In mid-May, international science 2025 and Engineering Fair (ISEF) took place in Columbus, Ohio. It is the largest science competition in the world for students who have not yet gone to university. The Grand Prix went to a student from Slovakia for a new way of doing a medication. Other prices have gone to creative projects solving real world problems.
ISEF is a scientific competition for students from 9th to 12th year. It is intended to encourage students to explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The competition is open to students from around the world and is a special opportunity for students to show their scientific projects. This year, around 1,700 students from 48 US states and more than 60 other countries participated.
(Source: Society of Sciences.)
This year was the 75th year of the ISEF, which took place for the first time in 1950. It was organized by the Society for Science, with the support of the pharmaceutical company, Regeneron. There are many prices, but the main price is the price of $ 100,000 George D. Yancopoulos Innovator.
The winner of the Grand Prix of this year was Adam Kovalčík, 19, from Slovakia. Adam won with a project that has created a new way to make a drug to fight virus. The medication, called Galidivir, can work well against many different viruses. But the drug is currently expensive and difficult to do.
(Source: Society of Sciences.)
Adam’s new method to make the drug was much simpler and cheaper. He found a way to make drugs from corn shells (leaves covering a corn ear). Her method uses 10 steps instead of 15, it is much faster and does much more medication. Adam’s new method could reduce the cost of Galidivir by more than 80%.
Adam was delighted to win. “I did not expect that such a huge international competition was won by someone from a small village in a small European country,” he told Business Insider. “It was therefore a pure shock.”
(Source: Society of Sciences.)
Two students from the United States, Benjamin Davis and Siyaa Poddar, each won a Regeneron Young Scientist Prize of $ 75,000.
Benjamin, 16, is from Wrentham, Massachusetts. He created a waste plastic recycling system created during 3D printing so that it can be used again. Benjamin has designed and built his plastic recycling machine in his home workshop. The machine is better and faster than similar recycling machines and costs around 90% less. He also tested the recycling of other plastic waste with his machine.
(Source: Society of Sciences.)
Siyaa Poddar, sixteen, of Chandler, Arizona has won its prize for having created a system that detects toxic dust in the air. In the southwest of the United States, the toxic dust of old mines is a serious concern and has caused health problems for many. Siyaa has created a cheap chemical system that changes color when it comes into contact with toxic dust. Its system facilitates the test of toxic dust in the air.
Many young students who work hard and talented have won other prizes in a wide range of scientific and technological fields. In all, the competition offered more than $ 9 million as a price.