Congratulate the National and Local 2025 Winners!

     2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge National Finalists

Top 300 Junior Innovators Challenge Finalists

• HUANG, VIVIENNE (GRADE 7) - Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Englewood Cliffs Upper School 

  • "For Peat's Sake: Creating Biodegradable and Sustainable Hydroponic Growth Media Alternatives to Peat for Cultivating Luffa aegyptiaca.

• LEE, ELLIE (GRADE 8) - Tenafly, New Jersey, Tenafly Middle School 

  • Studying the Impact of State Neonicotinoid Restrictions on Bee Populations.

• SUH, ELIA KUHL (GRADE 8) - Hackensack, New Jersey, Hackensack Middle School 

  • Biopanned Microbes Adapted to Regolith and Alkaline pH Overcome Lunar Soil Infertility, Enhancing Plant Germination, Sprouting, and Growth

• WATKINS, EMMA (GRADE 7) - Ridgewood, New Jersey, George Washington Middle School 

  • The Effect of Poly-g-glutamic Acid (g-PGA) on Medicago sativa Growth During Drought Stress.

More information: https://sspcdn.blob.core.windows.net/files/Documents/SEP/JIC/2025/Program-Books/Top-300-Junior-Innovators.pdf 

Thermo Fisher Scientific’s Junior Innovators Challenge Awards

• Olivia Huang

  • The Impact of Calcium Carbonate on Alpha-galactosidase Activity and Raffinose Breakdown in a Simulated Human Gastric Environment

• Joseph Jin

  • Determining methods to fix the algal bloom problem in Bergen County

• Showrya Verma

  • BioDrive: An Effective Deterrent to Car Key Fob Theft

• David Won

  • Predicting Air Quality (AQI) With Artificial Intelligence

• William Tan

  • Smart Reef AI

• Joshua Cho

  • Sustainable Agricultural Solutions: Designing a Water Absorbent Product Using Banana Fiber and Areca Nut Fiber as Renewable Alternatives to Peat Moss

• Ellie Lee

  • Studying the impact of state Neonicotinoid restrictions on bee population

• Vivienne Huang

  • For Peat’s Sake: Creating Biodegradable and Sustainable Hydroponic Growth Media Alternatives to Peat for Cultivating Luffa Aegyptiaca

• Ryan Bansal

  • Real-Time Detection of Distracted Driving Using AI

• Seiji Iigaya

  • Flight Perfected: Optimizing Frisbee Flight Through Computational Modeling

• Elia Suh

  • Biopanned Microbes Adapted to Regolith and Alkaline pH Overcome Lunar Soil Infertility, Enhancing Plant Germination, Sprouting, and Growth

• Emma Watkins

  • The Effect of Gamma Polyglutamic Acid (γ-PGA) on Alfalfa Sprout Growth During Drought Stress

Lemelson Early Inventor Award

• Elia Suh

  • Biopanned Microbes Adapted to Regolith and Alkaline pH Overcome Lunar Soil Infertility, Enhancing Plant Germination, Sprouting, and Growth

Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award

• David Won

  • Predicting Air Quality (AQI) With Artificial Intelligence

Academy After Hours Award 

• Sebastian Polanco

  • Efficace E737

• Jouding Huang

  • Finding optimal jet exhaust nozzle size.

• Aarav Jain

  • How Using a Gyro can Impact the Direction of a Lego Robot.

Runner-Ups:

• Lucas Lombardi and Joshua Markose

  • Determining the role of how energy from wind turbines transmits into electricity to power various systems.

Category Awards 

• Biology

  • 1st Place:

    • Emma Watkins

      • The Effect of Poly-g-glutamic Acid (g-PGA) on Medicago sativa Growth During Drought Stress.

    • Elia Suh

      • Adapted Garden Microbes Transform Barren Lunar Soil Into Fertile Ground. 

    • 2nd Place:

      • Rishi Narayan

        • Evaluation of Lead Leg Gastrocnemius Function and Reaction Time as Related to Fatigue in Sabre Fencers

      • Isa Wang

        • Determining if the amount of sunlight exposed, food dipped, time, air exposed, location, and humidity content affects the microorganism growth on a toothbrush.

      • 3rd Place:

        • Hanalei So

          • The Microbial and Functional Comparison of Sourdough Starter and Active Dry Yeast in Bread Fermentation

        • Tej Trivedi 

          • Determining how our human senses work, and their relationship to how the brain interprets them.

        • Simran Bassi

          • Quantitative Comparison of Plant Extract Efficacy in Inhibiting Polyphenol Oxidase Activity in Fruit.

        • Zaynab Mustafokulova

          • Determining if caffeine consumption affects fruit fly lifespan.

        • Charles Wu

          • Did selfish jumping genes cause mutations that make us human?

        • Serena Lee

          • Will Irresponsibility Kill The Cats?

        • Stella Mui

          • What are the effects of various natural repellents on plant growth and development?

        • Darsh Dadhich

          • The Parkinsons Assesment using DaT and MRI Analysis (PADMA): A highly accurate Deep-Learning model to Diagnose Parkinson’s Disease during its early stages

        • Serg Reiu Hong

          • The Regeneration Blueprint: What Crickets Can Teach Us About Human Limb Regrowth

• Chemistry

  • 1st Place:

    • Olivia Huang

      • The Impact of Calcium Carbonate on Alpha-galactosidase Activity and Raffinose Breakdown in a Simulated Human Gastric Environment

    • Joseph Jin and Katie Jung

      • Determining methods to fix the algal bloom problem in Bergen County

  • 2nd Place:

    • Chiya Wan and Ella Wanich

      • The Effect of Different Solutes Added to Ice on the Rate That the Ice Melts

• Engineering

  • 1st Place:

    • David Won

      • Predicting Air Quality (AQI) With Artificial Intelligence

    • William Tan

      • Smart Reef AI

    • Showrya Verma

      • BioDrive: An Effective Deterrent to Car Key Fob Theft

  • 2nd Place:

    • Madelyn Larionoff

      • Autonomous Plant Watering System

    • Riansh Gandhi

      • Enhancing the ability for visually impaired individuals to navigate common obstacles through a Haptic-Based White Cane, powered by the Raspberry Pi

    • Aarushi Dubey

      • Invention title: EcoCan

  • 3rd Place:

    • Haeley Cole-Boksner and Iris Fung

      • Designing a Motorized, Autonomous Water-Sampling Data-Collection Device

    • Reanna Bhuyan Patel

      • Reimagining Natural Heat Sources As Versatile Electricity Generation: Revolutionizing The Energy All Around Us

    • Ryan Song

      • Determining the differences between Omni wheeled robots and two wheeled robots

• Environmental Sciences

  • 1st Place:

    • Joshua Cho

      • Sustainable Agricultural Solutions: Designing a Water Absorbent Product Using Banana Fiber and Areca Nut Fiber as Renewable Alternatives to Peat Moss

    • Ellie Lee

      • Studying the impact of state Neonicotinoid restrictions on bee population

    • Vivienne Huang

      • For Peat’s Sake: Creating Biodegradable and Sustainable Hydroponic Growth Media Alternatives to Peat for Cultivating Luffa Aegyptiaca

  • 2nd Place:

    • Riddhi Thanawala

      • Determining whether a home-made filter can clean day-to-day water impurities

    • Rishan Pawar

      • An AI-Based Approach to Understand and Forecast Air Pollution and Air Quality: A Case Study of DENVer, Colorado

  • 3rd Place:

    • Kayla Pietrocola

      • Predicting When Rising Seas Could Swallow All Land.

    • Yash Poddar

      • Effectiveness of different washing method of removal of pesticide residues from fresh produce.

    • Anush Malik

      • Understand Plastics food chain: common daily items and cooking methods that can add tiny plastic particles into our food

    • Audrey Cho and Ellie Song

      • Oyster Shells: Combating Ocean Acidification 

• Mathematics and Computer Sciences

  • 1st Place:

    • Ryan Bansal

      • Real-Time Detection of Distracted Driving Using AI

    • Sehyun Chang

      • CONTINUATION OF THE BEST PROPERTIES TO GET IN MONOPOLY & THE MATH BEHIND IT BASED ON PROFIT EARNED

  • 2nd Place:

    • Aarav Jain

      • How Using a Gyro can Impact the Direction of a Lego Robot.

    • William Sun

      • Saving Waters: An AI-Powered Solution for Water Quality Prediction

  • 3rd Place:

    • Elliott Sangbin Lee

      • Racial/Gender Biases in Artificial Intelligence Systems from the U.S. and Chinese companies.

    • Sophia Yeung

      • Using Machine Learning In Quantitative Investment

• Physics

  • 1st Place:

    • Aarin Chakraborty

      • Light: A particle or a wave?

    • Seiji Iigaya

      • Flight Perfected: Optimizing Frisbee Flight Through Computational Modeling

  • 2nd Place:

    • Srikar Elchuri

      • Fruity Lights: testing fruits' natural electricity through LED bulb brightness

  • 3rd Place:

    • Shane Cheng

      • Small changes in a double pendulum graph affect the outcome severely