Students from Madison High School, Marshall High School, and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST) captured grand prize awards at the 2024 Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair held at Old Dominion University. These students have qualified to compete at the International Science and Engineering Fair in Los Angeles, May 12-17. Seventy-eight students from FCPS participated in the state level fair.

The grand prize winners were:

• Wesley Kang of Madison High School for the project “A Novel Mathematical Model to Predict Wastewater Induced Earthquakes”
• Anant Khandelwal, Sritan Motati, and Siddhant Sood of TJHSST for the project  “Diffusion-Based Conditional Mesh Synthesis for Efficient 3D Prototyping”
• Gabriela Konde of Marshall High School for the project “Optimal Sound Frequencies for Targeted E. coli Biofilm Eradication on Medical Devices”
• Valeria Novoa of Madison High School for the project “Optimizing Graphitic Carbon Nitride to Create a Safe, Effective, and Economic Form of Hydrogen Storage”

First through third place winners and honorable mentions in each category are as follows: 

Behavioral and Social Sciences

• Third Place: Medha Pappula from TJHSST for the project “Cortical Connectivity Analysis in Pediatric ADHD: Integrating EEG Data, Deep Learning Models, and Reaction Times for a Novel Cognitive Assessment”

Biomedical Sciences, Biomedical Engineering and Translational Medicine

• Second Place: Himesh Ahuja, Ram Dosibhatla, Anshul Yarlagadda from Chantilly High School for the project “EyeDragon: A Portable Medical Device Utilizing a Multi-Stage Deep Learning Approach for Retinopathic Diagnosis”
• Honorable Mention: Shriya Jaddu from Langley High School for her project “SeizAlert: A Deep Learning Powered System for Pre-Ictal Seizure Prediction”

Cell, Molecular and Computational Biology & Biochemistry

• Second Place: Viraj Kamath and Khartik Uppalapati from Oakton High School for the project “BSEPv2: Designing a Novel Protein Utilizing AI-Assisted Predictions of Molecular Evolution for Treatment of PFIC” 

Chemistry

• First Place: Ashrita Gandhari from TJHSST for the project “Combating Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with Plant-Derived Biocompounds Quercetin & Vincristine”
• Second Place: Rishika Jain from Marshall High School for the project “Eutrophication Remediation: Evaluating Aluminum Foil as a Phosphorus Sorption Material”
• Third Place: Samanvi Tummala from Chantilly High School for the project “Rice-Cycle: Creating Biodegradable Starch-Based Materials from Rice Food Waste”

Earth and Environmental Sciences

• First Place: Wesley Kang of Madison High School for the project “A Novel Mathematical Model To Predict Wastewater Induced Earthquakes”
• Second Place: Andrew Kim and Jaime Kim of Woodson High School for the project “Utilizing Remote Sensing and Deep Neural Networks to Predict Biochemical Oxygen Demand in the Chesapeake Bay”

Engineering Technology and Sustainable Design

• Second Place: Joseph Tso of Woodson High School for the project “V-MODE: Virtualized Microgrids for Optimizing Distributed Energy”
• Third Place: Austin Cui, Benjamin Hall and Matthew Lee of Woodson High School for the project “Designing an AI-Guided Ultra Versatile Unmanned Aircraft for Wartime Humanitarian Aid”

Material Science

• First Place: Valeria Novoa from Madison High School for the project “Optimizing Graphitic Carbon Nitride to Create a Safe, Effective, and Economic form of Hydrogen Storage”
• Second Place: Lani Le, Subaita Mahmud, Shriya Seshadri from West Springfield High School for the project “Effectiveness of Different Fabrics in Protecting from UV Rays”
• Third Place: Ryan Singh and Surbhi Singla from TJHSST for the project, “Utilizing Chiral Carbon Nanotubes for Polarization in Spintronic Memory and Logic Devices”
• Honorable Mention: Ben Doan and Lang Xiong from Langley High School for the project “Algal Bioplastic: Engineering a bioplastic alternative to plastic wrap with Chlorella Vulgaris”

Microbiology

• First Place: Gabriela Konde from Marshall High School for the project “Optimal Sound Frequencies for Targeted E. coli Biofilm Eradication on Medical Devices” 
• Third Place: Shumvobi Mitra from Langley High School for the project “Detecting and Degrading Formaldehyde using Synthetic Biology and Engineering Techniques”  

Physics, Math, and Astronomy

• Second Place: Anusha Agarwal from TJHSST for the project “Identifying Future Asteroid Mining Targets using a Deep Convolutional Neural Network” 
• Third Place: Neha Chandran and Srimaye Peddinti from TJHSST for the project “Linear Polarization-based Entanglement of a Single Photon, 2-Qubit Spatial Mode System”

Robotics, Software, and Embedded Systems

• First Place: Anant Khandelwal, Sritan Motati and Siddhant Sood from TJHSST for the project “Diffusion-Based Conditional Mesh Synthesis for Efficient 3D Prototyping”

Special Awards were given to the following students:

Mark Licata Award for Biotechnology 

• Second Place: Ashrita Gandhari from TJHSST for the project “Combating Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia with Plant-Derived Biocompounds Quercetin & Vincristine”

U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize 

• First Place: Wesley Kang of Madison High School for the project “A Novel Mathematical Model To Predict Wastewater Induced Earthquakes”
• Second Place: Andrew Kim and Jaime Kim of Woodson High School for the project “Utilizing Remote Sensing and Deep Neural Networks to Predict Biochemical Oxygen Demand in the Chesapeake Bay”

Ricoh Sustainable Development 

• Ben Doan and Lang Xiong from Langley High School for the project “Algal Bioplastic: Engineering a bioplastic alternative to plastic wrap with Chlorella Vulgaris”

Leidos Award for Excellence in Computational Science 

• First Place: Anvith Kakkera and Aneesh Kalla from TJHSST for the project “Cytological Evaluation of Indeterminate Thyroid Carcinoma: Deep Learning Analysis of Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration Biopsies Incorporating Cytopathological Features”

Leidos Award for Excellence in Applied Science 

• Third Place: Gabriela Konde of Marshall High School for the project “Optimal Sound Frequencies for Targeted E. coli Biofilm Eradication on Medical Devices”
• Honorable Mention: Austin Cui, Benjamin Hall and Matthew Lee of Woodson High School for the project “Designing an AI-Guided Ultra Versatile Unmanned Aircraft for Wartime Humanitarian Aid”
• Honorable Mention: Wesley Kang of Madison High School for the project “A Novel Mathematical Model To Predict Wastewater Induced Earthquakes”

Yale Science and Engineering Association Award

• Wesley Kang of Madison High School for the project “A Novel Mathematical Model To Predict Wastewater Induced Earthquakes”

Regeneron Biomedical Science Award

• Shriya Jaddu from Langley High School for her project “SeizAlert: A Deep Learning Powered System for Pre-Ictal Seizure Prediction”

Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association

• Second Place: Phillip Ha from Mount Vernon High School for the project “The Effect of the Mass of Activated Charcoal on the Rate of Percent Absorbance/Discoloration of a Dyed Solution”
• Third Place: Molly Hawkins from Woodson High School for the project “The Effect of Chemically Modified Spent Coffee Grounds on the Removal of Ionic Zinc from Water”

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For more information, contact Ann Wong at [email protected].