[April 4, 2024, St. Paul, MN] – Over 350 middle and high school students from schools across Minnesota competed in the 87th annual Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair (SSEF) on March 22 at the St. Paul RiverCentre. The State Science Fair is made possible by Medtronic, the event’s Premier Sponsor. Participating students advanced from regional science fairs throughout Minnesota to participate in this prestigious state event organized by the MInnesota Academy of Science (MAS).

“Medtronic and its employees have a long history of supporting the next generation of problem solvers,” said Lara Maupin, MAS Executive Director. “We are so thankful Medtronic has taken on the role of Premier Sponsor, opening a new and exciting chapter in our relationship. By making sure Minnesota’s student researchers have a state-level opportunity for recognition, Medtronic is providing vital support for our entire statewide system of school and regional fairs that feed into the State Science Fair.”

Dozens of companies and organizations, including Medtronic, awarded more than $20,000 in cash prizes and other awards. STEM professionals, including employees at Medtronic, served as volunteer judges, reviewing student projects to provide feedback and determine award winners, 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): Alexander Bartholomew (Minneapolis), Analysis of machine learning techniques on electroencephalography data to detect mild traumatic brain injury in humans

• Second place high school ($500): Fernanda Arreola-Lucio (Shorewood), Like finding a needle in a blood sac! Novel creation of Gelatinous Microneedle Adhesive (Gel MNA) polymerized with methacrylic anhydride, fibrinogen, and zeolite coagulation agents to eliminate axial body frame hemorrhage

• Third place high school ($250): Cerena Karmaliani (Minneapolis), The Absorbency of Home-Compounded Transdermal Pain Medication in Comparison to Industrially Manufactured Voltaren Gel

• First place middle school ($750): Jack Gao (North Oaks), The Impact of Electric Vehicle Adoption and Electrification

• Second place middle school ($500): Aditi Sriram (Rochester), How Does Motion Artifact Affect the Accuracy of a Photoplethysmogram

• Third place middle school ($250): Grace Hunt (Minneapolis), Powder Prints

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. 

• Biomedical Applications high school winner ($500): Snigdha Tungtur (Plymouth), Lineage-Tracing of Cardiac Fibroblasts that are Reprogrammed to Endothelial Cells

• Biomedical Applications middle school winner ($500): Nora Fay (Thief River Falls), Light Timer

• Science & Engineering high school winner ($500): Finn Cairns (Minneapolis), ViABL: Visual Assistant for the Blind with VLMs

• Science & Engineering middle school winner ($500): Olivia Zhou (Eden Prairie), Growing Marshmallows

• Sustainability high school winner ($500): Mitchel Masters (Lake Crystal), Are Tesla Turbines worth it? A deep dive into Tesla turbines in the hydroelectric industry

• Sustainability middle school winner ($500): Sandor Pratt (Elk River), Sour Power! Testing how the acidity of certain foods impact how much power they can generate if they are put in a lemon battery-like form

Please visit mnmas.org/2024-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 Alliance for Volunteer Advancement / Americorps Volunteer Generation Fund, Minnesota Department of Education, Ecolab, Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, Broadcom Foundation, Hardenbergh Foundation, and H.B. Fuller.