ISEF projects, 2014–2026

The Energy in Trash

The goal of this experiment is to see what types of biomass make biogas the best out of cow manure/fruit/vegetable peelings. First, materials were gathered for the experiment. Next, a safe w…

The Evaluation of Eggplant Leaves as a Potential Anti-Alzheimer Activity

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder.The main strategy for treatment of AD is based on the cholinergic hypothesis which relies on the repair of cognitive and…

The Excitotoxicity Effects of Neotame and Aspartame on the Heart Rate of Daphnia magna

Animal Sciences

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the excitotoxic effects that Neotame and Aspartame may have on the heart rates of Daphnia magna, a common water flea. The hypothesis was tha…

The Eye of the Beholder: Creating a New Prototype of a Medical Infusion Pump

This engineering project was designed to improve the accuracy and reliability of counting I.V. drops while administering medicine. These devices would be used when a medical infusion pump is…

The Feasibility of Dendroctonus ponderosae Infested Pinus ponderosae as a Source of Biomass in Bio-Oil Production

As the search for a cleaner source of energy continues, bio-oil has shown to be an attractive alternative to fossil fuels. Bio-oil is a liquid fuel made from biomass, or organic matter deriv…

The Fogging and Mechanical Properties of Flexible Polyurethane Foams with Additive and Reactive Flame Retardants

Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design

Flexible polyurethane foams have wide and prominent applications across US and global markets. This, along with the dangers and costs of vehicle and household fires, makes the incorporation…

The Food Preference of the Invasive Giant Apple Snail, Pomacea maculata

Systems Software

The giant apple snail, Pomacea maculata, is an invasive species that affects local waterways and those as far as East Asia. Attempts, ranging from trapping to mollusticides, have been made t…

The Future of Energy: Spidronized Solar Cells

This project is the result of the investigation of “spidrons”, which are plane geometric figures that consist of an alternate sequence of isosceles and equilateral triangles. The purpose was…

The Future of Mechanical Prosthetics: Electromyogram Controlled Extremities

Fourth Award

More than one billion people worldwide are disabled and they often try to overcome shortcomings to continue their daily lives. “The prosthesis makes no pretense of trying to replace the lost…

The Genetic Analysis of Appetite Regulation and the Gut Brain Axis

A study concerning “the gut-brain axis: interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems” (NCBI, 2015) defines the gut-brain axis connection as, the gut-brain axi…

The Green Algae, Chlorella vulgaris, Mitigates Detrimental Effects of Methylmercury in Zebrafish

Third Award

Modern society has become dependent on electronics. With rapidly advancing technology, devices quickly become obsolete and are often improperly disposed in landfills. These electronics conta…

The Greenhouse Effect: Combating the Production of Fossil Fuels with Renewable Energy Sources

The greenhouse effect occurs when light from the sun passes through Earth’s atmosphere and strikes the surface. The radiation from the atmosphere warms Earth’s surface to temperature that co…

The Group Commutator Length in Terms of Group Ring

Let G be a group and [G, G] be its commutator subgroup which is generated by special elements named commutators. Therefore, every element from the commutator subgroup can be represented as a…

The Gut Microbiome: Potential Risk Factor for Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the world’s leading causes of cancer death. Changes in gut microbiota composition and metabolism have been accepted as major contributors to colorectal carc…

The Healing Rate of Lumbricus terrestris with Various Medicinal Applications, Part Two

Biomedical Engineering

The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether or not Aloe vera, vitamin E, Suave Hair Conditioner, a triple antibiotic ointment, glycerin, and Vaseline would improve the healing ra…

The Hug Jacket

Biomedical and Health Sciences

According to Autism Society Organization, about one percent of the world's population has Autism Spectrum Disorder. It costs more than $86,000 extra per year to educate a student with autism…

The Identification of ATPase Activity Regulation in Tetrahymena thermophila: Understanding the Function of the Malarial ATP Synthase in Order to Develop New Antimalarials

Third Award

Understanding the physiology of the malaria parasite is critical to developing new drugs to fight malaria. This study used Tetrahymena thermophila as a model organism to investigate a potent…

The Identification of Parasites in Bovine Feces

Animal Sciences

The reason I did this project was to find how effective anthelmintics are when given to cattle. I wanted to see what parasites affect cattle that have not been given anthelmintics and how lo…

The Impact of Sport Jackets on Adjusting Backbone Vertebraes

Biomedical Engineering

The impact of sport jackets on adjusting backbone vertebra during running for the players of speed specialty in the athletics association in 2015-2016 it aims to remove barriers which are ha…

The Impact of Ultraviolet Radiation on DNA Repair-Deficient Yeast

Translational Medical Science

The sun provides heat and light to humans and other organisms, but while it is regulating our planet, it is also causing damage to our DNA. The purpose of our experiment is to observe how UV…

The Influence of Coating on Properties of Iron-based Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

The substantial effort made in the research and study of nanomaterials and their properties resulted in broadening the capabilities of applied sciences. The discovery of diverse fields of th…

The Influence of Ecologically Relevant Triclosan Concentrations on the Reproductive Success of Daphnia magna

The purpose of our experiment was to test the effect of Minnesota triclosan concentrations on the reproductive rate of Daphnia magna. We hypothesized that in D. magna samples exposed to grea…

The Influence of Palm Oil Plantation on the Social Integration and Environment in Sumber Harapan Village, Jambi Province

Systems Software

Commercial palm oil plantations can influence world economic. In opposite, they may affect negatively on social interaction within particular communities and their surrounding environment. L…

The Integrated Traffic Control System

The project is designed to address the shortcomings observed in traffic control, which has resulted in adverse effects on the economy. Furthermore, the erratic power supply in Nigeria affect…

The Investigation of an Impartial Normal Play Game

This project investigated the winning values of the following Nim variant: There exists set A and set B, with some number of elements in each. On a player's turn, the player may reduce set A…

The Iron Hand, Year Four

This project was developed to fabricate a low cost, effective forearm and hand prosthesis for amputees to assist them in daily activities. After researching and collaborating with Lubbock Ar…

The Magical Cream

Burns are one of the most common and serious injuries. While it is necessary to get medical treatment for severe burns, various remedies are used to cure patients who have simple burns. On t…

The Mechanical Separation of an Oil and Water Mixture

The purpose of this experiment was to find a way to take oil out of water by using filtration and density method. In the experiment two apparatuses were built, one for filtration and one for…

The Mechanisms of Glioblastoma Migration in a Bioengineered 3D Brain Model

Glioblastoma Multiforme is a lethal cancer originating from the glial cells of the brain. Current treatments are unsuccessful partly due to GBM’s rapid migration along white matter tracts an…

The Mixture of Pimenta racemosa and Cinnamomum camphora Extracts and the Effects on the Roots and Soil After Being Applied to Cynodon dactylon

Eliminating invasive grass to protect crops and plants with the use of synthetic herbicides has resulted in dangerous impacts on soils, human health and the environment. Therefore, it is nec…