ISEF 2026 winners

First Award: Integrating Multi-Convolutional Neural Network Histological Analysis and Field Trials to Evaluate Carbon Dioxide and Pesticide Impacts on Honeybee Health and Colony Performance

First Award: SmartBlink: Real-Time AI-Driven Adaptive Pedestrian Traffic System for Enhancing Perceived Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Efficiency

First Award: BREATHE: Bioactive Respiratory Extracellular Vesicles for Vaping Addiction Therapy and Healing of Epithelium; Cost-Effective MalariaX: An AI-Optomechatronic System Decoding Expert Reasoning Into a Sub-Micron, Pan-Species Clinically Traceable Pipeline

First Award: Identification of a Novel TBX2-Dependent Mechanism Linking Pericyte Dynamics to Abnormal Vasculature in Lung Adenocarcinoma; Remote, Tunable Modulation of Astrocytic Calcium Signaling via an Engineered Paramagnetic Matrix: A Non-Invasive Platform for Neuroprotection in CNS Disease; Uncovering a New Avenue to Fight Retinal Diseases: Identifying Retinal Ganglion Cells as a Novel Signaling Pathway Through Fixational Eye Movements With Discovery of the ZNF385D Biomarker Group for AKB-9778 Therapeutic Intervention

First Award: SILENCE: On-Demand Seizure Suppression via Closed-Loop Sonogenetics

First Award: New Green Chemistry Iridium Catalysts; Semaglutide and "Fake" Semaglutide in Drosophila Model With Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity; Stormwater Remediation of 6PPD and 6PPD-Quinone Using Sustainable Citric Acid and Aluminum Crosslinked Nanocellulose Hydrosponges

First Award: A Markov Chain Model for Predicting ETI Resistance Breakdown in Tomato–Pseudomonas syringae; A Multi-Modal Deep Learning Pipeline Integrating Physics-Informed Neural Networks and 3D Image Processing for Accurate Rupture Prediction and Data-Driven Surgical Planning of Cerebral Aneurysms: Year 3

First Award: Investigating the Stability of Prebiotic Uracil Under the Conditions of Impact-Generated Terrestrial Hydrothermal Systems; Sustainable Animal Bone Filtration for the Design of Water Treatment Devices for Resource-Limited Regions

First Award: A Novel Stereo Vision 3D Scanning System for Microscopic Samples

First Award: Optimization of Wind Turbine Performance: Integrating Evolutionary Based AI-Assisted Genetic Algorithms and XGBoost With Blade Element Momentum and Aero-Servo-Hydro-Elastic Simulations

First Award: HandTalk: A Translation System for American Sign Language

First Award: Harnessing Methyl Jasmonate Epigenetic Defense Modulation Through an Autonomous Robotic Precision Spraying System for Targeted Pest Control; In Situ Microplastic Detection Using Holographic Imaging and AI on an Autonomous Bionic Sea Turtle

First Award: Cost-Effective Fabrication of Biodegradable Paper Towels from Food-Waste Derived Cellulose and Pectin Crosslinked with Ca2+: A Novel Biopolymer Composite Strategy for Enhancing Wet Strength and Absorbency; Printing 2D MXene-Based Chipless Radio Frequency Identification Tags to Enable Plastic Waste Sorting for Recycling

First Award: Solvability of Meromorphic Equations in Elementary Functions

First Award: Harnessing Inhibition of Efflux to Reverse Antifungal Resistance

First Award: A Novel Hybrid Computational Framework for Solar Alfvén Wave Analysis and Tokamak Heating Optimization Using Parker Solar Probe Data; Sampling the Complete Configuration Space of Origami and Linkages Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

First Award: Development of an Industrially Viable Oxytetracycline Nano-Carrier and Microneedle-Based Detection System (OXYCHECK2) for Citrus and Stone Fruit Disease Management: Year 4

First Award: An Ellipsoidal Remote Wireless Robot for Wetland Ecological Monitoring; Decoding Light: Physics-Aware Self-Supervised AI for Low-Cost High-Fidelity Hyperspectral Imaging

First Award: ExpressBuddy: An AI-Powered Companion With Impediment-Aware Speech Processing for Children With Autism and Speech Disorders; HARMONI: Harmonically Adaptive Real-Time Multimodal Output for Neural Integration, an AI-Powered Music Therapy Platform for Global Mental Health; M.A.N.T.I.S -- Muon Analysis for Non-Invasive Tomography and Image Simulation: Simulating Atmospheric Muon Flux for Remote, Non-Invasive Subsurface Imaging