United States of America

Super Fruits Starve Cancer

Cancer is a disease that affects more than one third of Americans and is the second leading cause of death in the United States despite the widespread use of surgery, chemotherapy, and radia…

Superhydrophobicitiy: Using Nanotechnology to Enhance Anti-Microbial Properties of Silicone Shunts

Silicone cerebrospinal shunts frequently get colonized and infected necessitating repeat surgeries in shunt-dependent patients. This study manipulates silicone with nanotechnology by coating…

Suppression of Antimicrobial Resistance Using CRISPRs

Plasmids containing a catalytically dead Cas9 endonuclease (dCas9) system were studied as a potential repressor to the mecA methicillin resistance gene in MRSA. Clustered Regularly Interspac…

Sustainable Bio-battery Utilizing Extracellular Charge Transfer Mechanism of Dissimilatory Metal-Reducing Bacteria

The recent discovery of electrically conductive bacterial nanowires produced by a variety of microbes suggests that extracellular electron transfer via nanowires may be widespread in nature…

Sustainable Energy and Water Purification from the Oxidation of Anaerobic Bacteria, Part Two

The purpose of this project was to determine the most efficient material used in a microbial fuel cell (MFC) for the maximum production of electricity. Also, if a septic system additive woul…

Sustainable Water Cleaning System for Point-of-Use Household Application in Developing Countries to Remove Contaminants from Drinking Water

Third Award

Sun-dried banana peel was pyrolyzed (PBP) and activated to form carbon-fiber adsorbent with superior removal capacity bacterial pathogens as well as copper and lead from drinking water. A po…

Sweet Success: Fueling our Future with Fermentation

With increasing populations and vehicle traffic and limited crude oil supplies, alternative sources of fuel will be needed. Bio-energy sources have seen development with the use of corn to p…

Symbiotic N2-Fixation in Small Partridge Pea

Prescribed burning is the most commonly used management tool in pine forests. A key problem with burning is that it decreases the amount of nitrogen (N), which is the most limiting nutrient…

Synthesis and Characterization of Bioinspired Materials Using Nanotechnology

A great source of inspiration for superior quality materials comes from natural materials, like nacre, that exhibit great strengths and resilience. Nacre, known as Mother-of-Pearl, which for…

Synthesis of an Electromagnetically-Controlled Corn-Starch/PVA Biopolymer Microcube for Extended and Targeted Drug Delivery

There has been recent focus on water-soluble polymer matrices with integrated protein or starch bases to increase mechanical characteristics of extended-release drug delivery devices. Unfort…

Synthesis of a Novel Metal Organic Framework with a PCU Topology for CO2 Separation in CCS

Second Award

The atmospheric release of CO2 is strongly correlated with climate change. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs), porous, uniform, and crystalline structures, have demonstrated high promises for C…

Synthesis of Thinner Electrodeposited Polymer Solar Cell Interfaces in Organic Photovoltaics (OPVs)

OPVs (Organic Photovoltaics) are highly tunable based on monomer composition. In other studies, PEDOT:PSS or (poly-3, 4-ethylenedioxythiophene:poly-styerenesulfonate) has been championed ove…

Synthesizing an Artificial Biological Leaf Capable of Evolving Oxygen via Photosynthesis

Imagine a world where oxygen availability is not tied to fertile soil or oxygen tanks. The purpose of this project was to design an artificial leaf that can evolve oxygen via photosynthesis…

Synthesizing and Utilizing Difluoromethyl- & Trifluoromethyl- Artemisinins to Interrupt the Life Cycle of Malaria Parasites, Year III

Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design First Award

Fluorine has allowed common therapies to become even more effective in treating many diseases because of the small size, low polarizability, and high electronegativity of the fluorine atom.…

Synthetic Cryolite Nanoparticles: A Potential Rare Earth Doped Host Material Capable of Matching the Refractive Index of Numerous Vascularized-Tumor Fluids

Rare-earth-doped nanoparticles (ReNPs) are capable of generating optical emissions for imaging molecular events. ReNPs typically consist of a host material and rare earth dopants. Though ser…

Systematic Rational Identification of Sex-Linked Molecular Alterations and Therapies in Cancer

Second Award

Though patient sex influences response to cancer treatments, time-consuming trial-and error screening currently hinders prediction of sex-disparate drug effects. We developed a novel framewo…

Tag Retention and Stress Levels on Subadult Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

Systems Software

This project involved the tagging of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) with a non-activated, acoustic tag internally and externally to determine which method would cause the least amount of str…

Targeting Hippo-Related Cell Polarity in Breast Cancer

Biomedical Engineering

Severe loss of cell polarity is one of the signatures of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is a current clinical challenge due to its aggressive malignancy and absence of therapeut…

Targeting the Cell II

Biomedical Engineering

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been shown to improve drug delivery methods. However, invasive methods are currently needed for patients to benefit from CNT delivery methods. The purpose of thi…

TBI: Light More than Meets the Eye

Biomedical Engineering

Light therapy or Syntonics is a type of ocular science involving selected light frequencies through the eyes. It has been used clinically for over 70 years in the field of optometry with suc…

Temperature-Independent, Portable, and Rapid Field Detection of Ebola via a Silk-Derived Lateral-Flow System

Systems Software First Award

Up to 90% of Ebola victims will die without early diagnosis and medical intervention, which can reduce fatalities by 50% and are critical to preventing future epidemics. Current detection me…

Testing Modified Newtonian Dynamics

Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND) is a hypothesis by Mordehai Milgrom as an alternative to the dark matter explanation of the missing mass surrounding spiral galaxies. lt states that the ac…

The 99¢ Clinical Trial: Accelerating Fast Failures in Clinical Trials Using Software that Models Weizmann BioNumbers on ErbB2 Activated Signaling Pathways and Lapatinib Drug Interaction for Advanced/Metastatic Breast Cancer

6540 breast cancer clinical trials are performed in the world and drug life cycle takes an average of 14 years. The average pre-tax industry cost per new prescription drug approval (inclusiv…

The Allelopathic Effects of Ailanthus altissima on Nuisance Species

Ailanthus altissima (tree of heaven) presents an ecological problem due to its ability to out-compete native species. This project attempted to determine the presence of allelopathic chemica…

The Antibacterial and Cytotoxic Effects of Wiliwili (Erythrina sandwicensis)

Wiliwili, or Erythrina sandwicensis, is an endemic tree that Hawaiian translator Akaiko Akana said was used to treat venereal diseases. With no published modern medicinal testing on wiliwili…

The Application of Herbicides and Nitrogen on Glycine Max

The purpose of my project "The Application of Fertilizer and Nitrogen on Glycine Max" was to determine the most efficient way to care for your soybeans. On June 5, I planted four different p…

The Base Dependent Behavior of Kaprekar's Routine: A Theoretical and Computational Study Revealing New Regularities

Consider the following process: Take any four-digit number which has at least two distinct digits. Then, rearrange the digits of the original number in ascending and descending order, take t…

The Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Complication Continues...

Fourth Award

Cystic fibrosis is a common fatal genetic disorder that affects over 70,000 individuals worldwide. The direct cause of death for 80% of cystic fibrosis patients is Pseudomonas aeruginosa inf…

The Cancer Breathalyzer: Chemical Strips that Detect Chemicals in Lung Cancer "Breathprint"

Systems Software

Every year, thousands of people are diagnosed with lung cancer. 85% of patients are diagnosed at a late stage with only a 4% survival rate when diagnosed late. The purpose of this project is…

The Chemical Mechanism of the Reduction and Recycling of Polystyrene using an Organic, Eco-Friendly Solvent

Polystyrene, or Styrofoam, is a common household and commercial waste product that naturally decomposes in approximately 1000 years. United States landfills receive around 2.5 million tons o…