Catching summer rays: Thermo Fisher JIC alumni explore science beyond the classroom
This past summer, several Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (Thermo Fisher JIC) alumni embarked on a variety of STEM camps that fed their curious minds. First- and second-place STEM Award winners from the 2024 and 2025 Thermo Fisher JIC received funding towards their choice of STEM summer camps for their exceptional skills and promise in science, technology, engineering and math.
For Alice Feng, 14, Granite Ridge Intermediate School, (Thermo Fisher JIC 2025, 2nd place in the Technology category), learned about engineering fundamentals and processes at the Education Unlimited engineering summer camp.
A typical day for Alice looked a little like a day in the life of an undergraduate student. She started the mornings in the dining hall for breakfast and proceeded to morning classes After exploring the university campus in the morning, she and her peers attended two more classes and presented their blueprints and drawings and physical models to the class.
Alice says obtaining feedback from the class helped to gain new ideas from one another. In the evenings, she participated in organized team recreational time.
“As a Thermo Fisher JIC finalist, I sharpened my teamwork and collaboration skills, and explored different scientific principles,” Alice says. “I utilized these principles in the Education Unlimited engineering summer camp to work with like-minded young scientists, as well as developed models based on ideas I learned during Thermo Fisher JIC.”
Luca McGill, 15, Tanque Verde High School, (Thermo Fisher JIC 2025, 2nd place in the engineering category), spent a week in Huntsville, Alabama at Space Camp. There, he nurtured his interest in space and engineering and trained like an astronaut using different simulators, worked through STEM challenges, learned about space exploration and participated in simulated space missions. He says the best part was getting to know so many people from all over the United States.
“Winning second place in the engineering category at the Thermo Fisher JIC gave me the opportunity to choose this STEM adventure and fly from Arizona to Alabama all by myself. I was nervous, but it turned out to be the best adventure ever!” Luca says. “I am so grateful for this experience. Space Camp was the highlight of my summer and an experience I will remember forever. Thank you to Thermo Fisher Scientific and Society for Science for giving me this opportunity for an epic summer!”
Caden Pohlkamp, 14, Brookside Intermediate School, (Thermo Fisher JIC 2025, 1st place in the engineering category) also had the opportunity to nurture his interest in marine biology. Located in Surf City, North Carolina, Caden attended a marine biology immersion program at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center. There, he volunteered in the sea turtle hospital, cleaning tanks, feeding turtles and learning about their anatomy.
At the hospital, he rotated between three stations: cleaning tanks, caring for healthy turtles and taking care of the patients in the sick bay.
“My favorite part of the experience was feeding the sea turtles because it was neat to watch them eat. Each sea turtle species got different food,” Caden says. “My favorite turtle was a Kemp’s ridley who was fed mostly fish, to simulate what they eat in the wild. I also liked a loggerhead turtle named ‘Pumpkin Spice’ who had an “emotional support bucket” in his tank that he loved to sleep in.”
Siddharth Vazhkudai, 14, Running Brushy Middle School, (Thermo Fisher 2025, 1st place in the mathematics category) found himself busy with not just one STEM program, but two! One was an advanced competitive math class through Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth where he worked on challenging competition-style problems regarding infinite series, combinatorics and modular arithmetic. Siddharth says the class pushed him to think more creatively and carefully instead of relying on methods he has learned in school.
Siddharth’s second STEM experience was an iD Tech BattleBots robotics camp. There, he collaborated with instructors and fellow students to design, build and field test a combat robot. A typical day involved perfecting the design of the robot and learning about mechanical design, motors and C++ programming.
Sophia Zhang, 15, Waterford School, (Thermo Fisher JIC 2024, 2nd place in the technology category), found herself at Stanford University online as well as at Stanford’s Pre-Collegiate Summer Institutes, a summer enrichment program that provides students in grades 8–11 with intensive study in a single online course over a two-week period. Sophia specifically participated in the Orbital Mechanics and Aerodynamics course.
At 9 a.m. each weekday, Sophia logged on for a two-hour class. She says her favorite part of the program was working on projects. In her first project, Sophia teamed up with other students to propose a way to address space junk. In the second project, she worked individually to design, build and test different paper airplane designs, using what she learned in the aerodynamics portion to create the best performing paper airplane. Although the program only lasted two weeks, with two hours of class every weekday, she says she learned so much about orbital mechanics and aerodynamics. “One of our last activities during Finals Week of the Thermo Fisher JIC was visiting the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters. I have always been enraptured with the science and exploration of our universe, and my visit to the NASA Headquarters only strengthened my interest. Naturally, when I applied for the program, I mentioned the Orbital Mechanics and Aerodynamics course as one of my top courses,” Sophia says. “My experience as a Thermo Fisher JIC finalist taught me so much about the creative and scientific process, which helped me get accepted into this program.”
Meet the 2026 Top 30 Thermo Fisher JIC finalists here, and check back on October 27, 2026, to see who wins this year’s awards!
