2021

Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair

Awards

In March 2021, 328 students presented 165 middle school projects and 141 high school projects virtually. The Minnesota Academy of Science and our sponsors congratulate all these students for their perseverance and hard work during such a challenging school year.

This year, 40 companies and organizations, including Seagate, Ecolab, and Broadcom have awarded nearly $23,000 in cash prizes as well as other valuable awards, gifts, and opportunities. The most prestigious prize remains the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (ISEF) Award. See below for more information about each award and the 2021 award winners.

Scroll down to learn more about this year’s awards, award winners, and winning projects.

winning projects for awards with multiple winners ARE LISTED in order BY PROJECT NUMBER

Minnesota Academy of Science Awards

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) Award 

The Regeneron ISEF Award recognizes up to five of the top high school projects. Winners typically receive an all-expense-paid trip to compete in ISEF. However, the 2021 ISEF will take place virtually. ISEF is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition. More than 1,700 high school students from over 70 countries and territories showcase their research at ISEF.

Virtual Regeneron ISEF 2021: Judging took place from May 3-6 via video conferencing. Official Regeneron ISEF events will took place May 16-21. Minnesota Regeneron ISEF Award Winners:

• Kyla Fung, North Carolina State College of Engineering Award

• Jack Hlavka, Third Award in Environmental Engineering

• Christine Song, First Award from the National Anti-Vivisection Society

• Nathan Krause, Honorable Mention from the American Mathematical Society

• Atreyus Bhavsar, First Award from the Air Force Research Laboratory

• Harmony Tracy, University of Arizona Renewal Tuition Scholarship

2021 Minnesota State Science and Engineering Fair ISEF Finalists:

HS-BEHA-289 - Peyton Crest (Chanhassen), Investigating the effect of the severity of activity based anorexia in Drosophila melanogaster on the gut microbiome

“Your use of past data and knowledge sources to help you construct was very good. Your review of what can be different and control and understanding of variables was strong and offered a unique scientific approach.” —SSEF Judge

HS-EGSD-311 - Kyla Fung (Eden Prairie), Pathway to a Sustainable Future: Economic and Technical Feasibility of a Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) Plant

“Impressive data collection and analysis ... Your aptitude for business and vision for a greener future will go far!” —SSEF Judge

HS-EMNC-319 - George Richards (Minnetonka) and William Sweeney (Wayzata), A.L.M.E. Assistive Lifting Machine for Elders: Engineering a solution to fall-recovery-related injuries in seniors and caregivers

“Great job with identifying a real life problem and coming up with a cost effective solution. You have a great grasp of identifying user needs and expectations.” —SSEF Judge

HS-ENEV-198 - Jack Hlavka (St. Paul), Treatment of Simulated Acid Mine Drainage with Desulfovibrio Desulfuricans

“This was a very clear and concise project with easily definable goals and results. The multitude of variables explored gives validity to the experiment. As was mentioned in the presentation, I wholeheartedly agree that this topic is important to Minnesotans as it has to do with problems right outside our back door.” —SSEF Judge

HS-ENEV-317 - John Cardwell (Minneapolis), Testing the Waters: Engineering an Innovative Method of Water Health Analysis, Year II

“Terrific presentation; your communication skills and presence are strong! The watercraft prototype and water sampling system also demonstrate the amount of effort put in.” —SSEF Judge

HS-SOFT-341 - Shreshth Shrivastava (Eden Prairie), WI-C.A.R.E: Wifi Computer-Assisted Remote Eldercare (Year 2)

“I think that this is an excellent project! Your market research clearly identified the most important feature to build and then you delivered a proof-of-concept for that feature. Your pipeline, both hardware and software, are using state-of-the art components hooked up in a clever way. Well done!” —SSEF Judge

2021 ISEF Alternates:

HS-BEHA-078 - Sophia LeMire (East Grand Forks), Education in a Pandemic: Identifying Barriers to Learning Success of High School Students in Different Education Modalities in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

HS-BEHA-291 - Abirami Rajasekaran and Harini Senthilkumar (Eden Prairie), Predicting compensatory exercise behaviors from anxiety symptomatology in patients with eating disorders

HS-ENMC-230 - Nickolas Zander (Hudson, WI), The Engineering Behind Theme Park Rides: Creating and Coding a Model Theme Park Ride

Grand Awards

The Grand Awards recognize excellence in STEM research at the middle school and high school level. The top 5% of projects presented at SSEF receive the Gold Award. The next 10% of projects receive the Silver Award and the next 15% of projects receive the Bronze Award. Projects are ranked according to judge scores and the competitiveness of the category in which students present. 

Gold Award:

MS-ANIM-180 - Johanna Bernu, Disinfectant Properties of Nuphar Advena: An Ethnopharmaceutical Approach

MS-BEHA-343 - Sanjana Kollipara, Inside the Mind: Studying the Effect of Daily Tasks on Short Term Memory

MS-BMED-346 - Elizabeth Levinshteyn, Testing, Testing: Developing an All-Strain-Inclusive Test for SARS-CoV2

MS-CELL-044 - Tej Bhagra, Goodbye Bacteria, Hello Self Cleaning: Do Mineral Nanocrystals kill bacteria?

MS-CHEM-350 - Lily Stel, On your mark, get set, bake

MS-EAEV-128 - Aaron Collins, Shoreline Protection: The Effectiveness of Materials Used

MS-EGSD-129 - Ayeza Moheet, Constructing and testing a biodegradable packaging made from recycled eggshells to preserve fresh fruits

MS-PLNT-364 - Hannah Grosser, If You Plant It, They Will Come: Planting for Pollinator Diversity in Your Home Garden

HS-ANIM-281 - Fiona Kinney & Simren Samba, Fruit Fly Frenzy: Investigating the Development of Insecticide Resistance in Drosophila melanogaster

HS-BEHA-021 - James Kung, Influence of Protective Factors and Resilience on Perception of the Police: A Survey

HS-BEHA-159 - Stella Harbson, Persuasiveness of Anecdotal versus Statistical Information on Beliefs about Gun Control

HS-BMED-022 - Christine Song, Cure of Breast Cancer - Year 4: First Discovery of New Target Therapy for Aggressive Hormonal Breast Cancer using Clinical Database and 3D Model

HS-BMED-296 - Ming Ying Yeoh, A better approach to treating Alzheimer's? Multi-drug combination therapies in a C. elegans model

HS-MATS-321 - Nick Carver, The potential application of super elastic Nitinol alloy for use in type III body armor

HS-ROBO-035 - Pramod Anandarao, A Novel Deep Learning Approach for Low Cost Mobile Diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy

Silver Award:

MS-ANIM-093 - Aidan Moeller, A Crushing Eggsperiment

MS-BMED-050 - Eric Yang, Does sugar erode your teeth?

MS-BMED-092 - Hazel Striker, Cover Your Cough: Effectiveness of Masks at Preventing the Spread of Particles

MS-CHEM-053 - Tahe Liu, What is the best at removing rust?

MS-CHEM-077 - Elizabeth Smith, Dry Hands? No Problem!

MS-CHEM-353 - Lauren Craig, Exploding Experiments

MS-EAEV-354 - Shagun Shrivastava, 100% Biodegradable Plastics!!! Is it true?

MS-EAEV-357 - Quinn Hughes and Tyler Clair, Can Machine Learning Predict Hurricane Damage in a Changing Climate?

MS-ENEV-131 - Khadija Kouser, Designing and Testing an Automatic Watering System for Plants

MS-ENEV-359 - Mercy March, Purification with Desalination

MS-ENMC-099 - Rohan Sharma, Light without Sunlight

MS-MATH-132 - Adam Jacobson, Absent Absences

MS-MATS-061 - Susannah Petersen, My Hair Project - Diameter, Elasticity, and Hair-Care Products

MS-MATS-134 - Maryam Shahkhan, H2O Rovotics: Buoyancy Materials of the Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV): The Effect of Different Buoyancy Materials

MS-PHYS-063 - Bergen Jacob, Tennis at Temperature

MS-PLNT-271 - Cassidy Gaston, The Great Wall of Plants: The Effect of Plants on Soil Erosion

HS-BEHA-295 - Ramira Ambrose, Women and Women of Color in College Coaching: A Quantitative Report on Head Coach Composition and Turnover for NCAA Division-I Soccer

HS-BMED-190 - Divya Bhargava, No Change? Impact of FDA Warning on the Use of Opioids and Benzodiazepines and Their Effects in Older Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients

HS-BMED-392 - Sarayu Goduguchinta, Successful Cessation: Thwarting Tobacco Addiction Using Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes without Exacerbating Depression Symptoms

HS-EAEV-305 - Anna Geldert, Using mycoremediation as a treatment technique to reduce heavy metal concentration in model mine effluent

HS-EGSD-310 - Trisha Samba, Easy Piezy Electricity

HS-ENBM-024 - Richard Xiong, The Development of a Rapid, Scalable, and Low-cost Home Test Kit for COVID-19

HS-ENEV-033 - Jennifer Oettinger, Where the Rubber Meets the Road: The Development of an Innovative, Reusable, and Energy-Efficient Filter for Microplastics Created Through Tire Wear

HS-ENMC-319 - George Richards and Will Sweeney, A.L.M.E. Assistive Lifting Machine for Elders: Engineering a solution to fall-recovery-related injuries in seniors and caregivers

HS-MATH-086 - Nathan Krause, Investigations in Topdrops

HS-MCRO-231 - Ellen Guo, Distinctive mutation profiles of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in different geographic regions of the United States

HS-PHYS-326 - Austin Hunter, Analyzing the impact of drafting in cross country skiing with computational fluid dynamics

HS-PLNT-166 - Emelyn Beaster, Using Phytoaccumulation to End Mineral Deficiencies

HS-PLNT-203 - George Montague, The effect of UVC exposure on germination rate, time until germination and growth rate in radishes (Raphanus sativus)

HS-SOFT-337 - Kiefer Miskiw, Rapid development of 3D worlds

Bronze Award:

MS-ANIM-177 - Josh Bleskacek, Loop-the-Loops or Zig-Zags: How do geothermal heat exchanger geometries affect heat transfer?

MS-ANIM-240 - Kaitlin Telep, A Hamster's Preference: Which Food Will it Pick?

MS-ANIM-242 - Shreya Sekar, Reptile Recovery: How local actions can protect endangered species

MS-BCHM-205 - James Summers, Does Adding Different Kinds of Yeasts to a Wort Affect the Overall Gravity of the Solution

MS-BEHA-038 - Srinidhi Babu, Does color affect memory

MS-BEHA-040 - Nisha Wetter, The Effects of Exercise on Memory

MS-BEHA-208 - Audrey Erickson, Do Children Who Read More Have Better Vocabularies?

MS-BEHA-210 - Ben O’Shaughnessy, How Does Cell Phone Usage Affect Reaction Time?

MS-BMED-249 - Lila Martin, The Effects of Fast Acting Sugars on Diabetics and Non-Diabetics

MS-BMED-250 - Olivia Hamann, Don’t Fall Flat

MS-BMED-278 - Coolsjes Singhvi, D-PREDICT: An Artificial Intelligence Model for Predicting Likelihood of Early Stage Diabetes

MS-CBIO-051 - Emily Ma, Investigating the Correlation between Population Density and Coronavirus Cases

MS-CHEM-083 - John Biebighauser, Smore Science: The Effects of Materials on a Burning Marshmallow

MS-CHEM-127 - Jack Johnson, The Best Northern Minnesota Campfire

MS-CHEM-352 - Matthew Craig, Coin Cleaning

MS-EAEV-059 - Ben Weingarten, Survey of Rochester Topsoil Depths: Effects of Locations and Use

MS-ENBM-130 - Muhammed Qureshi, Making a Heart Rate Monitor

MS-ENEV-217 - Will Cunningham, Can Using Magnets as a Growth Stimulant Overcome Poor Plant Growing Conditions?

MS-ENMC-360 - Levi Abbring, Bridging the Gap: Determining the Factors that Affect a Suspension Bridge's Strength

MS-MATS-362 - Noah Bandstra, Feel the Pull

MS-MCRO-043 - Rathan Duggirala, Genetically Engineer E. Coli Cells

MS-PHYS-102 - Brennan Glawe, Growing Green on the Red Planet

MS-PLNT-065 - Ruby Lewis, Effects of Coffee on Plant Growth

MS-PLNT-276 - Izzy Carlson, The effect of water temperature on plant growth

HS-ANIM-165 - Rowan Rock, Wastewater Treatment: The Use of Mealworm Gut Bacteria (Tenebrio molitor) to Isolate and Identify Bacteria that can Biodegrade Polystyrene

HS-BEHA-078 - Sophia LeMire, Education in a Pandemic: Identifying Barriers to Learning Success of High School Students in Different Education Modalities in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

HS-BEHA-113 - Mariya Demaag, The Impact COVID-19 Has Produced on the Social Life of Children

HS-BEHA-289 - Peyton Crest, Investigating the effect of the severity of activity based anorexia in Drosophila melanogaster on the gut microbiome

HS-BMED-298 - Hubert He, Analysis of Gene Expression Changes Influenced by Various Severe COVID-19-associated Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms

HS-BMED-299 - Quentin Hughes, An Active Role for Machine Learning in the Diagnosis of Cardiac Arrhythmias, Year 2

HS-BMED-381 - Elisa Guo, CD8 T cell epitope generation toward the mutating SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in genetically diverse human population: Implications for disease control and prevention

HS-CBIO-393 - Sydney Peng and Johnny Yue, Upsurge of the Glycolytic Pathway in Cancer: A Dynamic Network Analysis of Oncogenic Mutations in Phosphofructokinase-1

HS-CELL-302 - Fazila Mohamed Prem Navaz, Mitigating Metastasis: Utilizing cancer-associated fibroblasts to stop the spread of cancer

HS-CHEM-304 - Benjamin Kroul and Dominic Greco, Mighty MOFs: Using Novel Catalysts to Produce Components of Recyclable Plastics

HS-EAEV-191 - Gavin Kimmel - Examining the Relationship Between Socioeconomic Status and Soil Macronutrient Levels

HS-EGSD-197 - Maggie Banks, Salt and Paper: Using Papermaking Techniques to Engineer a Plant-Based Piezoelectric Transducer with Rochelle Salt to Generate a Resilient, Eco-Friendly Source of Voltage

HS-ENEV-198 - Jack Hlavka, Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage with Desulfovibrio desulfuricans

HS-ENEV-317 - John Cardwell, Testing the Waters: Engineering an Innovative Method of Water Health Analysis Year II

HS-ENMC-120 - Billal Saidi, Engineering A Cost-Effective Ventilator

HS-ENMC-199 - Will Anderson, A Comparison of Three Wing Configurations at Different Heights in Ground Effect

HS-PHYS-235 - Jacob Johnson, The Result of Common Building Materials on the Strength of a Radio Signal

HS-PHYS-236 - Tarun Kota, Detection and Characterization of Astronomical Dwarfs using CatWISE

HS-PLNT-121 - Isaac Mauch, Studying the Effects of Ridged Soil on Dry Beans and Applying it to Commercial Farming

HS-PLNT-328 - Maya Silver, Applied natural selection: the effect of sethoxydim on lipid production in algae

HS-SOFT-341 - Shreshth Shrivastava, WI-CARE: Wifi Computer-Assisted Remote Eldercare (Year 2)

SEAGATE AWARDS

The premier sponsor of the Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair, Seagate Technology, is the global leader in data storage solutions. Seagate develops products that enable people and businesses around the world to create, share, and preserve their most critical memories and business data.

Seagate Excellence in Science Mentoring Awards

These awards recognize two outstanding STEM teachers who find creative ways to nurture students’ interest in scientific research and discovery. These teachers go above and beyond the classroom to promote STEM education in their schools, inspire students to pursue their interests in STEM, and encourage students to engage in hands-on research and exploration. Teachers are nominated by students, parents, and school staff.

Seagate gives two awards – one for a teacher with 1-10 years of experience and another for a teacher with more than 10 years of experience. Award recipients receive a $1,000, a trophy and a Seagate hard drive. Each teacher’s school or science program also receives $1,000. 

Mentoring Award (1 - 10 Years of Experience):

William Bauer, Cloquet Public Schools, Cloquet

“Bill has a way of listening to students, that shows compassion and patience, and makes them excited about science. Instead of pushing them to a topic, Bill gives his one hundred percent to hear about their interests, whether it be archery, video games, or basketball. He is one of the few adults in my life who were willing to truly listen about what I am interested in." —Mentee

Mentoring Award (10+ Years of Experience):

Lori Grabarkewitz, Robert J. Elkington Middle School, Grand Rapids

"Mrs. Grabarkewitz has been a fantastic role model for me as she is a strong woman in science. She teaches science at the middle school and has done this for over 20 years. It is great to see a woman in a powerful profession as she inspires students to learn and excel every day." —Mentee

Seagate Rising Star AwardS

These awards recognize two emerging student scientists whose projects not only exemplify excellence in their category but also demonstrate high degrees of difficulty, thoroughness, complexity, creativity, innovation, and effective communication.

In addition to monetary awards, students will receive trophies and Seagate portable hard drives.  

High School Rising Star ($2,000): HS-BMED-022 - Christine Song (Rochester), Cure of Breast Cancer - Year 4: First Discovery of New Target Therapy for Aggressive Hormonal Breast Cancer using Clinical Database and 3D Model

“I am very impressed with your commitment to this project and the work you have done over the past 4 years. Your experiments are hypothesis driven and you presented your results clearly. Well done.” —SSEF Judge

Middle School Rising Star ($1,500): MS-ENMC-060 - Annika Bartucz (Rochester), Airfoil Efficiency

“Excellent work, Annika! It's clear that a lot of thought and background research went into the development of your hypotheses. Your data collection was thorough, and I loved that you considered standard deviation in your analysis.” —SSEF Judge

Seagate Emerging Scientist Awards

These awards recognize excellent STEM research conducted by students competing for the first time. The top 10% of first-year students receive trophies.

MS-ANIM-180 - Johanna Bernu, Disinfectant Properties of Nuphar Advena: An Ethnopharmaceutical Approach

MS-BEHA-343 - Sanjana Kollipara, Inside the Mind: Studying the Effect of Daily Tasks on Short Term Memory

MS-CELL-044 - Tej Bhagra, Goodbye Bacteria, Hello Self Cleaning: Do Mineral Nanocrystals kill bacteria?

MS-CHEM-350 - Lily Stel, On your mark, get set, bake

MS-CHEM-353 - Lauren Craig, Exploding Experiments

MS-EAEV-128 - Aaron Collins, Shoreline Protection: The Effectiveness of Materials Used

MS-EAEV-354 - Shagun Shrivastava, 100% Biodegradable Plastics!!! Is it true?

MS-EGSD-129 - Ayeza Moheet, Constructing and testing a biodegradable packaging made from recycled eggshells to preserve fresh fruits

MS-ENEV-131 - Khadija Kouser, Designing and Testing an Automatic Watering System for Plants

MS-ENMC-099 - Rohan Sharma, Light without Sunlight

MS-MATS-061 - Susannah Petersen, My Hair Project - Diameter, Elasticity, and Hair-Care Products

MS-PHYS-063 - Bergen Jacob, Tennis at Temperature

MS-PLNT-271 - Cassidy Gaston, The Great Wall of Plants: The Effect of Plants on Soil Erosion

MS-PLNT-364 - Hannah Grosser, If You Plant It, They Will Come: Planting for Pollinator Diversity in Your Home Garden

HS-BEHA-295 - Ramira Ambrose, Women and Women of Color in College Coaching: A Quantitative Report on Head Coach Composition and Turnover for NCAA Division-I Soccer

HS-BMED-190 - Divya Bhargava, No Change? Impact of FDA Warning on the Use of Opioids and Benzodiazepines and Their Effects in Older Allogeneic Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Patients

HS-BMED-392 - Sarayu Goduguchinta, Successful Cessation: Thwarting Tobacco Addiction Using Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes without Exacerbating Depression Symptoms

HS-EAEV-305 - Anna Geldert, Using mycoremediation as a treatment technique to reduce heavy metal concentration in model mine effluent

HS-ENEV-198 - Jack Hlavka, Treatment of Acid Mine Drainage with Desulfovibrio desulfuricans

HS-MATS-321 - Nick Carver, The potential application of super elastic Nitinol alloy for use in type III body armor

HS-MCRO-231 - Ellen Guo, Distinctive mutation profiles of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in different geographic regions of the United States

HS-PHYS-326 - Austin Hunter, Analyzing the impact of drafting in cross country skiing with computational fluid dynamics

HS-PLNT-203 - George Montague, The effect of UVC exposure on germination rate, time until germination and growth rate in radishes (Raphanus sativus)

HS-SOFT-337 - Kiefer Miskiw, Rapid development of 3D worlds

SPECIAL SPONSORED AWARDS

In alphabetical order

3M

3M seeks to recognize projects applied to real-life situations where students are trying to improve the world around them. 3M values resourcefulness, quality, professionalism, creativity, and, of course, innovation. This year’s awards are sponsored by 3M Corporate Scientist Committee and will be in the form of Visa gift cards for the winners. All winners and honorable mentions will also receive gift boxes from 3M.

3M INNOVATION AWARDS

First Place High School ($500): HS-SOFT-027 - Jenny Yan and Margaret Hu (Rochester), SPOP: Searching a Precision Oncology Portal for Personalized Cancer Treatments

“I thought this was a very creative project! Data collation and visualization is hard, but a very important problem. I'm very impressed that you identified this need and built a useful too that brought together a number of disparate data sets.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place High School ($300): HS-ANIM-165 - Rowan Rock (Cloquet), Wastewater Treatment: The Use of Mealworm Gut Bacteria (Tenebrio molitor) to Isolate and Identify Bacteria that can Biodegrade Polystyrene

Third Place High School ($200): HS-SOFT-341 - Shreshth Shrivastava (Eden Prairie), WI-C.A.R.E: WIFI Computer-Assisted Remote Eldercare (Year 2)

Honorable Mention High School:

HS-ENEV-032 - Ian Seremet and Tanmay Iyer (Rochester), The Automation of Shinkei Jime

HS-ENMC-082 - Brynlee Christianson (West Fargo), The Treble With Keys

HS-BCHM-282 - Madison Andrews (Chanhassen), Safe Food: Developing a new detection method for E. coli using ammonia for adaptation to a field test

First Place Middle School ($500): MS-BMED-346 - Elizabeth Levinshteyn (Blaine), Testing, Testing: Designing an All-Strain Inclusive Test for SARS-CoV2

“The student showed very thorough and deep understanding of the topic. From the questions asked, there was a very clear interest and passion for the chosen topic. The student not only focused on the potential benefits of their research, but showed a realistic understanding of the potential limitations or shortfalls of the testing that they developed.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place Middle School ($300): MS-EGSD-129 - Ayeza Moheet (Plymouth), Constructing and testing a biodegradable packaging made from recycled eggshells to preserve fresh fruits

Third Place Middle School ($200): MS-MATS-062 - Elizabeth Petersen (Rochester), How do I make carmel stick to apple flesh?

Honorable Mention Middle School:

MS-BMED-092 - Hazel Striker (Moorhead), Cover Your Cough: Effectiveness of Masks at Preventing the Spread of Particles

MS-MCRO-265 - Kari Chimbo (Richfield), The Effect of Homemade Wipes vs. Clorox Wipes

Acoustical Society of America - Upper Midwest Chapter

Excellence in Acoustics

This award recognizes projects displaying excellence in the subject of acoustics.

First Place ($100): MS-ENMC-090 - Sophie Hansen (Moorhead), Superior Sound

“Your presentation and story board was well organized and communicated well. Easy to follow - nicely done!” —SSEF Judge

Second Place ($50): MS-BEHA-041 - Stella Haakenson (Rochester), How does music affect memory?

Honorable Mention ($25): HS-ROBO-034 - Stephen Wu (Rochester), Musical Genre Classification using Deep Learning

The Algae Foundation / CarlsonSV

Algal Achievement Award

This award recognizes projects that exemplify innovation and scientific excellence utilizing algae.

Winner ($200): MS-PLNT-186 - Tuuli Koivisto (Babbitt), Can you extract biofuel from algae?

“Yes! Homemade biofuels sounds like a great solution to global climate change. Very advanced project in terms of growing and processing algae for lipid extraction.” —SSEF Judge

Winner ($200): HS-PLNT-328 - Maya Silver (Bloomington), Applied natural selection: the effect of sethoxydim on lipid production in algae

“Brilliant research with a great promise; the future results of this study could help the biofuel industry. The student has a very detailed knowledge of the subject matter and understand the background of the research well, from the molecular to applied aspects.” —SSEF Judge

American Chemical Society - MN Section

Outstanding Experimental Project in CHemistry/Biochemistry

This award recognizes an outstanding high school chemistry/biochemistry project. Honorable mentions will receive a one-year subscription to ChemMatters, the ACS publication for high school students.

High School Outstanding Project ($100): HS-CHEM-304 - Benjamin Kroul (Plymouth) and Dominic Greco (Robbinsdale), Mighty MOFs: Using Novel Catalysts to Produce Components of Recyclable Plastics

“Data presented very clearly. Graphs and chemical structures helped illustrate your key points very well. Video presentation was easy to understand and well executed.” —SSEF Judge

Middle School Outstanding Project ($50): MS-CHEM-077 - Elizabeth Smith (Crookston), Dry Hands? No Problem!

“Great job Elizabeth! The project was very well organized with a clear introduction that shows you really understood how lotions work and how they affect the skin. I also appreciated the limitations you discussed at the end of the presentation. It's important for a scientist to be reflective and always be thinking of the next experiment!” —SSEF Judge

Middle School Honorable Mention:

MS-CHEM-083 - John Biebighauser (Moorhead), Smore Science: The Effects of Materials on a Burning Marshmallow

MS-CHEM-127 - Jack Johnson (Grand Rapids), Best Northern Minnesota Campfire

MS-CHEM-353 - Lauren Craig (Coon Rapids), Exploding Experiments

American Fisheries Society, Minnesota Chapter

Aquatic Sciences Excellence Award

This award recognizes projects focusing on aquatic science.

High School (book & fishing pole): HS-ENEV-198 - Jack Hlavka (St. Paul), Treatment of Simulated Acid Mine Drainage with Desulfovibrio Desulfuricans

“This was a very clear and concise project with easily definable goals and results. The multitude of variables explored gives validity to the experiment. As was mentioned in the presentation, I wholeheartedly agree that this topic is important to Minnesotans as it has to do with problems right outside our back door.” —SSEF Judge

Middle School (book & fishing pole): MS-EAEV-128 - Aaron Collins (Thief River Falls), Shoreline Protection: The Effectiveness of Materials Used

“Excellent job on your project! I thought it was great how you identified a problem that you noticed in the world (shoreline erosion at your cabin) and designed an experiment to compare different ways to solve the problem. That's exactly how science should be done!” —SSEF Judge

American Meteorological Society

Outstanding Achievement for Excellence in Atmospheric or Related Science

This award recognizes outstanding achievement for creative scientific endeavor in the areas of atmospheric and related oceanic and hydrologic sciences at the high school level. This award will include a weather radio.

MS-EAEV-357 - Quinn Hughes and Tyler Clair (Excelsior), Can Machine Learning Predict Hurricane Damage in a Changing Climate?

“Quinn and Tyler, really interesting project. Very clear purpose and systematic model creation. It's good that you acknowledge the limitations of your model, and I would be interested to see it applied to other locations.” —SSEF Judge

American Psychological Association

Outstanding Research in Psychological Science

The award recognizes outstanding research in psychological science under the category of behavioral and social sciences or any category related to psychology (e.g., animal sciences, biomedical and health sciences, translational medical science) at the high school level.

HS-BEHA-386 - Mahdi E. Khamseh (Minnetonka), The effects of Tamarkoz (R) meditation on adolescents aged 15-18

“The participant presents an intriguing and clear research question. The participant does an excellent job exhibiting the importance of researching the effects of Tamarkoz meditation on adolescents, particularly in the current context of the pandemic. This research project will not only positively impact the scientific literature, but also the mental and physical health of adolescents.” —SSEF Judge

ASM Material Education Foundation

Outstanding Exhibit in Materials Science

This award recognizes the best materials engineering project at the high school level.

HS-ENMC-120 - Billal Saidi (Maple Grove), Engineering A Cost-Effective Ventilator

“Billal had a very impressive design for this device. It's inspiring to see his motivation to go and build this device which requires so many different skills.” —SSEF Judge

Association for Women Geoscientists

Student Award for Geoscience Excellence

This award is given to high school girls who demonstrate excellence in geoscience research.

HS-EAEV-305 - Anna Geldert (Minnetonka), Using mycoremediation as a treatment technique to reduce heavy metal concentration in model mine effluent

“This was an excellent project. You clearly have done a lot of research and work to understand how all of your methods work. I also think what stood out about your project was that you started from the perspective of why this project meant something to you. I think this is effective for reaching out to audiences of many backgrounds and perspectives.” —SSEF Judge

Beckman Coulter Foundation

These awards recognize excellence in science and engineering.

Beckman Coulter Awards FOR EXCELLENCE IN SCIENCE

First Place High School Science Project ($350): HS-MCRO-323 - Ava Chen (Eden Prairie), Analyzing the effects of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus as an alternative to antidepressants on Caenorhabditis elegans model organisms by determining its impact on locomotion, lifespan, and pharyngeal pumping rates

“Excellent work! You made your contribution to the existing body of research, and the implication of your research findings in helping treat depression, very clear. Your research parameters are well defined and reproducible. The presentation of your findings are cohesive, and your graphical design is crisp and effective.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place High School Project ($200): HS-BMED-296 - Ming Ying Yeoh (Chanhassen), A better approach to treating Alzheimer's? Multi-drug combination therapies in a Caenorhabditis elegans model

Third Place High School Science Project ($75): HS-MCRO-324 - Alison Crandell (Excelsior), Effects of methoxsalen and UV radiation on subcutaneous P. destructans infections Effects of methoxsalen and UV radiation on subcutaneous P. destructans infections through the use of S. cerevisiae and G. mellonella as models

First Place Middle School Science Project ($350): MS-CELL-044 - Tej Bhagra (Rochester), Goodbye Bacteria, Hello Self-Cleaning : Do Mineral Nanocrystals Kill Bacteria?

“I thought the participant did a stellar job of identifying a relevant research question and designing an experiment to test it. I really liked that the participant had two hypotheses and thought that the communication skills of the participant were excellent.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place Middle School Science Project ($200): MS-BMED-346 - Elizabeth Levinshteyn (Blaine), Testing, Testing: Designing an All-Strain Inclusive Test for SARS-CoV2

Third Place Middle School Science Project ($75): MS-BMED-048 - Dylan Murphy (Rochester), How Temperature Affects Reaction Time

Beckman Coulter Awards FOR EXCELLENCE IN ENGINEERING

First Place High School Engineering Project ($350): HS-EMNC-319 - George Richards (Minnetonka) and William Sweeney (Wayzata), A.L.M.E. Assistive Lifting Machine for Elders: Engineering a solution to fall-recovery-related injuries in seniors and caregivers

“Great job with identifying a real life problem and coming up with a cost effective solution. You have a great grasp of identifying user needs and expectations.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place High School Engineering Project ($200): HS-ENMC-120 - Billal Saidi (Maple Grove), Engineering A Cost-Effective Ventilator

Third Place High School Engineering Project ($75): HS-ROBO-035 - Pramod Anandarao (Rochester), A Novel Deep Learning Approach for Low Cost Mobile Diagnosis of Diabetic Retinopathy

First Place Middle School Engineering Project ($350): MS-ENMC-360 - Levi Abbring (Eden Prairie), Bridging the Gap: Determining the Factors That Affect a Suspension Bridge's Strength

“Very noble cause. You did a really nice job trouble shooting your experiment as it went along.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place Middle School Engineering Project ($200): MS-PHYS-102 - Brennan Glawe (New Ulm), Going Green on the Red Planet

Third Place Middle School Engineering Project ($75): MS-ENMC-099 - Rohan Sharma (Mankato), Light without Sunlight

Broadcom Foundation

Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award

This award recognizes a middle school project that demonstrates a remarkable passion to improve a problem or concern in the researcher’s community through coding/computation. The award includes a $250 gift certificate.

MS-ANIM-175 - Parker Sickmann (Cloquet), Infrared Alert: Using a Passive Infrared Sensor to Detect Motion

“Parker, really interesting project with a clear application to real life. Way to go!” —SSEF Judge

Broadcom Masters

Broadcom Masters Award

The top 10% of 6th, 7th & 8th grade students are invited to apply for this prestigious national STEM competition for middle school students. Winners must place 1st - 4th in overall judging.

MS-ANIM-093 - Aidan Moeller, A Crushing Eggsperiment

MS-ANIM-180 - Johanna Bernu, Disinfectant Properties of Nuphar Advena: An Ethnopharmaceutical Approach

MS-BEHA-343 - Sanjana Kollipara, Inside the Mind: Studying the Effect of Daily Tasks on Short Term Memory

MS-BMED-346 - Elizabeth Levinshteyn, Testing, Testing: Developing an All-Strain-Inclusive Test for SARS-CoV2

MS-CELL-044 - Tej Bhagra, Goodbye Bacteria, Hello Self Cleaning: Do Mineral Nanocrystals kill bacteria?

MS-CHEM-077 - Elizabeth Smith, Dry Hands? No Problem!

MS-CHEM-350 - Lily Stel, On your mark, get set, bake

MS-EAEV-128 - Aaron Collins, Shoreline Protection: The Effectiveness of Materials Used

MS-EAEV-354 - Shagun Shrivastava, 100% Biodegradable Plastics!!! Is it true?

MS-EGSD-129 - Ayeza Moheet, Constructing and testing a biodegradable packaging made from recycled eggshells to preserve fresh fruits

MS-ENEV-131 - Khadija Kouser, Designing and Testing an Automatic Watering System for Plants

MS-MATS-061 - Susannah Petersen, My Hair Project - Diameter, Elasticity, and Hair-Care Products

MS-MATS-134 - Maryam Shahkhan, H2O Rovotics: Buoyancy Materials of the Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV): The Effect of Different Buoyancy Materials

MS-PHYS-063 - Bergen Jacob, Tennis at Temperature

MS-PLNT-271 - Cassidy Gaston, The Great Wall of Plants: The Effect of Plants on Soil Erosion

MS-PLNT-364 - Hannah Grosser, If You Plant It, They Will Come: Planting for Pollinator Diversity in Your Home Garden

DiaSorin, Inc.

DiaSorin, Inc. MERIT Award

Diasorin Merit Awards recognize students who participate primarily through their own independence and passion, regardless of the resources available to them.

Best independent work at the middle school level demonstrating the scientific method ($100):

MS-ANIM-093 - Aidan Moeller (Lake Crystal), A Crushing Eggsperiment

MS-BEHA-343 - Sanjana Kollipara (Plymouth), Inside the Mind: Studying the Effect of Daily Tasks on Short-Term Memory

MS-EGSD-129 - Ayeza Moheet (Plymouth), Constructing and testing a biodegradable packaging made from recycled eggshells to preserve fresh fruits

MS-MATS-061 - Susannah Petersen (Rochester), My Hair Experiment-Diameter, Elasticity, and Hair Products

MS-PLNT-364 - Hannah Grosser (Golden Valley), If You Plant It, They will Come: Planting for Pollinator Diversity in Your Home Garden

Relativity Award

Best project involving the use of a family member or pet ($30):

MS-MATS-061 - Susannah Petersen (Rochester), My Hair Experiment-Diameter, Elasticity, and Hair Products

“The project had a clear research question and the data collection methods were well designed. You demonstrated great ingenuity with the elasticity measurement system.” —SSEF Judge

Ecolab

Ecolab water vision award

Award winning projects are clearly presented, using excellent scientific data gathering and presentations practices, showcasing innovative ideas around the topics of water access, clean water, or water conservation.

First Place High School Project ($700): HS-ENEV-317 - John Cardwell (Minneapolis), Testing the Waters: Engineering an Innovative Method of Water Health Analysis, Year II

“Terrific presentation; your communication skills and presence are strong! The watercraft prototype and water sampling system also demonstrate the amount of effort put in.” —SSEF Judge

First Place Middle School Project ($700): MS-ENEV-359 - Mercy March (Eden Prairie), Purification With Desalination: Distillation vs. Reverse Osmosis

“This was a really awesome experiment. You were able to replicate the ocean as a system and capture water. You articulated your words well and your experiment was well thought out.” —SSEF Judge

ecolab Food Safety Award

Award winning projects are clearly presented, using excellent scientific data gathering and presentations practices, showcasing innovative ideas around food safety—preserving the quality of food to prevent contamination and foodborne illness.

First Place High School Project ($700): HS-BCHM-282 - Madison Andrews (Chanhassen), Safe Food: Developing a new detection method for E. coli using ammonia for adaptation to a field test

“This field test is such a great idea! Something like this could really revolutionize food safety operations as well …. You're already a great scientist and clearly voracious learner, so I can't wait to see what you will bring next year.” —SSEF Judge

First Place Middle School Project ($700): MS-EAEV-058 - Quinn Williams (Rochester), How do Pesticides Affect Plants

“Nice job! This was a thoughtfully designed and well-executed project. I think that you've chosen good treatments and controls, taken a relevant number of measurements, and used an appropriate number of replicates.” —SSEF Judge

Googol Bike Project

STEM the Stigmas Award

This award recognizes outstanding work that explores social stigmas.

($500): MS-ENMC-263 - Olivia Farina (Woodbury), AmbidextriCut

($500): HS-BEHA-021 - James Kung (Rochester), Influence of Protective Factors and Resilience on Perception of the Police: A Survey

($500): HS-BEHA-159 - Stella Harbson (Duluth), Persuasiveness of Anecdotal Versus Statistical Information on Attitudes Toward Gun Control

($500): HS-BEHA-223 - Holly Restad (Woodbury), Harnessing Innovation in Healthcare: Solving Disparities and Inequities in Minnesota’s Healthcare Services Using Creative Solutions Proposed by Medical Providers

($500): HS-BEHA-287 - Lena Pak (Minnetonka), Mixed people in violation of race: can mixed people debunk the race myth?

($500): HS-BEHA-295 - Ramira Ambrose (Plymouth), Women and Women of Color in College Coaching: A Quantitative Report on Head Coach Composition and Turnover for NCAA Division I Soccer

Graduate Women in Science

Graduate Women in Science Award

GWIS gives one award to one female student competing in each grade.

6th Grade: MS-ENMC-277 - Riddhi Singhvi, ICU Car Sentry: An Intelligent Car Safety System

7th Grade: MS-PLNT-272 - Elizabeth Foley, pH and Plants!

8th Grade: MS-CHEM-056 - Jillian Macon, The Effect of Fat Content on Ice Cream Melt Rate

9th Grade: HS-ANIM-161 - Grace Lavan, Human Effects on Gray Wolf (Canis lupus) Distance of Den Relocation in Northeastern Minnesota

10th Grade: HS-BEHA-079 - Abigail Zwilling, Observing Local Deer Traffic Patterns

11th Grade: HS-BCHM-282 - Madison Andrews, Safe Food: Developing a new detection method for E. coli using ammonia for adaptation to a field test

12th Grade: HS-BEHA-287 - Lena Pak, Mixed people in violation of race: can mixed people debunk the race myth?

Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) – MN Section

Institute of Food Scientists Award

This award recognizes awards related to food science.

First Place High School ($200): HS-BCHM-282 - Madison Andrews (Chanhassen), Safe Food: Developing a new detection method for E. coli using ammonia for adaptation to a field test

“This field test is such a great idea! Something like this could really revolutionize food safety operations as well …. You're already a great scientist and clearly voracious learner, so I can't wait to see what you will bring next year.” —SSEF Judge

Project video can be found above



Second Place High School ($150): HS-ENBM-316 - Lauren Benoit (Chanhassen), The impact of green tea on bacterial nanocellulose’s biomedical properties

First Place Middle School ($200): MS-BCHM-205 - James Summers (St. Paul), Does Adding Different Kinds of Yeasts to a Wort Affect the Overall Gravity of the Solution?

“James, you did a great job explaining your experiment and going through the different meanings of Biochemistry terminology. Your experiment was interesting and informative. Please keep up the wonderful work.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place Middle School ($150): MS-CHEM-091 - Annika Frueh (Fargo), Rethink Your Drink

Land O’ Lakes

Land O’Lakes Award for Food Innovation

For projects that demonstrate creativity, innovation, and excellence in the study of food science.

High School ($500):

HS-PLNT-166 - Emelyn Beaster (Duluth), Using Phytoaccumulation To End Mineral Deficiencies

“Brilliant idea to combat mineral deficiencies in highly impacted areas of the world. The student presentation was exceptional and the student responded to questions well.” —SSEF Judge

HS-PLNT-328 - Maya Silver (Bloomington), Applied natural selection: the effect of sethoxydim on lipid production in algae

“Brilliant research with a great promise; the future results of this study could help the biofuel industry. The student has a very detailed knowledge of the subject matter and understand the background of the research well, from the molecular to applied aspects.” —SSEF Judge

Middle School ($500):

MS-ANIM-093 - Aidan Moeller (Lake Crystal), A Crushing Eggsperiment

“Aidan, very interesting project. Very clear communication of your project. Good use of tables and figures in your presentation.” —SSEF Judge

MS-EGSD-129 - Ayeza Moheet (Plymouth), Constructing and testing a biodegradable packaging made from recycled eggshells to preserve fresh fruits

“Really creative idea! I love that the purpose is not only to increase fresh fruit shelf life, but also reuse wastes eggshell material.” —SSEF Judge

Lemelson Foundation

Lemelson Early Inventor Prize

The Lemelson Early Inventor Prize was designed by the Society for Science and The Lemelson Foundation to highlight young inventors whose projects exemplify the ideals of inventive thinking by identifying a challenge in their community and creating a solution that will improve the lives of others.

Middle School ($100):

MS-ENMC-262 - Audryn Hegewald (Woodbury), Rice Pack Holder

“Nice work identifying a problem you were facing, analyzing the problem and working through an experiment to determine the best solution.” —SSEF Judge

MN Environmental Health Association (MEHA)

Award for Excellence in Environmental Health Science

These awards recognize the best projects investigating environmental factors influencing public health.

First Place High School ($200): HS-EAEV-028 - Hans Xu (Rochester), The Effect of Microplastics on Radish Growth

“Well done project and presentation. You have showed an excellent competency with the scientific method and how to design and implement a good experiment. I see a bright future for you in science and technology.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place High School ($100): HS-ENEV-033 - Jennifer Oettinger (Rochester), Where the Rubber Meets the Road: The Development of an Innovative, Reusable, and Energy-Efficient Filter for Microplastics Created Through Tire Wear

Third Place High School ($50): HS-BMED-069 - Audrey Tumberg (Perham), Study of the Correlation Between Water Bottle Materials / Styles and Bacterial Growth

First Place Middle School ($100): MS-CELL-047 - Anders Gulbranson (Rochester), Microorganisms vs Metals

“This is a very interesting topic, and I think you did a great job designing an experiment to answer your question. I think it's great that when your results didn't turn out as you expected, you did more research to determine what may have caused that.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place Middle School ($50): MS-BEHA-039 - Tiffany Kung (Rochester), How Ya Doin'? with COVID-19

Manashree Padiyath

Outstanding STEM Communicator

This award recognizes a student who demonstrates exceptional communication skills. It includes a $25 gift card.

HS-BMED-022 - Christine Song (Rochester), Cure of Breast Cancer - Year 4: First Discovery of New Target Therapy for Aggressive Hormonal Breast Cancer using Clinical Database and 3D Model

“I am very impressed with your commitment to this project and the work you have done over the past 4 years. Your experiments are hypothesis driven and you presented your results clearly. Well done.” —SSEF Judge

Project video can be found above

Mortenson Environmental

Geoscience, Environmental Science, or Sustainability Excellence

This award recognizes the top three projects with a focus on Geoscience, Environmental Science or Sustainability as their primary focus. Winners will receive fossils/specimens.

Winners:

HS-EAEV-143 - Jaxon Bain (Ottertail), Investigation on the Correlation of Dressena polymorpha and Scirpus acutus in Aquatic Ecosystems

HS-EAEV-193 - Will Sedo (Minneapolis), Identifying the Growth Window for Didymosphenia geminata: A Method for In-lab Growth

HS-EGSD-311 - Kyla Fung (Eden Prairie), Pathway to a Sustainable Future: Economic and Technical Feasibility of a Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) Plant
Project video can be found above

Mu Alpha Theta

Mu Alpha Theta Award

This award recognizes the most challenging, original, thorough, and creative investigation of a problem involving mathematics accessible to a high school student (not necessarily in the Mathematics category).

HS-SOFT-340 - Caroline Pirtle (Edina) and Sahana Mangipudi (Plymouth), A Schedule a Day Keeps the Doctor Okay: An Algorithmic and User-Friendly Approach

“This was a great project with a very applicable and useful field of study. Scheduling is a crucial thing that computer science as a whole is well-suited to solve in so many ways, so I liked the unique case you identified.” —SSEF Judge

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Earth Systems Science Award

The winning high school project should incorporate studies including different spheres of the Earth system, their interactions, and change over time.

HS-EAEV-117 - Omar Elkhateeb (New Brighton), Emulating 100 Years of Climate Change

“Omar, great work on your research project! The model you built to simulate climate change was very impressive, and you displayed a deep level of knowledge for your project throughout your presentation.” —SSEF Judge

National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Taking the Pulse of the Planet Award

This award recognizes a high school project that demonstrates understanding of the Earth's dynamic processes.

HS-EAEV-390 - Adithi Rupireddy (Corcoran), A Breath of Fresh Air: Characterizing changes in atmospheric carbon monoxide in the United States to mitigate climate change

“Great topic! Well-motivated and clear-defined research question. You have a very good program skill.” —SSEF Judge

Pepperman-Alpert Memorial Scholarship Fund

Pepperman-Alpert Award FOR CANCER RESEARCH

For research related to the prevention or treatment of cancer.

High School ($100):

HS-CELL-302 - Fazila Mohamed Prem Navaz (Plymouth), Mitigating Metastasis: Utilizing cancer-associated fibroblasts to stop the spread of cancer

“Your project overall holds an important place in the development of treatments targeted toward metastases. Thank you for sharing!” —SSEF Judge

Regeneron

Regeneron Biomedical Science Award

This award recognizes an exceptional student scientist who not only demonstrates an impressive command of biomedical science and research but also embodies Regeneron’s core values and behaviors, known as The Regeneron Way.

($500): HS-BMED-022 - Christine Song (Rochester), Cure of Breast Cancer - Year 4: First Discovery of New Target Therapy for Aggressive Hormonal Breast Cancer using Clinical Database and 3D Model

“I am very impressed with your commitment to this project and the work you have done over the past 4 years. Your experiments are hypothesis driven and you presented your results clearly. Well done.” —SSEF Judge

Ricoh

Sustainable Development Award

The winning project shows outstanding effort in addressing issues of environmental responsibility & sustainable development.

HS-EGSD-311 - Kyla Fung (Eden Prairie), Pathway to a Sustainable Future: Economic and Technical Feasibility of a Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) Plant

“Impressive data collection and analysis ... Your aptitude for business and vision for a greener future will go far!” —SSEF Judge

Science Museum of Minnesota

Science Museum of Minnesota - Science Communication Award

These awards go to participants who have exemplary science communication skills including display, conversation and awareness of the audience.

High School (1 year membership):

HS-BEHA-287 - Lena Pak (Minnetonka), Mixed people in violation of race: can mixed people debunk the race myth?

HS-BEHA-295 - Ramira Ambrose (Plymouth), Women and Women of Color in College Coaching: A Quantitative Report on Head Coach Composition and Turnover for NCAA Division I Soccer

HS-PLNT-330 - Christina Radichel (Edina) and Ayres Warren (Eden Prairie), You Are My Soil-Mate: The Effects of Fertilizer Composition on Radish Plant Growth

Middle School (1 year membership):

MS-ANIM-180 - Johanna Bernu (Cloquet), Disinfectant Properties of Nuphar Advena: An Ethnopharmaceutical Approach

MS-BMED-250 - Olivia Hamann (Burnsville), Don't Fall Flat

MS-MATS-062 - Elizabeth Petersen (Rochester), How do I make carmel stick to apple flesh?

Society for In Vitro Biology

Outstanding Achievement for Ability and Creativity in In Vitro Biology

This award recognizes the most outstanding 11th grade student exhibiting in the areas of plant or animal in vitro biology or tissue culture.

HS-MCRO-323 - Ava Chen (Eden Prairie), Analyzing the effects of Lactobacillus Rhamnosus as an alternative to antidepressants on Caenorhabditis elegans model organisms by determining its impact on locomotion, lifespan, and pharyngeal pumping rates

“Excellent work! You made your contribution to the existing body of research, and the implication of your research findings in helping treat depression, very clear.” —SSEF Judge

SPIE – The International Society for Optics & Photonics

Optics & Photonics Award

This award recognizes the best projects demonstrating scientific research and applications of optics. photonics or a related field.

First Place High School ($250): HS-BMED-075 - Elayna Kawlewski (Perham), The Study of Bacterial Growth on Different Face Masks

“I appreciate the novelty and relevance of your project to today's situation, and loved your poster design! Due to the previous shortage of N95 and surgical masks, many medical professionals had to reuse masks over the course of a few days, and I believe your project strongly supports the situations in many medical settings.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place High School ($150): HS-BMED-070 - Clara Tangen (City), Not All Sun and Games: A Study on the Effectiveness of Sun Preventatives

Third Place High School ($100): HS-PLNT-204 - Isabel Toghramadjian (Blaine), Optimizing photoperiod to improve drought tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana

First Place Middle School ($150): MS-ENMC-099 - Rohan Sharma (Mankato), Light without Sunlight

“Very impressive project. You did a really nice job delivering your story. You were enthusiastic about the project and had good analytical approach to the experiment.” —SSEF Judge

Second Place Middle School ($100): MS-CELL-045 - Maggie Huebert (Oronoco), Effects Of Sanitization On Microbial Growth

Third Place Middle School ($50): MS-PHYS-102 - Brennan Glawe (New Ulm), Going Green on the Red Planet

U.S. Air Force

Air Force Achievement Award

This award goes to an outstanding high school project that focuses on science and technology, preferably with Air Force applicability.

HS-EGSD-314 - Benjamin Rex (Wayzata) and Grayson Roberts (Minneapolis), Growing Fuel: Enhancing Phytoplankton Growth with Ferrous Sulfate to Reduce the Cost of Biofuel

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)

Science Champion Award

For scientific excellence and using science in an innovative way to create a potential solution to international development challenges. The award winner receives a social media toolkit.

HS-ENEV-119 - Abdullah Saidi (Maple Grove) and Mohammed Omer (Blaine), Designing an Autonomous Solar Powered Robot Capable of Filtering out Excess Phosphorus and Nitrogen from Waterways to Naturalize the Process of Eutrophication

“Impressive design! I am excited for you future work testing the filtering capabilities of your robot. Also, great job establishing the background and reasons for needed nitrogen and phosphorus removal to prevent eutrophication.” —SSEF Judge

U.S. Metric Association

Best Use of the International System of Units

This award recognizes a project that involves a significant amount of quantitative measurement and which best uses the SI metric system for those measurements.

HS-EGSD-030 - Nathan Dietz (Chatfield), Triboelectric Nanogenerators

“Taking on possible small designs to make a large impact in the climate crisis is becoming more important everyday. Your thoughts and execution to collect data followed a simple outline and was easy to follow along with.” —SSEF Judge

U.S. Navy

Naval Science Award

For outstanding individual projects in science & engineering.

High School ($75):

HS-BMED-114 - Paige Jacobson (Grand Rapids), COVID-19 and Lyme Collide

HS-ENMC-230 - Nickolas Zander (Hudson, WI), The Engineering Behind Theme Park Rides: Creating and Coding a Model Theme Park Ride

HS-ROBO-333 - Kevin Armstrong II (Minneapolis), Robotic Arm Plants for Climate Change

Middle School:

MS-BMED-347 - Evelyn Danz (Eden Prairie), Stop the Clot: The Effect of Anticoagulants on Thrombosis

MS-MATS-087 - Hailey Frueh (Fargo), Behind the Mask

MS-MATS-107 - Mollie Rogness (Moorhead), To Burn or not to Burn: That is the question

Water Environment Federation

Stockholm Junior Water Prize

These water-related high school science projects win entry into a state competition.

HS-ANIM-165 - Rowan Rock (Cloquet), Wastewater Treatment: The Use of Mealworm Gut Bacteria (Tenebrio molitor) to Isolate and Identify Bacteria that can Biodegrade Polystyrene

HS-EAEV-305 - Anna Geldert (Minnetonka), Using mycoremediation as a treatment technique to reduce heavy metal concentration in model mine effluent

HS-ENEV-317 - John Cardwell (Minneapolis), Testing the Waters: Engineering an Innovative Method of Water Health Analysis, Year II

Yale Science & Engineering Association, Inc.

Most Outstanding Exhibit in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or Chemistry

This award recognizes the most outstanding 11th grade project exhibiting in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In some cases it may be awarded to a 10th or 12th grade project.

HS-PHYS-236 - Tarun Kota (Eagan), Detection and Characterization of Astronomical Dwarfs using CatWISE

“Your knowledge of the topic and easy flow of your presentation drew me in. I could tell you are genuinely interested in this and did the research on your own. Keep up the great work!” —SSEF Judge

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