Search past science fair projects

CYSF · 2026

Cold Climate Compost

Creating an inexpensive electric composter prototype that effectively operates in freezing temperatures

Cold Plasma: Sterilizing Dairy Biofilms

Microbiology

Bacterial biofilms in dairy processing equipment are difficult to sterilize and contribute to spoilage and significant economic losses. Cold plasma, which generates ions and free radicals ca…

Collective Intelligence: Driving Lessons From Ants

Behavioral and Social Sciences

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…

Colorimetric Arsenic Detection at Micromolar Concentrations and Machine Learning Assisted Development of a Composite Teabag for Arsenic Bioremediation in Drinking Water

Materials Science

Arsenic (As) is a known carcinogen, and its contamination of groundwater is a major global public health concern, with approximately 200 million people at risk of arsenic poisoning. Addressi…

CYSF · 2026

Colors and the Brain

This project is meant to test how people relate the colors or pigments of food to how they perceive/taste it.

CYSF · 2026

Combating Antifungal Resistance Through Secondary “Rescue” Mutations in Candida auris

Using computational molecular docking and structural bioinformatics to model how resistance-associated mutations in Candida auris disrupt fluconazole binding, with the goal of informing more…

Combating "Forever Chemicals": Efficient PFAS Removal via Microbially Enhanced Biochar Sorption

Environmental Engineering

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of environmentally persistent contaminants widely detected in soil and water systems and associated with adverse human health effects.…

Combating PFAS Contamination: Developing a Sensor for Detection in Drinking Water

Environmental Engineering

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are groups of persistent environmental contaminants that have been linked to adverse health effects, including immune system dysfunction and liver…

CWSF · 2026

Comparative analysis of fully sequenced Y chromosomes reveals genomic insights.

Health & Wellness

The human Y chromosome is one of the least understood parts of the human genome, mainly because it is very repetitive, making it difficult to sequence accurately. With the release of new hum…

CYSF · 2026

Comparing CRISPR-Cas9 Therapy with Conventional Treatments for Diabetes

Comparing CRISPR-Cas9 Therapy with Conventional Treatments for Diabetes

CYSF · 2026

Comparing Longitudinal Effectiveness of Existing Alzheimer’s Disease Treatments Via a Meta Analysis and Machine Learning Model

A meta analysis comparing how different treatments for Alzheimer's disease impact cognitive function in people with mild Alzheimer's disease). Additionally, we will be creating an ML model t…

Comparing Sampling Techniques and Loci for Determining Limu (Algal) Diversity of the Intertidal Using eDNA

Plant Sciences

OPIHI is a participatory science project where students survey the rocky intertidal, a unique coastal system in Hawai‘i connecting land and sea, to identify limu (algae) visually. Native lim…

CYSF · 2026

Comparing the Effectiveness of Preservatives: Natural vs Artificial

I will be testing and comparing natural and artificial preservative methods by measuring mass loss, and observing physical changes over a two week period.

Comparing the Effects of Chronic Low-Dose Exposure of Legacy vs. New-Generation PFAS on Liver Toxicity

Biomedical and Health Sciences

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are highly persistent fluorinated chemicals used in many consumer and industrial products that are prone to bioaccumulation due to strong C-F bonds…

Complex Coacervate: Novel Methodology to Crystallize Hydrophobic Drugs

Materials Science

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…

Complexity Functions Are All You Need

Mathematics

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…

Comprehensive Biomimetic Aerial Seed Coating Inspired by the Fruit Structure of Burma Padauk for Enhanced Seedling Establishment and Growth in Mixed Deciduous Forest Restoration

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Mixed deciduous forests are biodiversity-rich ecosystems that support wildlife habitat and ecological balance. Their restoration has become an urgent environmental priority due to deforestat…

Computational Analysis of Alpha-Synuclein Protein Misfolding in Parkinson's Disease and Lewy Body Dementia Using AlphaFold-Predicted Structures and RMSD-Based Metrics

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Parkinson's disease (PD) and Lewy Body Dementia (LBD) are two neurodegenerative disorders that are caused by the abnormal misfolding and aggregation of the same protein, a-synuclein. Despite…

Computational and Statistical Analysis Maximum Growth in the Collatz Conjecture: Evidence of a Scaling Law and Local Arithmetic Structure

Mathematics

The purpose of this study is to investigate the maximum growth M(n) of Collatz orbits and to propose that its variability is structured rather than random. A total of 832,000 values were ana…

Computational Auditory Recognition Ocular Lenses (C.A.R.O.L)

Embedded Systems

Assistive technology continues to improve for the hearing impaired with the creation of smaller technology utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) models inside of hearing aids. However, even…

CWSF · 2026

Computational Drug Discovery Targeting a Rare Cystic Fibrosis-linked CFTR Mutant

Disease & Illness Silver Medal

Cystic fibrosis is a disease that causes difficulty breathing and digestive problems because a certain protein in the body is mutated and therefore does not work properly. Using computationa…

CWSF · 2026

Computational Evaluation of nAChR and Transferrin Receptor Pathways for Human Rabies Treatment

Disease & Illness Bronze Medal

Human rabies is a zoonotic viral disease transmitted from animals to humans, and is virtually 100% fatal post-symptom onset, primarily due to the virus's ability to evade the immune system a…

Computational Identification of Novel Endocan Inhibitors for Targeted Glioblastoma Therapy Through Molecular Docking and ADMET Analysis

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is a highly aggressive and vascularized brain tumor with poor prognosis and limited therapeutic options. Endocan (ESM1), a tumor-associated endothelial proteogl…

Computational Inhibition of Lachrymatory Factor Synthase Utilizing Molecular Docking Simulations

Biochemistry

The tear-inducing chemical, or lachrymatory factor, syn-propanethial s-oxide, is released from onions when their cells are disrupted. The reaction creating this chemical is catalyzed by the…

Computational Investigation of Electronic and Geometric Effects of Ligand Architecture on Homolytic Bi–S Bond Cleavage in Diaryl Bismuth Thiophenolate Complexes

Chemistry

Concerns regarding the toxicity, cost, and sustainability of traditional transition-metal catalysts have driven growing interest in main-group alternatives. Bismuth complexes have emerged as…

Computationally Engineering a Single-Stranded Protein That Binds to Arsenic 3+ to Decontaminate Drinking Water

Environmental Engineering

An estimated 140 million people in at least 70 countries consume water with arsenic (As+3) levels above the guideline of 10 µg/L set by World Health Organization. Detrimental health effects…

Computational Modeling of Bispecific T-Cell Engager Targeting B7H3 (CD276) for Immunotherapy in Medulloblastoma

Translational Medical Science

Medulloblastoma is the most prevalent malignant brain tumor in children, and 75% of children that have it are under the age of ten. However, its current treatments are surgery, chemotherapy,…

Computational Pipeline for High-Throughput 3D Quantification of Cell States in Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

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…

Computational Quantitative Optimization of Biodiverse Biological Control Systems for Sustainable Suppression of Sciaridae Using Steinernema feltiae

Plant Sciences

The most common threat to agricultural settings is the infestation of insect pests, leading to the destruction of crops. Modern-day agricultural systems lack the intricate living systems tha…

Computational Sequence-Based Prediction of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) Using a Nonlinear Synaptic Pruning and Dendritic Integration Spiking Neural Network (NSPDI-SNN) AI Framework

Translational Medical Science

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) is a deadly neurodegenerative disease caused by prion proteins (PrPSC), which trigger normal cellular proteins to misfold, resulting in aggregation and neuron…