The Pre-approval process is happening now!

All 1st year schools & any other school who want to submit paperwork (pdf) early for projects requiring pre-approval need to do so by 3:00 pm on September 20, 2024. Otherwise, all projects requiring pre-approval must be submitted for review no later than October 11, 2024. Please click on the IMPORTANT DATES button below for more information and links to submit paperwork.

Three middle school students named to the Top 300 Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators

Congratulations to three of our middle school students who were named in the 2024 Top 300 Junior Innovators! The top 300 middle school students were selected from a pool of 1,862 entrants throughout the United States.  

The Top 300 Junior Innovators are  honored for their work with a $125 cash prize through the Society’s partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense as  a member of the Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC). The Top 300 Junior Innovators also receive a prize package that includes an award ribbon, 2 a certificate of accomplishment, a backpack, a decal, a one-year subscription to Science News Explores magazine and a one-year subscription to Wolfram|Alpha Notebook Edition, courtesy of Wolfram Research. In recognition of the role that teachers  play in the success of their students, each Top 300 Junior Innovator’s designated teacher will also receive  a Thermo Fisher JIC tote bag and  a one-year subscription to  Science News Explores magazine
They are:

Adrian Alvarez (Grade 8) from Lockhart Middle School

Gauri Borkar (Grade 7) from Orlando Science Middle School

Judah Nathaniel Stanley (Grade 8) from International Community School.     

We will find out in two weeks if any of them make the Top 30.  These students will be invited to Finals Week of the competition, held in Washington, DC, from October 25th – 30th. 

Dr. Nelson Ying Orange County Science Exposition students dominate the Lockheed Martin Science Challenge!

Ying Expo Juniors won five of the eight Junior categories. First place and $400.00 cash went to:

• Malak Salem - Biochemistry

• Aniska Sharma - Engineering

• Abigail Merchant - Intelligent Machines, Robotics and Systems Software

• Guiari Borkar - Mathematics and Computational Sciences

• Aniska Jindal - Physics and Astronomy

Ying Expo Seniors won three of the eight Senior categories. First place and $400.00 cash went to:

• Ashna Mathur - Engineering

• Tiffani Gay - Environmental Engineering

• Jerry Chen - Physics and Astronomy

And Tiffani Gay won First place overall, Best in Fair for the second time in her young life! The award also included a $4000.00 cash prize to Tiffani and $1000.00 to her teacher, Mrs. Judy Bright of Orlando Science High School. Congratulations!!

Congratulations to Atreya Manaswi and Mahie Patil, finalists in the Dr. Nelson Ying Science Competition. Atreya would win the competition for the second year in a row. Atreya’s winning project is part of his multi-year research to combat the decline of the honeybee population, which pollinates 80% of global food crops. Since 1947, honeybee numbers have dropped by 50% due to pests and chemicals. Last year, he created an organic, beer-based solution as effective as chemical pesticides but non-toxic and 80 times cheaper. This year, he developed a solar-powered, AI-driven trap to monitor and predict pest infestations. The 3D-printed, reusable trap holds the beer blend and tracks pests, aiding beekeepers’ inefficient pest management.

And congratulations to Tiffani Gay and Mahie Patil again! This time they were third and first, respectively, in the 2024 Florida Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition. The Stockholm Junior Water Prize (SJWP) is considered the most prestigious international award presented to a high school student who has conducted research in the water sciences.

The awards for the 21st Annual Dr. Nelson Ying Orange County Science Exposition were announced on February 22, 2024.

Click on the button below to see the full list of winners.

Winners at the 2024 Florida State Science and Engineering Fair in Lakeland, Florida.

Junior Division

Recognition Award to:

Olivia Gulsoy – Lake Eola Charter School

Honorable Mention to:

Tala Hnahen – Leaders Preparatory School

Fourth Place to:

Anya Bolleneni – Orlando Science Middle School

Third place to:

Sarah Larche – International Community School

Anishka Sharma – Orlando Science Middle School

Abigail Merchant – Orlando Science Middle School

Gauri Borkar – Orlando Science Middle School

Second Place to:

Malak Salem – Leaders Preparatory School

Aarit Dixit – Orlnado Science Middle School

Adrian Jose Alvarez – Lockhart Middle School

First Place to:

Aayan Patel – Orlando Science Middle School

Anishka Jindal – Orlando Science Middle School

Aakash Manaswi – Lake Highland Preparatory School

Junior Grand Champion

Aakash Manaswi – Lake Highland Preparatory School

Senior Division

Honorable Mention to:

Neha Patil – Lake Highland Preparatory School

Fourth Place to:

Ashna Mathur – Lake Highland Preparatory School

Mahie Mangesh Patil – Orlando Science High School

Jerry Chen – Trinity Preparatory School

Third Place to:

Harris Layson – Lake Highland Preparatory School

Aanvi Mathur – Orlando Science High School

First Place to:

Dylan Wang – Trinity Preparatory School

Tiffani Gay – Orlando Science High School

Atreya Manaswi – Orlando Science High School

Senior Grand Champion

Atreya Manaswi – Orlando Science High School