Search past science fair projects

Selective Formic Acid Dehydrogenation Under Neat Conditions With Ruthenium-Hydrazine Carboxamide Catalysts

Environmental Engineering

The high volumetric capacity (53 g H2/L), low toxicity, and ambient stability of formic acid (FA) make it a promising hydrogen carrier, yet efficiently extracting hydrogen in a clean and sca…

Self-Recycling System for Microplastic Removal: Development of a Novel Ferrofluid-Based Filtration Technology for Affordable Water Treatment

Environmental Engineering

The NOAA defines microplastics as "plastic pieces less than five millimeters long." Microplastics have been found from the Mariana Trench to Mount Everest, and from the human brain to the pl…

Small Scale Demonstration of Plasmonic Photocatalysis in Direct Air CO2 Capture

Environmental Engineering

Direct Air CO2 Capture (DAC) is a critical technology for generating negative emissions to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations to preindustrial levels by 2050. One of DAC's most significan…

Smart Rainwater Harvesting With Concrete Yard Design for Flood Prevention

Environmental Engineering

This project focuses on the design and implementation of an innovative rainwater harvesting and flood prevention system using a concrete-based structure. The system is integrated into a resi…

Sustainable Recycling of End-of-Life Solar Panels: Utilizing Recovered Glass in Concrete for Sand Reduction and Waste Minimization

Environmental Engineering

The alarming rise in solar photovoltaic (PV) waste, particularly non-biodegradable glass, poses a growing environmental concern, with global waste projected to reach 78 million metric tons b…

Tackling Forever Chemicals PFAS for Environmental Stewardship

Environmental Engineering

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been widely used in various products such as non-stick cookware and fire-fighting form. Due to their non-degradable properties ascribed to the…

Tamm Project: Low-Cost Mineral Filter for Water Treatment, Made From Reusing Ochre Granite Waste From the Ornamental Stone Industry

Environmental Engineering

The ornamental stone industry is responsible for the production of granites and marbles, but not all extracted material is used, as waste is discarded into nature due to its lack of added va…

The Golden Seeds: Substituting Guava (Psidium guajava L.) Seeds for Sustainable Applications: Baked Goods, Animal Feeds, and Organic Fertilizers

Environmental Engineering

Guava seeds, often discarded as waste during fruit processing, represent a significant untapped resource. In 2023, Egypt produced over 363,000 tons of guava, resulting in approximately 54,00…

Turning Trash Into Treasure: Creating Sustainable Bioplastic Products From Food Waste Through Innovation

Environmental Engineering Third Award

Microplastics persist in the environment, move across the food chain, and are easily ingested because of their tiny sizes, harming aquatic organisms and posing health risks to humans. As par…

Unlocking the Untapped Potential of Microalgae Harvesting Through Foam Flotation

Environmental Engineering

As the potential of microalgae as a resource becomes increasingly recognized, this study explored foam flotation as a means to extract it from an aqueous environment. A small-scale column fl…

Urban and Rural Fire Disasters: Engineering and Testing of Novel Alg/Cs/BET 'Beads for the Rapid Abatement of Post-Fire Waterborne Pollutants

Environmental Engineering Fourth Award

Water pollution is a global issue, with sources ranging from industrialization and agricultural activities, to natural disasters like wildfires. These fires are especially concerning as they…

Urban Fresh: A Smart Solar-Powered Air Purification System With Multi-Stage Filtration in Urban Areas

Environmental Engineering

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution is responsible for around 7 million premature deaths each year. It remains a major risk to human health, especially in urban a…

Using Aiptasia for Heavy Metal Decontamination of Oahu's South Shores

Environmental Engineering

Heavy metal contamination in coastal ecosystems, such as the southern shores of Oahu, poses critical ecological risks. This study explores the potential of Aiptasia anemones for bioremediati…

Utilizing Food Waste to Produce Biodegradable Packaging Material,

Environmental Engineering First Award

WasteMeter: AI-Driven Route Optimization in Waste Management for Pollution Prevention

Environmental Engineering

The total generation of solid waste in the US is 292.4 million tons/year, EPA (2024), and its processing requires the use of one of the least efficient vehicles on the road, the garbage truc…

Water Filtration System Using Nanoparticle Enhanced M. oleifera and Coconut Carbon

Environmental Engineering (inferred)

UNESCO published at the UN 2023 Water Conference that 46% of the world lacks access to safely managed water sanitation, emphasizing a global need for clean water. Pesticide usage and imprope…

Water Heater Design That Heats and Sends Cold Water Back After Vacuuming

Environmental Engineering

Purpose: Design a vacuum unit suitable for integration into multiple water heating systems to prevent the waste of cold water that comes first when we want to use hot water in the taps in th…

Water Surface Remediation Using Liquid Marbles Formed by Self-Assembled ZnO Micro-Nanostructures

Environmental Engineering Third Award

Oil pollution on water surfaces remains a critical environmental challenge, with over 20 million liters of oil discharged into aquatic ecosystems each year. These spills endanger marine life…

Water Tower Power: Storing Solar Energy With an Elevated Pumped Storage Hydropower System

Environmental Engineering

Pumped storage hydropower (PSH) is a battery free, energy storage system that uses the potential energy of water to generate hydroelectric power. Our hypothesis was that we would be able to…

Wave-Powered Filtration Buoy for Oil Spill Cleanup and Microplastic Removal

Environmental Engineering

Oil spills pose serious threats to marine ecosystems, disrupting biodiversity and causing widespread environmental and economic damage. Conventional cleanup techniques—such as booms, skimmer…

What-A-Filter! Biopolymeric Membrane for Water Treatment

Environmental Engineering Fourth Award

Access to treated water is a challenge in many communities around the world. Globally, 2.2 billion people do not have access to drinking water. In Brazil, over 33 million people face this pr…

Aerosol Driven Purification: A Novel Method for Purifying Water Utilizing Phase Changes

Environmental Engineering Second Award

Industrial Reverse Osmosis (“RO”) provides safe drinking water to homes and is supplied by ocean water. As such, the quantity of waste water produced by this method is inconsequential. Notab…

AGRIGENT: Enhancing Greenhouse Agriculture with IoT (Internet of Things)-Enabled Automated Irrigation and Rainwater Harvesting System for Improved Crop Growth and Water Efficiency

Environmental Engineering

In the Philippines, where one-third of employment is in the agricultural sector, low agricultural productivity has hindered economic growth. Thus, AGRIGENT was developed to improve greenhous…

A Innovative Single Use-Plastic Collector System for Use in Open Channels and Drains in Sub-Urban and Urban Areas in Kenya: A Case Study of Nairobi

Environmental Engineering

There is an urgent need for an awareness campaign to educate the public on the hazards of haphazard littering in urban centers, especially with plastic bottles and papers, these products are…

A Low Cost and High Performance Xylem-Activated Carbon Filter Water Purification Device: A Novel Approach to the Global Clean Water Crises

Environmental Engineering Second Award

Globally, over 2 billion people lack access to safe drinking water leading to 3.4 million waterborne deaths yearly. Existing purification methods are often ineffective against both biologica…

Analyzing and Applying Biological Charcoal for High-Concentration Carbon Dioxide Storage

Environmental Engineering

Biological Charcoal, or Biochar, is one of the most promising tools recently found for effective carbon capture and sequestration. Biochar is capable of binding to CO2 through a process call…

A Natural and Cost-Effective Process of Bioremediation for Contaminated Soils

Environmental Engineering

I was inspired to commence this experiment after reading an alarming statistic; due to hydrocarbon pollution, Australia declared 80,000 soil sites contaminated, Europe 3 million sites, and t…

An Efficient Simple Point-of-Use Water Purification Filter System From Oryza sativa Impregnated With Nanoparticles for Poor Household and Semi-Arid Areas in Kenya

Environmental Engineering

Kenya faces substantial challenges regarding water scarcity, sanitation, and hygiene, significantly impacting public health, economic growth and social equity. With a significant portion of…

A New Cost-effective Adsorbent Device for Civic Remediation to Reduce Lead, Copper and Cadmium in Surface Water Runoff

Environmental Engineering Third Award

The number of annual lead-poisoning fatalities exceeds the combined annual fatalities from car accidents and malaria. Cadmium causes DNA damage. A leading heavy metal exposure source is surf…

An Integrated Algae Mitigation System to Seek & Abate Harmful Algal Blooms (Year 5)

Environmental Engineering Second Award

Surges in Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) due to fallouts of anthropogenic activities and climate change are recurrently impairing water quality. Biodiverse ecosystems like the Indian River Lago…