San Diego Students Win 8 Awards at Regeneron ISEF

Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair students won eight awards worth $6,300 at the 76th Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona. Eleven students represented the regional fair, including two who qualified through the California Science and Engineering Fair. About 1,700 finalists from 365 affiliated fairs in more than 60 countries, regions and territories competed for more than $7 million in prizes. The San Diego group earned one second-place award, one third-place award and four fourth-place awards.

Award Winning Projects

Shounak Ray Chaudhuri, a Grade 12 student at Francis Parker School, received a second-place Grand Award of $2,400 for “Novel Scalable Autonomous Vehicle Systems for Emerging Markets.” He also received an INCOSE Honorable Mention.

Emma Liu, a Grade 11 student at The Bishop’s School, received a third-place Grand Award of $1,200 for “Computational Pipeline for High-Throughput 3D Quantification of Cell States in Polymorphonuclear Neutrophils.”

Kayley Xu, Claire Lim, Ihan Sung and Ethan Hu each received fourth-place Grand Awards of $600. Sung also received the Aramco Excellence in Energy and Environmental Stewardship Second Award of $300.

Finalists Across STEM Fields

Janet Yang, Charles Brum and Ryan Rezaei were ISEF finalists in behavioral and social sciences and computational biology and bioinformatics. Giles Del Priore and Ronald Wyatt were ISEF finalists in robotics and intelligent machines for their project, “Design and Evaluation of a Behaviorally Grounded, Caregiver-Governed AI Companion for Individuals With Memory Impairment.”

Full results and the project showcase are available online.

A Regional Science Competition

Founded in 1955, the Greater San Diego Science and Engineering Fair brings together 800 middle and high school students, more than 400 professional judges and over 60 professional societies and organizations. The volunteer-run 501(c)(3) organization awards more than $40,000 in prizes and serves students in San Diego and Imperial counties.