14-year-old combines origami and physics to engineer foldable structures for disaster relief shelters; Wins $25,000 top award at Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge
Young innovators recognized with $100K for STEM research advancing science and tackling global challenges
Thermo Fisher Scientific and Society for Science today announced the winners of the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (Thermo Fisher JIC), the nation’s leading middle school science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) competition. Miles Wu, 14, from New York City, won the $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Exciting New Discoveries) Award, the top prize in the competition.
Exploring the power of origami-inspired engineering, Miles tested 54 variations of the Miura-ori fold, a geometric pattern that packs flat and unfolds in one smooth motion. His research revealed that designs with smaller panels and steeper angles weren’t just stronger, they were remarkably resilient. Using dumbbells, he discovered they could support more than 9,000 times their own weight. Miles hopes to apply these insights to develop strong, lightweight shelters that can be rapidly deployed in areas affected by natural disasters.
The Thermo Fisher JIC, a program of Society for Science, reaches 60,000 middle school students nationwide, inspiring them to pursue their STEM interests and explore exciting college and career paths. The 30 finalists, who were selected from nearly 2,000 applicants representing 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and Puerto Rico; are counted among the nation’s brightest students, with several, including Miles, collectively receiving more than $100,000 at tonight’s award ceremony in Washington, D.C. Winners were chosen by a panel of distinguished scientists, engineers and educators and the finalists’ schools also received a $1,000 grant to support STEM programming.
Each of the 30 finalists participated in team challenges in addition to being judged on their research projects. The challenges incorporated project-based learning to test critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration skills across a variety of STEM fields. They included coding with Micro:Bit processors to address climate change, conducting environmental forensics to solve a public health issue, exploring physics and engineering through building chain reactions and applying biomimicry in the design of a blue crab hydraulic claw.
“Miles’ remarkable blend of scientific creativity, leadership and collaboration highlights the type of talent Society for Science is proud to support,” said Maya Ajmera, President & CEO, Society for Science and Executive Publisher, Science News. “I look forward to seeing the innovative ideas he will contribute in the future.”
The other top winners included:
Akhil Nagori, 15, from Santa Clara, CA, won the $10,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment ® Award for combining STEM learning with coding to solve a community problem they care about that aligns with the 17 Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations. For his project, Akhil worked as part of a team to develop an inexpensive pair of glasses that can translate text to speech, to help visually impaired students have wide access to reading materials.
Peter Fernández Dulay, 15 from Jacksonville, FL, won the $10,000 DoD STEM Talent Award for demonstrating excellence in science, technology, engineering or math; along with the leadership and technical skills necessary to excel in the 21st Century STEM workforce and build a better community for tomorrow. Peter had four image-generating AI platforms make images of five different types of scientists and found that because the AI tools learned from limited data, the tools perpetuated stereotypes about male bias in science.
Evann Sun, 14, from Santa Clara, CA, won The Lemelson Foundation Award for Invention of $10,000, which is given to a young inventor creating promising product-based solutions to real-world problems. Evann worked as part of a team to develop a pair of glasses that can translate text to speech, to help visually impaired students have wide access to reading materials.
Camila Isabel Gonzalez-Thompson, 14, from Ponce, Puerto Rico, won the $10,000 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Advancement, which recognizes the student whose work and performance shows the most promise in health-related fields and demonstrates an understanding of the many social factors that affect health. Camila examined blood samples from Puerto Ricans for antibodies to dengue virus, and showed that the virus is endemic to Puerto Rico, helping public health officials target interventions.
Thermo Fisher’s sponsorship of the Junior Innovators Challenge reflects the company’s longstanding commitment to broadening access to STEM education. For decades, it has invested in school-based STEM programs, and employees across the company volunteer thousands of hours each year to support education initiatives around the world.
“This year’s winners embody the ingenuity and perseverance that drive progress in STEM and improve lives,” said Dr. Karen Nelson, Chief Scientific Officer, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “We are honored to celebrate these remarkable young thinkers as they advance their scientific research and inspire students of all backgrounds to explore the world through STEM.”
In addition to the top prizes, Thermo Fisher and the Society announced first- and second-place winners in each STEM category (science, technology, engineering and math), as well as the competition’s Team Award.
First- and second-place STEM Award winners demonstrated exceptional skill and promise in science, technology, engineering or math. First-place winners received $3,500 and second-place winners received $2,500 to support their choice of a STEM summer camp experience in the U.S.
Science Award:
- First place: Pranshi Mehta, Austin, TX, “Machine Learning-Mediated Computational Modeling of FK506-Binding Protein 12 (FKBP12)-Enhanced CAR T-Cell Therapy for Targeted Glioblastoma Treatment”
- Second place: Christine Wang, San Jose, CA, “Peel To Purify: An Innovative Fruit Waste-Based Solution for Contaminated Water Treatment”
Technology Award:
- First place: Caden Terence Pohlkamp, Friendswood, TX, “Is More Green Better? Does Littoral Vegetation Enhance Habitat Suitability of Local Retention Ponds?”
- Second place: Alice Feng, Fresno, CA, “Transforming Waste Into Value: The Impact of Grape Pomace Variety and Extraction Parameters on Grape Seed Oil Yield and Physicochemical Properties”
Engineering Award:
- First place: Brady Ryan Sage, Rapid City, SD, “Optimizing Driver Flight Distance and Accuracy”
- Second place: Luca McGill, Tucson AZ, “ALTO-CO₂: Low-Cost Drone-Based Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Across Urban, Suburban, and Rural Areas in Southern Arizona”
Mathematics Award:
- First place: Tobias Lam, Austin, TX, “The Effect of Nintendo’s NES Tetris Theme Music and 28 Hertz High Beta-Frequency Binaural Beats on a 233 Hertz Carrier on Attention Span”
- Second place: Siddharth Sudharshan Vazhkudai, Cedar Park, TX, “AIM-BASE: AI-Integrated Model To Predict the Energy Consumption of Extra-Terrestrial Colonies”
Team Award, sponsored by Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM (TIES): Each member of the Finals Week challenge team that best demonstrates an ability to work together and solve problems through shared decision making, communication and scientific and engineering collaboration received a $200 science supply company gift card to support their interests in STEM. The winning team members are Lia Camil González, Tobias Lam, Yookta Pandit, Sam Daniel Solhpour and Bhavya Uppalapati.
Thermo Fisher Scientific Leadership Award: Bestowed upon one finalist, this award recognizes the student elected by their peers to speak on behalf of their Thermo Fisher JIC class at the Awards Ceremony. The Class Speaker demonstrates the collegiality and spirited leadership that has earned the collective esteem of the class and united them around common goals. The 2025 awardee is Akhil Nagori from Santa Clara, CA.
Media Kit: https://www.societyforscience.org/thermo-fisher-jic-2025-media-kit
About Society for Science
Society for Science is a champion for science, dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of science and the vital role it plays in human advancement. Established in 1921, Society for Science is best known for its award-winning journalism through Science News and Science News Explores, its world-class science research competitions for students, including the Regeneron Science Talent Search, the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair and the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, and its STEM outreach programming that seeks to ensure that all students have an opportunity to pursue a career in STEM. A 501(c)(3) membership organization, Society for Science is committed to inform, educate and inspire. Learn more at www.societyforscience.org and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram.
About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue over $40 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.
