely, their lives dependent on neonatal incubators to maintain a high humidity environment and reduce water loss through their immature skin. H…
Physics & Astronomy (Junior Division)
Third Award
Bending Beams is a project to see how different liquids affect light refraction. The hypothesis is that denser liquids will refract more than liquids that are less dense. A homemade light re…
Microbiology
Third Award
Sunscreen and plastic pollution are widespread and pervasive in ocean waters, stressing marine life through chronic exposure. Previous studies have demonstrated certain fungi have the abilit…
Environmental Engineering (Senior Division)
Third Award
Widespread contamination of surface and groundwater systems from heavy metals, excess nutrients, and other hazardous pollutants has intensified the need for sustainable water remediation tec…
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Third Award
Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) is a chronic, immune-mediated esophageal disorder that currently requires repeated invasive endoscopic biopsies for diagnosis and disease monitoring. The absen…
Software Design
Third Award
Middle ear disorders are common but hard to diagnose without structural imaging. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) offers an accessible alternative to CT, yet it produces noisy and partial…
Microbiology (Junior Division)
Third Award
The objective of this project was to develop a low-cost, natural-ingredient dry shampoo for people with limited access to clean water and to evaluate its effectiveness under consistent testi…
Environmental Engineering (Track 2) (Junior Division)
Third Award
Microplastics is one of humanity’s biggest problems when it comes to pollution. Millions of animals, and thousands of people are victims of plastic pollution. From pollution to cancer, micro…
Behavioral and Social Sciences
Third Award
Traffic is a universal phenomenon for humans leading to casualties, economic losses, and health problems. Interestingly, traffic has been observed in other species as well. For example, ants…
Materials Science
Third Award
Unexpected polymorphic transitions occur in over 50% of pharmaceutical drugs as they pack themselves into 2+ distinct lattice arrangements. These differing molecular structures destabilize t…
Mathematics
Third Award
What does a resistor network, the popular British game show Countdown, and a function from number theory have in common? These seemingly unrelated concepts share a fundamental, mathematical…
Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Third Award
Reliable characterization of cell states, which encompass a cell's function, environment, and structure, is fundamental to comprehending healthy cell function and transition into diseased st…
Earth and Environmental Sciences
Third Award
Coral reefs are the world’s most vital marine ecosystems, producing 50% of the world’s oxygen and sustaining the livelihoods of 1 billion people globally. However, coral bleaching, a phenome…
Animal Sciences
Third Award
The rice field crab, Sayamia bangkokensis , is a freshwater semi-terrestrial crab with growing commercial significance, especially in soft-shell crab production. These crabs must be harveste…