[April 23, 2025, St. Paul, MN] – A total of 434 middle and high school students from schools across Minnesota competed in the 88th annual Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair on March 28 at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul. The State Science Fair is made possible through the support of Medtronic, the event’s Premier Sponsor. Students advance from regional science fairs throughout Minnesota to participate in this prestigious state event organized by the Minnesota Academy of Science (MAS). Numerous professional scientists, including employees at Medtronic, served as volunteer judges, reviewing student projects to provide feedback and determine award winners.
2025 Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair Medtronic award winners
“Medtronic and its employees have a longstanding tradition of supporting the next generation of scientists in Minnesota,” said Kristen Barry, MAS Executive Director. “We are incredibly grateful to have Medtronic as the Premier Sponsor of the State Science Fair. Through their commitment to ensuring Minnesota’s student researchers receive state-level recognition, Medtronic plays a vital role in supporting the statewide network of school and regional fairs that lead to the State Science Fair.”
Dozens of companies and organizations, including Medtronic, awarded more than $20,000 in cash prizes and other awards at the State Science Fair. including:
The Medtronic Innovation Award, which recognizes students whose projects exemplify excellence through innovative ideas, self-motivated independent work, passion for discovery and science, and the potential to impact their category or the world. All winners receive an invitation to spend a day at Medtronic with a Technical Fellow.
First place high school ($750): Milan Darji (Eden Prairie), Custom Enzymes to Custom Care: Ushering in the Era of Personalized Medicine Using a Novel Approach for Engineering Enzyme Specificity
Second place high school ($500): Rathan Duggirala (Rochester), Optimizing Biological Paint Drying Time with Cellulose Nanocrystals and Chitosan Additives: A Comparative Study with Commercial Paints - Year 4
Third place high school ($250): Vick Tan (Eden Prairie), A Reusable Teabag for Bioremediation of Arsenic from Drinking Water
First place middle school ($750): Claire Carlson (Golden Valley), How well do different cleaning agents halt the anaerobic fermentation process of yeast and its carbon dioxide output?
Second place middle school ($500): Lauren Chon (Rochester), Emmy Diehn (Rochester) & Hekla Thorvardardottir (Rochester), How Does Vaping Affect Tetrahymena Cells
Third place middle school ($250): Colleen Mahr (Rochester), Helping diagnose corneal ulcers using AI machine learning
The Medtronic Technical Achievement Award, which recognizes students whose projects demonstrate excellence through imagination and inventiveness, tackling a challenging technical question, rigorous scientific inquiry and execution, and the potential to solve a technical problem. All winners receive an invitation to spend a day at Medtronic with a Technical Fellow.
Biomedical Applications high school ($500): Mira Jayant (Excelsior), HOPE: A Novel Automated Device for Hemorrhage Control in Pediatric Firearm Emergencies
Biomedical Applications middle school ($500): Grace Kaspar (Rochester), How Can a Generative AI-Powered Virtual Agent and a Mobile App Improve Better Manage Health and Lifestyle of Patients with Thyroid Diseases?
Science & Engineering high school ($500): Riddhi Pritam Singhvi (Woodbury), Decoding Diabetes: Harnessing AI to Accurately Predict Real-Time and Future Blood Glucose Levels For Diabetes Management Using Diet, Exercise, Insulin Intake, and Heart Rate Variability
Science & Engineering middle school ($500): Maria Kenderian (Rochester), Effect of Artificial Food Ingredients on Health: Using Daphnia Magna as a Model
Sustainability high school ($500): John Liu (St. Paul), Solar-Enhanced Biomass-based Filtration System for Removing Microplastics and Heavy Metals
Sustainability middle school ($500): Nora Fay (Thief River Falls), Water Tester
Please visit mnmas.org/2025-ssef-awards to see the full list of award winners. The Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair is a program of the Minnesota Academy of Science. Medtronic is the event’s Premier Sponsor. Additional support comes from the Minnesota Alliance for Volunteer Advancement / Americorps Volunteer Generation Fund, the Broadcom Foundation, and other generous sponsors and donors.
