MCSF Students Named Delegates to the American Junior Academy of Sciences!

Posted on September 29, 2025 by Registration

Congratulations to Prayrona Chowdhury and Sonali Santhosh, both from Hanford High School, who were recently named as delegates to the American Junior Academy of Sciences (AJAS)! Prayrona and Sonali are now invited to travel with the other Washington State delegates to attend the 2026 AJAS conference, which will be held in Phoenix, Arizona.

Click here to see the full list of Washington State AJAS delegates, with video overviews of each project. Prayrona’s Project was: “AquaLink: Determining Freshwater Species Abundance Using the Multiscale Convergence of Chemical and Biological Processes“. Sonali’s project was: “Cracking the Seizure Code: A Deep Learning Approach to Neonatal Seizure Detection Utilizing Hybrid Architecture for Multi-Scale EEG Analysis“.

The American Junior Academy of Sciences (AJAS) is a program of National Association of Academies of Science (NAAS) to recognize American high school students for outstanding scientific research. The Washington State Academy of Sciences nominates students to serve as AJAS delegates representing Washington State at the annual AJAS conference. This program is meant to recognize talented young scientists and encourage them to pursue careers in STEM fields.

Congratulations!

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MCSF Student Named a Top Innovator in the Thermo-Fisher JIC!

Posted on September 17, 2025 by Registration

Congratulations to Samuel Wang, who was recently named one of the Top 300 Innovators in the 2025 Thermo-Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge! Samuel completed his science project, “Multimodal Acoustic Frequency Modulation for Autonomous Fire Suppression: AI-Enhanced Spatiotemporal Mapping and Fire Dynamics Analysis”, while he was an 8th grader at Enterprise Middle School in Richland. Samuel was nominated for this competition by the Mid-Columbia Regional Science and Engineering Fair. The Thermo-Fisher JIC, run by the Society for Science, is the one of the nation’s top STEM competitions for middle schoolers. View the press release here: https://www.societyforscience.org/…/thermo-fisher-jic…/

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Regeneron ISEF 2025

Posted on May 18, 2025 by Registration

Five Mid-Columbia students recently attended at the 2025 Regeneron ISEF in Columbus, Ohio: Advaitha Motkuri, Sonali Santhosh, and Sydney West won their spots to compete at ISEF from the Mid-Columbia Regional Science and Engineering Fair, and Isabella Pinto won the opportunity to compete by winning the Silver Grand Champion award at WSSEF. The Mid-Columbia Regional Science and Engineering Fair also sponsored Aarav Shrivastava to attend ISEF as an observer. In all, nearly 1,700 young scientists representing 48 U.S. states and more than 60 countries presented projects at the 2025 ISEF! You can view all the projects presented at this year’s ISEF at: https://isef.net/home.

L-R: MCSF students attending ISEF: Sydney West, Sonali Santhosh, Advaitha Motkuri, and Aarav Shrivastava (Student Observer)

Congratulations to the Mid-Columbia students who won awards at ISEF:

  • Sydney West won The IEEE Foundation Presidents’ Scholarship Award of $10,000, an Honorable Mention from International Council on Systems Engineering – INCOSE, and a 3rd place Grand Award of $1200 in Robotics and Intelligent Machines
  • Sonali Santhosh won a 3rd place Grand Award of $1200 in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics

Click the project title links below to read more about the Mid-Columbia student projects at the 2025 Regeneron ISEF:

Advaitha Motkuri, 12th Grade, Richland High School

Project: ASDetect: Detecting Early Signs of ASD

Sonali Santhosh, 11th Grade, Hanford High School

Project: Neonatal Seizure Detection Using a Hybrid AI Model

Sydney West, 12th Grade, Hanford High School

Project: Engineering an Intelligent ROV for Coral Research

Isabella Pinto, 12th Grade, Hanford High School

Project: Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage System

THANK YOU to MCSF’s many sponsors whose support allowed these students to attend ISEF!

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MCSF Students win awards at State FFA Competition!

Posted on May 5, 2025 by Registration

Several Mid-Columbia students recently won awards for their research projects at the WA State FFA Agriscience Fair that was held on April 12 in Puyallup. 1st place state winners are eligible to advance to the National Agriscience Fair, which will be held in Indianapolis, Indiana this fall. Best of luck to everyone competing at Nationals!

1st Place (National Qualifiers!)
Amanda Avina Lopez: Division 3 Plant Systems (Eisenhower HS)
Siena Emhoff: Division 5 Power, Structure, and Technology Systems (Eisenhower HS)
Joselyn Meija: Division 5 Animal Systems (Eisenhower HS)
Claire Sheehan: Division 5 Environmental and Natural Resources (Sunnyside HS)

2nd Place
Tamara Cabara Nava – Division 5 Power, Structure, and Technology Systems (Eisenhower HS)
Mercedez Garza: Division 5 Animal Systems (Eisenhower HS)
Emily Holtzinger – Division 5 Environmental and Natural Resources Systems (Eisenhower HS)
Jimena Reyna Cuevas – Division 5 Plant Systems (Eisenhower HS)

3rd Place
Joanna Lopez – Division 5 Environmental and Natural Resources Systems (Eisenhower HS)

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Mid-Columbia Students win Special Awards at the 2025 WSSEF!

Posted on April 22, 2025 by Registration

Congratulations to the following Mid-Columbia students who won Special Awards at the 2025 Washington State Science and Engineering Fair!

High School Special Awards

Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association PNW Chapter Excellence in Technology
Lila Rice

Navy League of the U.S. ~ Bremerton / Olympic Peninsula Council STEM Award
Sydney West

Norman E. Borlaug Excellence in Sustainability Award
Brianna Rios-Aguilar
Jimena Mondragon

Office of Naval Research ~ Naval Science Award
Sydney West

Ohio Wesleyen University ~ Outstanding Achievement in Science Scholarship
Isabella Pinto
Sonali Santhosh

Sigma Xi Award
Sydney West

U.S. Army Awards for Outstanding STEM Accomplishments
Sydney West

U.S. Metric Association Award
Isabella Pinto

Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture ~ Washington State University Scholarship
Isabella Pinto

Washington State Dental Association ~ Oral Health Award
Rohan Nune

Water Environment Federation Stockholm Junior Water Prize
Brisa Longoria-Sosa
Yadira Garibay
Zagidh Ruelas

Middle School Special Awards

Margaret I. Lugg Young Explorer Award
Samuel Wang

Museum of Flight ~ ‘Sights of Flight’ Award
Sophia Samaan

Navy League of the U.S. ~ Bremerton / Olympic Peninsula Council STEM Award
Samuel Wang

Office of Naval Research (ONR) ~ Junior Division
Samuel Wang

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Mid-Columbia Students 1st Place and Grand Champion Awards at WSSEF!

Posted on April 18, 2025 by Registration

Several Mid-Columbia students presented their projects at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair March 28-29, 2025.

Isabella Pinto, from Hanford HS, was named WSSEF’s Silver Grand Champion, winning an all-expenses paid trip to present her project at ISEF!

Samuel Wang, from Enterprise MS, won the overall Best of Grade 8 Award!

Congratulations to the following students who won 1st place awards for their work:

High School

AashritaBhamidimarri11An AI Based Personalized Allergy
Alert System
DayanaraBracamontes10How does the amount of sugars vary in fallen leaves?
LeonardoCampos9How do environmental factors affect the physiology of crickets?
PrayronaChoudhury10AquaLink -Determining Freshwater Species Abundance Using the Multiscale Convergence of Chemical and Biological Processes
AngelJoshi11From Mutation to Malignancy: Informatic Investigation of Glioblastoma Protein Alterations
EthanLopez10What are the effects of mulch on different types of soil?
JimenaMondragon11Can fruit extracts from field waste be used to create a low-cost biofertilizer?
AdvaithaMotkuri12ASDetect: Detecting Early Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder Using AI-Based Facial Recognition Techniques
RohanNune9Bridging Health: Revealing the Connection Between Periodontal Disease and Diabetes
IsabellaPinto12How a High-Temperature Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage System Can Be Implemented in Vehicles as an Exceptionally Eco-Friendly Power Supply
SonaliSanthosh11Cracking the Seizure Code:​ A Deep Learning Approach to Neonatal Seizure Detection Utilizing Hybrid Architecture for Multi-Scale EEG Analysis
AaravShrivastava9Applying Deep Learning for Wildfire Identification: Economical and Accessible Solutions Leveraging Small Datasets
SydneyWest12The Design and Engineering of an Intelligent Remotely Operated Vehicle for Coral Reef Research and Monitoring

Middle School

ChloeCustodio8Creating a Fish Trap Structure to Capture Microplastics
SophiaSamaan7Wind Turbine Efficiency: How Does Shape and Angle of Wings Yield Maximum Power in Producing Green Hydrogen?
SamuelWang8Sonic Fire Suppression: Multimodal Acoustic Frequency Modulation and Fire Dynamics Analysis
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2025 Fair Photos

Posted on March 19, 2025 by Registration

Fair day and Awards ceremony photos are now available – click the following links to view and download pictures from the 70th Mid-Columbia Regional Science and Engineering Fair.

Fair Day Photos

Awards Ceremony Photos

Thank you to our photographers: Vaithi Shutthanandan, Daylin Olsen, Preston Oakes, Brian Palmer, Joyce Stark, and Jeff Brown.

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2025 Fair Awards

Posted on March 16, 2025 by Registration

Thank you to all the students who presented their research projects at this year’s fair! The list of MCSF Fair Awards and Special Awards is now posted at: https://midcolumbiasciencefair.org/2025-awards/. Congratulations to all the award winners! Thank you to MCSF’s many sponsors who make these awards possible!

If you received an award, please send a thank you note – addresses were included in the information sent to each school. If you don’t know where to send your letter, you can mail it c/o MCSF Association, 2530 Albemarle Ct., Richland WA 99354

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Awards Ceremony is Saturday, March 15

Posted on March 14, 2025 by Registration

The MCSF Awards Ceremony is Saturday March 15 from 1-4:30pm at the Chief Joseph MS Auditorium. The school is located at 504 Wilson St. in Richland. The year’s speaker is Dr. Manoj Karkee, from WSU – Prosser. His talk is titled “AI and Robotics for Specialty Crops”.

Students – remembers to wear the second name tag that you received yesterday.  

We hope you can join us to learn who has won awards at this year’s fair!

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Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF)

Posted on March 10, 2025 by Registration

Students – you now have a new milestone on your STEM Wizard Dashboard – the “Promotion to WSSEF” milestone is how you let us know that you want to also participate in the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF).  Students who answer “yes” in this milestone will have their projects electronically promoted to WSSEF after the Mid-Columbia fair is done.

Here’s more information about WSSEF:

Competing at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair
The 2025 WSSEF dates are:
Grades 1-8: March 28, 2025
Grades 9-12: March 29, 2025
See the full schedule at: http://wssef.org/

WSSEF is held in-person at Bremerton High School, Bremerton WA 
There is a $30 fee to participate.

Mid-Columbia Science and Engineering Fair Students who want to also present their project at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair (WSSEF) must answer “yes” inside the “Promotion to WSSEF” milestone by 9pm on Tuesday, March 11. All students with eligible projects who fully participate in the Mid-Columbia Science and Engineering Fair can also compete at WSSEF. Once the Mid-Columbia Fair is complete, the fair director will electronically promote projects to the WSSEF STEM Wizard site. This will send your Research Plan, Forms, and Abstract directly to the WSSEF STEM Wizard site. DO NOT directly register on the WSSEF site, your project must be promoted from the Mid-Columbia Science and Engineering Fair. 

Once your project has been promoted from the Mid-Columbia Fair, you will receive an email from WSSEF which will give you further instructions on completing your WSSEF registration and paying your registration fees. Logging in to your student account after it has been uploaded to WSSEF will show “Washington State Science and Engineering Fair” at the top of the page. Contact registration@midcolumbiasciencefair.org with any questions about promoting your project to WSSEF.

After your project has been promoted, you must log into your account at: https://wssef.stemwizard.com and complete the following items by the stated deadline. NOTE: There is very short time this year between the Mid-Columbia Fair and WSSEF – please complete these items promptly once your project has been promoted!

Deadline: March 15, 2025 at 11:55 PM.
1. Pay the WSSEF Entry Fee by March 15, 2025. WSSEF Entry Fees are separate from any Regional Fair Entry Fees. You are responsible for paying the entry fee or checking with your school, fair or organization to make sure they have arranged for payment.
2. All WSSEF milestones must be completed including the “Additional Information” Milestone.
3. Optional Research Paper for Grade 9 – 12 can be submitted if desired
4. Any category changes can be requested from the WSSEF Registration Team. Send an email to registration@wssef.org with your request. If approved, the WSSEF Registration Team will contact you by email.

You can learn more about WSSEF at their website: https://wssef.org/

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