BSSEF 2025

  • Saturday, March 8th, 2025
  • Hosted by UW-Madison College of Agricultural & Life Sciences
  • Held at UW-Madison Wisconsin Institute for Discovery
  • Senior High Fair: 44 judges, 58 students, and 56 projects
  • Junior High Fair: 18 judges, 14 students, and 9 projects

Sponsored by:

Junior High Specialty Award Winners

Lemelson Early Inventor Prize

  • Elias Hoban, Golda Meir School

ASQ Awards

  • Quality Award – Benjamin Byers & Philippe-Cristophe Geli, Henry Berez, Glen Hills Middle School
  • Problem Solving Award – Spencer Robinson, Golda Meir School

Crawford Young Scientist Awards

  • Adenike Olowu, Golda Meir School
  • Saanvi Muduganti, Onalaska Middle School
  • Benjamin Byers & Philippe-Cristophe Geli, Henry Berez, Glen Hills Middle School
  • Ethan Ensaldo, Samuel Schroeder, and Kahlo Alaniz, Glen Hills Middle School

C-Sup-Two Engineer Awards

  • Bria Rutherford, Glen Hills Middle School
  • Lydia Radtke
  • Saanvi Muduganti, Onalaska Middle School
  • Grayden Kelly-Van Domelen, Homeschool
  • Elias Hoban, Golda Meir School

Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge

  • Elias Hoban, Golda Meir School

Best of Junior High Fair

  • Science, Third Place: Lydia Radtke
  • Science, Second Place: Ethan Ensaldo, Samuel Schroeder, and Kahlo Alaniz, Glen Hills Middle School
  • Science, First Place: Bria Rutherford, Glen Hills Middle School
  • Engineering, Third Place: Grayden Kelly-Van Domelen, Homeschool
  • Engineering, Second Place: Spencer Robinson, Golda Meir School
  • Engineering, First Place: Elias Hoban, Golda Meir School

Senior High Specialty Award Winners

Specialty Awards

Alpha Chi Sigma
  • Grace Chen, University School of Milwaukee, “Revolutionizing Vaccines: Soluble Microneedles and the Future of Painless Transdermal Delivery”
American Psychological Association
  • Jasleen Chahal, University School of Milwaukee, “The Ideal Victim Theory in Mental Health”
American Society for Clinical Laboratory Science 
  • Hannah Lee, Middleton High School, “Antibacterial Activity of Plant Extracts and Citrus By-Products”
American Society for Quality
  • Liyang Victor Han, Brookfield Central High School, “ParkinAid: A Multi-Modal System for Parkinson’s Diagnosis through Motor and Vocal Disorder Analysis”
Association of Women Geoscientists
  • Kaitlyn Paullin, University School of Milwaukee, “Sustainable Wave Energy: Harnessing Ocean Power with a Novel Linear Generator”
Excellence in Freshwater Resource Award
  • Ziddane Isahaku, Nicolet High School, “A Novel Device for the Selective Removal of Microplastics from Riverbed Sediment via Laser-Induced Particle Fluorescence”
Genius Olympiad
  • Ziddane Isahaku, Nicolet High School, “A Novel Device for the Selective Removal of Microplastics from Riverbed Sediment via Laser-Induced Particle Fluorescence”
  • Sophia Torinus, University School of Milwaukee, “The Impacts of Microplastic-Contaminated Diets on Gastrointestinal Development and Health in Juvenile Yellow Perch”
MacGyver Award – STI Engineering & American Science and Surplus
  • Simrin Patel, University School of Milwaukee, “Enhancing Solar-Driven Steam Production in Saltwater Using Activated Charcoal”
  • Kaitlyn Paullin, University School of Milwaukee, “Sustainable Wave Energy: Harnessing Ocean Power with a Novel Linear Generator”
NASA Earth Science Award
  • Aditi Muduganti, Onalaska High School, “Innovative Machine Learning Approaches for Exoplanet Detection and Anomaly Identification: Applying Computational Techniques to Uncover Hidden Patterns in TESS Data”
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Environmental Award
  • Ziddane Isahaku, Nicolet High School, “A Novel Device for the Selective Removal of Microplastics from Riverbed Sediment via Laser-Induced Particle Fluorescence”
Philip Streich Award
  • Chloe Chen, University School of Milwaukee, “Upcycling of Agri-Food Waste into Lactic Acid Using Probiotic Bacillus coagulans”
Regeneron Biomedical Award
  • Grace Chen, University School of Milwaukee, “Revolutionizing Vaccines: Soluble Microneedles and the Future of Painless Transdermal Delivery”
Ricoh Sustainable Development Award

Chloe Chen, University School of Milwaukee, “Upcycling of Agri-Food Waste into Lactic Acid Using Probiotic Bacillus coagulans”

Society for In Vitro Biology
  • Meenakshi Pradeep, Eisenhower High school, New Berlin, “Mitochondrial Ribosomal Protein-L47 (MRPL47) Identified as a Diagnostic Biomarker of Ovarian Cancer”
U.S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize
  • Sophia Torinus, University School of Milwaukee, “The Impacts of Microplastic-Contaminated Diets on Gastrointestinal Development and Health in Juvenile Yellow Perch”
United States Air Force
  • Hunter Shadman, Madison West High School, “Optimization of Lithium-ion Battery Cell Charging: Application of P and PID controllers with a Cooling Function for Thermal Regulation”
  • Ethan Zimmer, Nicolet High School, “The Effect of Synthetic Data on Object Classification Using Machine Vision”
  • Henry Martin, Golda Meir School, “Neural Modal Propellant Gauging: A Machine Learning Approach to Microgravity Liquid Propellant Estimation”
  • Grace Chen, University School of Milwaukee, “Revolutionizing Vaccines: Soluble Microneedles and the Future of Painless Transdermal Delivery”
United States Metric Association

Ziddane Isahaku, Nicolet High School, “A Novel Device for the Selective Removal of Microplastics from Riverbed Sediment via Laser-Induced Particle Fluorescence”

Yale Science & Engineering Association

Eliana Igwike, University School of Milwaukee, “Comparatively Analyzing PLM Isoform’s Known HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors to Structurally Manufacture a Pan-Isoform Ligand-Inhibitor for Rapid P. Falciparum Intra-Erythroctyic Starvation“

Z. Galin Excellence in Social Sciences Award
  • Jeanette Clement & Maia Scherman, University School of Milwaukee, “The Effect of Sound Frequencies on Stress, Fatigue, and Productivity”

Category Awards

Behavioral Health and Social Sciences
  • 3rd Place:  Yusra Khan, University School of Milwaukee, “Adolescent Salivary Cortisone and Cortisol Levels in Relation to Perceived Stress and Heart Rate Components”
  • 2nd Place:  Emily Pan, University School of Milwaukee, “The Progressive Influences of Name Stereotypes on Facial Appearance”
  • 1st Place:  Jasleen Chahal, University School of Milwaukee, “The Ideal Victim Theory in Mental Health”
Biology, Chemistry, and Biochemistry
  • 3rd Place:  Chloe Chen, University School of Milwaukee, “Upcycling of Agri-Food Waste into Lactic Acid Using Probiotic Bacillus coagulans”
  • 2nd Place:  Eashan Anne, University School of Milwaukee, “Combining Natural Killer (NK) Cells and CAR T-cells – Apolipoprotein B Receptor’s Hidden Role of Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) Uptake on NK Cell Cytotoxicity and the Efficacy of CAR T-cell Therapy”
  • 1st Place:  Grace Chen, University School of Milwaukee, “Revolutionizing Vaccines: Soluble Microneedles and the Future of Painless Transdermal Delivery”
Engineering & Physics
  • 3rd Place: Iris Liu, University School of Milwaukee, “Revolutionizing Intersection Safety: A Reinforcement Learning Approach Utilizing Traditional Loop Sensors for Driving Dilemma Prevention”
  • 2nd Place: Hunter Shadman, Madison West High School, “Optimization of Lithium-ion Battery Cell Charging: Application of P and PID controllers with a Cooling Function for Thermal Regulation”
  • 1st Place: Aditi Muduganti, Onalaska High School, “Innovative Machine Learning Approaches for Exoplanet Detection and Anomaly Identification: Applying Computational Techniques to Uncover Hidden Patterns in TESS Data”
Environmental Science
  • 3rd Place: Sophia Torinus, University School of Milwaukee, “The Impacts of Microplastic-Contaminated Diets on Gastrointestinal Development and Health in Juvenile Yellow Perch”
  • 2nd Place: Ziddane Isahaku, Nicolet High School, “A Novel Device for the Selective Removal of Microplastics from Riverbed Sediment via Laser-Induced Particle Fluorescence”
  • 1st Place: Kaitlyn Paullin, University School of Milwaukee, “Sustainable Wave Energy: Harnessing Ocean Power with a Novel Linear Generator”
Math & Computer Science
  • 3rd Place:  Kevin Hou, Brookfield Central High School, “An Accessible AI-Assisted Rehabilitation System for Guided Upper Limb Therapy”
  • 2nd Place:  Liyang Victor Han, Brookfield Central High School, “ParkinAid: A Multi-Modal System for Parkinson’s Diagnosis through Motor and Vocal Disorder Analysis”
  • 1st Place:  Angela Wang, University School of Milwaukee, “Using Multilayer Convolutional Neural Networks for Early Prediction of Alzheimer’s Disease”
Medicine & Health
  • 3rd Place:  Eshaan Vasudev, University School of Milwaukee, “Assessing the Role of cf-mtDNA and TLR9 Pathways in Mitochondrial Stress and Endothelial Dysfunction in Long COVID“
  • 2nd Place:  Sai Kandukuri, Middleton High School, “Targeting TP53 Methylation Inhibition with RG108 for Cancer Prevention“
  • 1st Place:  Eliana Igwike, University School of Milwaukee, “Comparatively Analyzing PLM Isoform’s Known HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors to Structurally Manufacture a Pan-Isoform Ligand-Inhibitor for Rapid P. Falciparum Intra-Erythroctyic Starvation“
Grand Awards ISEF Finalists
  • Eliana Igwike, University School of Milwaukee, “Comparatively Analyzing PLM Isoform’s Known HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors to Structurally Manufacture a Pan-Isoform Ligand-Inhibitor for Rapid P. Falciparum Intra-Erythroctyic Starvation”
  • Sai Kandukuri, Middleton High School, “Targeting TP53 Methylation Inhibition with RG108 for Cancer Prevention”
  • Aditi Muduganti, Onalaska High School, “Innovative Machine Learning Approaches for Exoplanet Detection and Anomaly Identification: Applying Computational Techniques to Uncover Hidden Patterns in TESS Data”