Last week, the SARSEF cohort of ISEF Finalists and Observers attended the 75th anniversary of the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Columbus, Ohio! Over the exciting week, students presented their research on the world stage and came home with over $40,000 worth of awards!
“Going to ISEF has been one of my favorite and most cherished memories of senior year. Not only did I have the opportunity to share my own research, but I was also able to connect with brilliant minds across categories, cultures, and countries. This experience has been nothing short of phenomenal. I am incredibly grateful to SARSEF for making this journey possible and for supporting young scientists like me in pursuing our passions on a global stage.” – Nishita Karikatti, 2025 ISEF Finalist
Twelve high school students were awarded a Finalist spot at ISEF during the 2025 SARSEF Regional Fair in March:
- Mercedes Castro and Carmen Martinez (Harvest Preparatory Academy, Yuma, AZ) – Their project addressed the lack of access that 500 million women worldwide have to menstrual products, clean water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities. Their research aimed to engineer a reusable menstrual pad that can monitor feminine health and address financial and accessibility barriers.
- Nishita Karikatti (BASIS Oro Valley, Oro Valley, AZ) – Nishita explored the parasite, Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii), which infects the central nervous system of up to a third of the world’s population, which research revealed insight as to the potential importance copper may have in chronic toxoplasmosis.
- Diane Ladino and Diana Navarro (Harvest Preparatory Academy, Yuma, AZ) – Diane and Diana explored engineering of a delivery truck system integrated with acoustic wave technology to inhibit E. coli growth in romaine lettuce.
- Louis Liu (University High School, Tucson, AZ) – Louis created FallPoint: a robust fall detection model combining a time-distributed PointNet, a recurrent neural network based on the gate recurrent unit, and a multi-layer perceptron to address the major problem of falls for the growing elderly population. It is an immediate detection and alert system crucial to reduce the extent of damage.
- Angel Lopez and Ruben Nunez (Harvest Preparatory Academy, Yuma, AZ) – They set out to engineer a solar-powered water desalination prototype, which was integrated with a graphene-based membrane for efficient salt removal to address the lack of clean, drinkable water experienced by 40% of the global population.
- Tesla Lukow (BASIS Tucson North, Tucson, AZ) – Tesla researched the influence of magnetic fields on atmospheric escape from exoplanets, which is important to understanding the general demographics of exoplanets and the physical and chemical properties of their atmospheres.
- Estefany Regalado (Harvest Preparatory Academy, Yuma, AZ) – Estefany aimed to address antibiotic need in countries with widespread poverty. This research is aimed to create a cost-effective antibiotic ointment using traditional plants that are used in Mexican herbal medicine.
- Humberto Gil Villalobos and Michael Castro (Harvest Preparatory Academy, Yuma, AZ) – Their project involved creating and testing a weed barrier that can get rid of harmful bugs that is safe for the earth and humans, addressing the 20%-40% loss in crop production each year due to pests and bioactivity.
Two eighth graders were also selected at the SARSEF Fair to attend ISEF as Student Observers due to the quality and impact of their research.
- Kent Olsson (Hermosa Montessori Charter School, Tucson, AZ) – Kent researched conditions on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and set out to engineer the most efficient airfoil design for a future fixed wing aircraft. For his research, Kent won the SARSEF Board of Directors Community Impact Award as well as several other Sponsored Awards, sending him to ISEF.
- Simone Smith (St. Cyril’s Catholic School, Tucson, AZ) – Simone used knowledge gained from Girls Who Code to create an AI model trained with Teachable Machines to find PFM-1 landmines (also known as “Deadly Butterflies”) on different backgrounds in pictures with at least 80% accuracy to address the problem of land mines injuring civilians, especially children, in war zones. Simone won the SARSEF Excellence in Research Award award, as well as the Broadcom Foundation Coding with Commitment Award among other awards at the SARSEF Fair.
Finalists and Observers joined the 1,600 other students from over 66 different countries in Columbus, Ohio, last week, presenting research in twenty-two different categories. There, they attended symposia, networked with other top young minds in their category, and were evaluated by a team of judges representing STEM professionals from around the world. The SARSEF cohort received recognition for their work and won several awards. Estefany Regalado was awarded a special award from Arizona State University in the form of a four year scholarship worth up to $38,000. Carmen Martinez and Mercedes Castro won a third place grand award in the category of Material Science, marking the first time Harvest Preparatory Academy in Yuma has brought back a Grand Award from ISEF. Louis Liu was awarded a second place Grand Award in the category of Robotics, receiving the highest honors in the cohort.
Awards and recognition aside, what we hear most about is the transformative experience these students receive by attending the largest pre-college STEM competition in the world. Their worlds are forever changed through their involvement with this Society for Science program and subsequent community of young scientists and engineers.
We had several educators and parents join us on the experience, and they have echoed the feelings of the entire group.
“What struck me most was how science truly functions as a universal language—students from diverse backgrounds communicated complex ideas fluently through shared scientific terminology, methodologies, and visual representations. Witnessing high school STEM work performed at the highest level and forming lasting friendships with like-minded students from around the world has been truly transformative.” – Jeannette Olsson
SARSEF wants to give a heartfelt congratulations to all of the PreK-12 students who performed research this school and to those who represented Southern Arizona at ISEF! This program is only possible through the widespread community support of educators, committed STEM professionals, and organizations who donate their time, skills, and financial gifts grants to make the SARSEF Fair and this opportunity special. We’d also like to give a heartfelt thanks to the partners that make it happen, especially our top SARSEF sponsors:
Our Visionary Sponsor: Connie Hillman Family Foundation
Innovator Sponsors: The Burton Family Foundation, Tucson Electric Power, Mike and Marisa Fitzgerald
Catalyst Sponsors: APS Foundation, Arizona Science Center, Caris Foundation, City of Tucson, EZBO Foundation, Howmet Aerospace Foundation, Kinder Morgan, National Gypsum Company, Pima Community College Foundation, The Stocker Foundation, Thomas R. Brown Foundations, Office of Societal Impact, University of Arizona, and John Lee Compton
and many more!
Your investment in STEM education in our communities provides unique opportunities like this and year-round programming to help create Arizona’s future critical thinkers and problem solvers.