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