Browse real student projects, abstracts, and awards.
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Estuarine ecosystems such as Washington's Puget Sound are especially vulnerable to the impacts of anthropogenic pollution. Increased concentrations of carbon dioxide and nitrate—termed acidi…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), such as bisphenol A (BPA), are a wide group of natural and synthetic compounds that influence or inhibit the natural functions of the endocrine system.…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering Fourth Award
This project resulted from an observation that conventional plastics are a significant cause for pollution in our environment and aims to develop a compostable, environmentally friendly poly…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Facing a global challenge of freshwater scarcity, this project presents a novel approach thus a portable, low-temperature solar thermal desalination system. Despite covering over 71% of the…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Recognizing CO2’s pivotal role in climate change, and soil carbon as the major active pool of terrestrial carbon, Carboflux introduces a novel method to quantify soil carbon flux, which meas…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering Third Award
Both the disposal of rejected brine and CO2 emission are the most significant challenges associated with the desalination process. Herein, we present an integrated approach that utilizes a r…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering Third Award
Many in my grandfather's village are engaged in manual salt-farming, spending long hours by the sea under the blazing sun with little access to potable water. I researched suitable materials…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
The presence of heavy metals in wastewater poses significant threats to human health and the environment, necessitating the development of effective treatment methods. This study focuses on…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Cement production contributes approximately 8% to global CO2 emissions. Researchers are exploring alternatives such as alkaline-activated cement (AACs), that utilize industrial by-products l…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering Second Award
Environmental pollution, which is one of the main causes of global warming, may have variations within itself; however, water, which is at the point of all cycles in nature, a blanket coveri…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Catastrophic oil spills inflict severe harm on marine ecosystems. Conventional cleanup approaches are often inefficient, some resulting in further pollution. In response, I devised a highly…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
The production of nitrogen fertilizers has made it possible to grow enough crops to keep up with the growing population. This excessive input of nitrogen fertilizers on crops is causing leac…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
The purpose of this study was to evaluate algae and seagrass as potential alternatives to wood in paper production, considering its high cellulose content. This topic was chosen as an altern…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
The average US household produces 500 pounds of plastic annually, and most of it is not recycled. Only 18% of plastic waste is recycled globally, and without viable business models for recyc…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
We provide a cutting-edge technological solution that combines exceptional performance, accessibility for all users, and environmental responsibility. It's a 3D printer that prints using rec…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering Third Award
The August 2023 Maui fires destroyed historic Lahaina town, causing toxic ash to become mobilized into the soil, groundwater, and ocean. This study evaluated the benefits of incorporating na…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
The influx of nutrients like phosphorus and nitrogen have resulted in the conditions for aquatic life and ecosystems to start degrading, causing dissolved oxygen that was once abundantly ava…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Clean drinking water is one of the most important requirements for survival and obtaining it can be a challenge if not impossible for many. One method of getting clean water is through filtr…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
The average American drinks over 39,000 microplastics (MPs) annually. Studies on human cells suggest MPs are potential neurotoxins and carcinogens, further emphasizing the need for better te…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Problem Definition The lack of competent authorities to follow up on forests and their problems and the lack of tracking devices in the forests have caused 420 million hectares of forests to…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
National Geographic reports that desertification threatens the well-being of billions of people, as four million square kilometers of fertile land are degraded annually. Exacerbated by clima…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering First Award
Peatland ecosystems are the largest natural terrestrial carbon store on earth. Healthy peatlands act as carbon sinks, trapping atmospheric CO2 as soil organic matter. However, anthropogenic…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Microplastic pollution is a severe threat to aquatic ecosystems, necessitating innovative approaches for efficient removal. This research introduces a method for eliminating microplastics by…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Citizen science programs rely on volunteer collected data to assist in ground truthing of satellites. Ground truthing is comparing field samples with remotely sensed data from a satellite fo…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Haze affects the worst in terms of health, safety, and visibility. Low visibility conditions in haze increase the risk of road accidents. According to the American Federal Highway Administra…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Currently, there are 5.25 trillion microplastics and 269,000,000 kilograms of waste in oceans and seas. This increase in pollution leads to the death and even extinction of aquatic life. We…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering Fourth Award
Since the beginning of modern plastic's invention nearly a century ago, the human species as a whole has continually increased its rate of plastic consumption and waste. Until recently, this…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
With an estimated 6.7 million people dying from air pollution annually, and millions of others suffering from illnesses that are either caused or exacerbated by this epidemic, the AQI has be…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Biogeochemical cycles are series of processes that transfer compounds through an ecosystem. Can the geochemical cycles of phosphorus and nitrogen be managed effectively through harvest of Ch…
ISEF · 2024
Environmental Engineering
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), highly toxic and carcinogenic compounds, constitute a significant threat to the environment and public health, both on local and global scales. Nevertheless…