2026 Award Winners

In the senior division, the Certificate of Excellence Award is given to those students whose project was determined by the judges to be of exceptional merit and deserving of higher honors. Each Certificate of Excellence winner will receive $50.

Trout in the Classroom

By: Hunter Elsea and Daniel White from Rockwood High School, taught by Darcy Soard

Explainable AI–Guided Virtual Experiments Reveal How DNA Sequence Context Shapes Gene Regulation

By: Sophia Chen from Farragut High School, taught by Matthew Milligan

Thermoluminescence of Irradiated Salts and Properties of Docemitry

By: Kaylen Teague from L&N STEM  Academy, taught by Bryan Schultz

Refining Biological Fluorescence Image Unmixing Through a Two-Stage Machine Learning Framework

By: Elena Wu from Farragut High School, taught by Matthew Milligan

Comparing Parallel Scaling Behavior Between Consumer Computers and High‑Performance Systems

By: William Martinez and Asher Notess from L&N STEM  Academy, taught by Bryan Schultz

Exploring Scintillation Detector Devolepment and Utilizing Machine Learning to Identify Button sources

By: Farida Fathalla and Petra Brown from L&N STEM  Academy, taught by Bryan Schultz

Filtering Diamond Interference from Neutron Diffraction Data

By: Jessica Linton and Jaeliana Kanko from Oak Ridge High School, taught by Jessica Williams

Automating Electron Microscopy for Materials Analysis Using Large Language Model Agents

By: Levi Dunn and Dominick Pelaia from L&N STEM  Academy, taught by Bryan Schultz

Evaluation of Energy Use and Reliability in Optical and Electrical Data Transmission

By: Ananya Madduri from Maryville High School, taught by Anna Rayasam

Efficient PFAS Removal Using Microbially Enhanced Biochar Sorption

By: Rickie Wu and Dinh Phan from Farragut High School, taught by Matthew Milligan

Epidemic Severity Identity: From Routine Data to Epidemic Intelligence

By: Uday Sujithkumar from Farragut High School, taught by Matthew Milligan

Investigating the Quality of 3D Reconstruction from Neutron Computed Tomography Across Varying Projection Angle Counts: A Study on Apollo 14 Lunar Material

By: Addison Malone from Malone Home School, taught by Jennifer Malone

Effects of Urbanization Intensity on Crape Myrtle Flower Surface Microbial Community

By: Harshita Nagar and Kaitlyn Murray from L&N STEM  Academy, taught by Bryan Schultz

The distinction of honorable mention is awarded to students whose projects were determined to be of exceptional merit.

The Certificate of Excellence Award is given to those students whose project was determined by the judges to be of exceptional merit and deserving of higher honors. Each Certificate of Excellence winner will receive at least $50.

Nose Knows Best: Relationship Between Sense of Smell and Taste

By: Sana Surani from Annoor Academy, taught by Anna Edwards

An Apple a Day Keeps the Browning Away

By: Caroline Harris from Sacred Heart Cathedral School, taught by Marti Boder

Too Hot to Handle

By: Catherine Roovers from Saint Joseph School, taught by Ashley Mitchell

Bath Bomb Science

By: Emmaline Maeder from Saint Joseph School, taught by Ashley Mitchell

My Chocolate has a Temper

By: Ainsley Allen from Sacred Heart Cathedral School, taught by Jodi McRae

Fiddling with Markov Chains for Musical Sight Reading Practice

By: Gabriella Pelaia from Pelaia Home School, taught by Thomas Pelaia

Meet Me At the Fault Line

By: Sara Sayed from Annoor Academy, taught by Anna Edwards

Life or Death? The Effects of Atmospheric Changes on Mint Plants

By: Oscar Kahler from Sacred Heart Cathedral School,  taught by Marti Boder

Water Electrolysis Efficiency, How Electrical Input Affects the Efficiency of Water Electrolysis

By: Lily Terrazzino from Pigeon Forge Junior High, taught by Nora Clabough

The Effect of Color and Material of Surfaces on Heat Absorption

By: Abdalrahman Tagiuri from Annoor Academy, taught by Anna Edwards

Copay vs. Coinsurance: Which Costs Patients More Under Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance Plans?

By: Ellen Wu from Farragut Middle School, taught by Dan Wang

“An Analysis of the Rising Prevalence of Autoimmune Diseases: Trends, Contributing Factors, and Public Health Implications After Covid Pandemic”

By: Annabelle Liu from Farragut Middle School, taught by Lei Xu

Battle For Altitude

By: Claire Wallace from Sacred Heart Cathedral School,  taught by Marti Boder

The Effect of Soil Moisture Content on Perennial Ryegrass

By: Emma Brosnan from Saint Joseph School, taught by Ashley Mitchell

Solar: The Smart Sensor That Uses Machine Learning to Ensure UV Safety

By: Jayden Han from Koh Home School, taught by Ji Koh

At SASEF, we award the distinction of honorable mention to those students whose projects were determined by the judges to be of exceptional merit.

Jonah Cho

Mason Musser

Aniston Bishop

Natalie Muller

Savannah Jarvis

Marriam Abdelrazek

Harrison Forrester

Michaela Brun

Gavin Robbins

Armaan Neel

Tiberius Sheahan

Caden Stockton

Brandon Cooper

Phoebe Weston

Kamila Perez

Emilia Stitz

Antoinette Jawdy

Afton Smith

Minaa El-Hassan

Addylynn Rainbolt

Parker Deane

Jaxson Galyon

Jack Ward

Salma Blevins

Nicolas Dauvers

Zia Toor

Yusuf Quraishi

Diesel Artrip

American Psychological Association

The American Psychological Association Education Directorate is pleased to award one certificate recognizing outstanding research in psychological science under the category of behavioral and social sciences or any category related to psychology (e.g., animal sciences, biomedical and health sciences, translational medical science). This year’s recipient is Ani Larsen from L&N STEM Academy,

Association for Women Geoscientists

The Association for Women Geoscientists provides a Certificate to students whose projects exemplify high standards of innovativeness and scientific excellence in the geosciences. Special consideration is given to projects that increase the public awareness of the geosciences, illustrate the interdisciplinary nature of the geosciences, or promote the sensitivity to the earth as a global system. This year’s winner is Sara Sayed from Anoor Academy,

Citadel Securities Innovation Prize

Society for Science is proud to partner with Citadel to expand innovation and data-driven research for middle school and high school students. This award is for projects that use innovation and expert data analysis to address and solve real-world problems. This year’s winners are: From the Junior division, Phoebe Weston, from Weston Homeschool and from the Senior Division, Nathan Kizzire and Elena Vogt from Oak Ridge High School.

Lemelson Early Inventor Prize

The Lemelson Early Inventor Prize is given to a middle school student who displays entrepreneurial thinking by developing a tangible invention which may improve the lives of others. The certificate and $100 award go to Jayden Han from Koh Homeschool.

NASA Earth Systems Science Award

The NASA award is given to the student with an outstanding project offering the greatest insight into Earth’s interconnected systems. The winner, receiving this award is Aman Neel from L&N STEM Academy.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

NOAA’s Taking the Pulse of the Planet award is given to the student whose project best emphasizes NOAA’s Science, Service, and Stewardship mission. This year’s winner, receiving a certificate is Oscar Kahler from Sacred Heart Cathedral School.

Office of Naval Research

The Office of Naval Research sponsors two Senior Division prizes for excellence in Science or Engineering which includes a medallion and gift card.  The winners are:

Sophie Park from Farragut High School and Ananya Madduri from Rayasam Homeschool.

Ricoh Sustainable Development Award

This award recognizes the student whose technological and scientific innovations best reflect the principles of sustainability – balancing economic development with environmental responsibility.The winner is Maxwell Maben of L&N STEM Academy

Regeneron Biomedical Science Award.

This award recognizes a student or team of students that demonstrates an impressive command of biomedical science and research and also embodies Regeneron’s core values and behaviors, known as The Regeneron Way, which are reflected in the award selection criteria.The winners are Nathan Kizzire and Elena Vogt from Oak Ridge High School

U.S. Metric Association

The U.S. Metric Association recognizes students, usually in the Senior Division whose project involves quantitative measures and best uses the metric system for those measures. The winner is Ainsley Allen from Sacred Heart Cathedral School

U.S. Air Force

The U.S. Air Force recognizes an outstanding project in science, technology, math, engineering or medicine that is of interest to the Air Force. The winner, receiving a certificate, sling pack and portable technology devices is:

Addison Malone from Malone Homeschool

Stockholm Junior Water Prize

The Water Environment Federation recognizes projects involving water quality, water resource management, water protection, or water and wastewater treatment.  The winners receive a certificate and a chance to compete for the Stockholm Junior Water Prize state competition. This prize is highly time sensitive and was provided at the fair itself so we ask the winners to stand so we can all recognize them.

Kaylee Jin from Farragut High School

Rickie Wu and Dinh Phan from Farragut High School.

Diana Gao and Ari Kim from Farragut High School

Yale Science and Engineering Prize

The Yale Science and Engineering prize goes to a Junior in High School with the top project in engineering or the physical sciences.  This year, noted by the judges as a project with excellent knowledge, experiments, results, and presentation, the certificate and medallion go to Yousef Sulamain from Sulamain Homeschool.

American Chemical Society, East Tennessee Section

The East Tennessee Section of the American Chemical Society presents $50 cash to the best projects in the chemical sciences in either division.

The winner from the Junior Division is Ainsley Allen from Sacred Heart Cathedral School. 

The winner from the Senior Division is Kaylen Teague from L&N STEM Academy

American Institute of Chemical Engineers

The Oak Ridge/Knoxville Section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers presents $75 cash awards and certificates to the top project in each division for the applications of chemical engineering principles or practices. 

The winner from the Junior Division is Ainsley Allen from Sacred Heart Cathedral School

The winner from the Senior Division is Maxwell Maben from mL&N STEM School

Biology Teacher Award

Anonymous donors provide an award for excellence in life science research.The winner of the cash prize and certificate is Ian Lankford from Rockwood High School

 IEEE – East Tennessee Section

The East Tennessee Section of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers is pleased to award prizes for the best demonstrations of electrical or electronics design or computer science.  $100 cash awards and certificates go to:

In the Junior Division, Lily Terrazino from Pigeon Forge Junior High School

The Senior Division winner is William Martinez and Asher Notess from L&N STEM Academy

Joanne Logan Sustainability Award

Dr. Joanne Logan, who is retired from the University of Tennessee, served in all SASEF offices. The $50 Joanne Logan Sustainability award honors a student whose project has the sustainability mission at its core. Also, in keeping with Dr. Logan’s passion for teaching, the student’s teacher also receives a $100 prize.

This award goes to Rickie Wu and Dinh Phan from Farragut High School, taught by Matthew Milligan

Oak Ridge National Lab Computer Science Award

We are pleased to announce the award for excellence in computing by one of our largest sponsors of the fair, the Oak Ridge National Lab. This is an award of $500. The winner is William Martinez and Asher Notess from L&N STEM Academy

SASEF Awards 

Southern Appalachian Science and Science and Engineering Fair staff present $50 cash awards and certificates and to our favorite projects. This year’s award winners are:

Julian Aponte and Reed Landrum from Career Magnet Academy

Bethany Atkins and Isabella Finchum from Career Magnet Academy

Sophia Chen from Farragut High School

Emma Jarman and Karley-Shay North from Powell High School

Katy Lee from Lee Homeschool

Gavin Robbins from Jefferson County Schools

SeER Teacher Awards – The Science Education Research Foundation is proud to present awards to two projects in the Junior Division.  Winning projects are selected for creative investigation, personally meaningful learning, and engaged project leadership and execution. Winners will be recognized with certificates of achievement and the teacher sponsor of each winning project will additionally receive a $100 cash prize to recognize contributions to their students’ research.

The winners are:

Jayden Han mentored by Ji Hyun Koh

Maxwell Maben mentored by Dr. David Keffer

 Strata-G

Strata G presents a $1000  scholarship award to an outstanding senior division project related to environmental stewardship and sustainability. This award is presented by Leah Berry, Strata-G COO. The winner is Olivia McClure from Bearden High School

Tau Beta Pi

The Great Smoky Mountain Alumni Chapter of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society awards $100 cash and certificates to outstanding projects in engineering. The winners are:

In the Junior Division: Yusuf Quraishi from Anoor Academy

Senior Division: Farida Fathalla and Petra Brown from L & N STEM Academy

Tennessee Academy of Sciences

The Tennessee Academy of Science presents three awards of $135.00 each.  The awards are:  

Biology, Medicine, and Health  Award:  Rowan Morelock of Career Magnet Academy

Biology Award: Harshita Nagar and Kaitlyn Murray from L&N STEM Academy

Physical Science Award: Dawid Urbanowicz and Drake Rathmell from Oak Ridge High School

The Howard L. Bruer Award

This award is for students who have made an outstanding accomplishment of entomological activities in Tennessee. The award winner will also become our regional nominee for the state competition. 

The winner is Ian Lankford from Rockwood High School

UTK Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award. 

The University of Tennessee Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Award is awarded to the project with the best business idea. This project should have a clear path to commercialization and has outlined how it will make money or operate as a viable business. 

This is the first year this award has been given and the Anderson Center was blown away with the quality of projects. 

The first place award receiving $50 is Rickie Wu and Dinh Phan. 

The honorable mentions, receiving a Anderson Center Swag Bag are: 

Jayden Han

Gabriella Pelaia

Zia Toor

Yusuf Quraishi

 Emmaline Maeder

Women in STEM 

This award is given to students who’s projects were well rounded, but the student presenters were especially knowledgeable of their project field and articulate and effective in their presentation. The winning project receives a certificate and a $100 prize. 

The winner is Petra Brown and Farida Fethalla from L&N STEM Academy