Meet the past winners

Adithya explores the unique visual systems of birds—from lateral eye placement to ultraviolet detection—and how modern aerospace engineering is using these avian vision facts to design aircraft technology aimed at preventing aviation bird strikes.

Anshul predicts which head and neck cancer patients are most likely to respond to immunotherapy using gene expression data. By integrating multiple datasets, he explains how an AI model identifies consistent patterns linked to treatment response based on a panel of gene expression collected by QPCR. This approach aims to support more informed, cost-effective treatment decisions by helping clinicians match patients to therapies more accurately.

Saasha describes how the back of her grandmother’s neck revealed signs of undiagnosed diabetes that went unnoticed for sixteen years. No one had read it. “Left on Read” explores how today’s AI tools analyze eye and skin signals separately and imagines a multimodal approach that could detect systemic illness years earlier, potentially from a single photo taken on a phone.

Jack Lynch explains how bass and bluegill see the world differently from humans and how this understanding can help raise awareness, create sustainable fishing practices, and assist conservation efforts.

Akshara Srinivas explains the science behind using hammerhead shark adaptations, known as tubercles, to improve the energy capture efficiency of wind turbine blades. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation results, supported by physical experiments, demonstrate the futuristic potential of biomimicry as a scientific discipline.

Muhammad Fawwaz and Maxwell Grace highlight the AI Eye and Smart Cane, innovative assistive devices designed to help visually impaired individuals navigate their surroundings confidently. They want to empower users with greater independence through accessible AI-driven solutions.

Dan Aasa sees science in every part of life—not just in the classroom but in sports, singing, and more. His video showcases his understanding of science and helps others learn how science affects our everyday lives through a creative and fun music video.

Aaron and Ethan Shao want to help everyone see our universe through a different lens and understand gravitational waves a little better. Their video breaks down Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity and uses simple demonstrations to explain what gravitational waves are and how we detect them.

Amy Sun believes that good science is the path to solving our most complex problems—especially when it comes to serious health conditions like cancer. Her video explains the impact of eye cancer and explores how today’s research on eye cancer can lead to better treatments for this condition in the future.

Thuy-Tien Tran is passionate about understanding vision science—and coming up with unique solutions to prevent blindness. Thuy-Tien’s video highlights creative ways to get people with vision problems the support they need.

Celia Cooley plays a hands-on role in protecting local streams. Celia’s video gives step-by-step instructions for tracking populations of aquatic insects and crustaceans to help monitor water quality.

Mark Leschinsky invented a reusable, self-disinfecting hazmat suit to help keep health care workers safe. Mark’s video shows how the suit can protect health workers caring for people with diseases like Ebola or COVID-19.

Meenakshi Ambati is a high school senior with an eye on the future of macular degeneration treatment. Her award-winning video shares an association between atrophic macular degeneration and the medicine fluoxetine, also known as Prozac.

Sanjana Kumar is a high school sophomore with a passion for keeping people safe on the road. Sanjana’s research uses human blink patterns (or eye aspect ratios) to identify when drivers are drowsy or distracted. She hopes to turn this research into a consumer-facing vehicle device to prevent accidents.