Thermo Fisher Scientific
Junior Innovators Challenge
2024 Media Kit
The Thermo Fisher JIC, a program of Society for Science, reaches 65,000 middle schoolers nationwide and inspires them to follow their personal STEM passions to exciting college and career paths. The 30 finalists are counted among the nation’s brightest students, with several, including Shanya, collectively accepting more than $100,000 at tonight’s award ceremony in Washington, D.C.
Photos Credits
Photos with “LF” or no initials should be credited as follows: Courtesy of Lisa Fryklund/Licensed by Society for Science
Photos with a “JY” in the file name should be credited as follows: Jessica Yurinko/Licensed by Society for Science
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Thermo Fisher JIC 2024 Top Award Winners
Tina Jin, $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND Award
Tina Jin, 14, San Jose, Calif. won the $25,000 ASCEND Award (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Exciting New Discoveries) for her research that proved the ability of animal bones to filter water, in addition to demonstrating leadership, collaboration and critical thinking skills throughout the competition. After learning that one in three people globally lack access to clean water, Tina was inspired to create an accessible and scalable water filtration system that could be used anywhere in the world. She used natural materials and common household supplies to create her filter. Third-party testing by the San Jose Water Company showed that her filter achieved potable standards.
Gary Montelongo, $10,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment Award
Gary Montelongo, 14, La Joya, Texas won the $10,000 Broadcom Coding with CommitmentTM Award for combining expert STEM knowledge and passion for helping or improving one’s community through coding. In his project, Gary used his coding and engineering skills to build models of train suspension systems to learn how the vibrations produced by springs and the weight distribution of the train cars contribute to train derailment.
Sophie Tong, $10,000 DoD STEM Talent Award
Sophie Tong, 14, Palo Alto, Calif., 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. For her project, Sophie sought to improve the safety of vehicles, such as airplanes and self-driving cars, by understanding how vision is degraded in dark, foggy conditions. She then developed algorithms to accurately analyze scenes during bad weather.
Samvith Mahadevan, $10,000 Lemelson Award for Invention
Samvith Mahadevan, 14, Austin, Texas, won the $10,000 Lemelson Foundation Award for Invention, awarded by The Lemelson Foundation to a young inventor creating promising product-based solutions to real-world problems. Motivated by his own allergies, Samvith developed a chemical “nose” trained with machine learning to detect allergens in food products; and tested it on common allergens including nuts, eggs and processed foods.
Tyler Malkin, $10,000 Robert Wood Johnson Award for Health Advancement
Tyler Malkin, 14, Greenwich, Conn., 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. Tyler, who has experienced iodine deficiency—a disorder that impacts nearly 2 billion people worldwide—developed a saliva test that makes it easier for people to monitor their iodine levels without medical intervention.
Interview Maya Ajmera,
President & CEO of the Society for Science
We invite you to interview the President & CEO of the Society for Science, Maya Ajmera, to learn more about the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge and this year’s winners.
Please email apaul@societyforscience.org for assistance.
- Maya headshot
- About Maya
- Quote: “Congratulations to Tina for using her STEM skills to develop a solution to a worldwide problem: access to clean drinking water. She used animal bone and other household supplies to filter water,” said Maya Ajmera, President & CEO, Society for Science and Executive Publisher, Science News. “Tina’s scientific ingenuity coupled with her exceptional leadership, collaboration and critical thinking skills illustrate what we are looking for in the Thermo Fisher JIC. I look forward to seeing how Tina continues to innovate in the years to come.”
Interview Meron Mathias,
Thermo Fisher Scientific Vice President,
Corporate Social Responsibility & Sustainability
We invite you to interview Meron Mathias to learn more about the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge and this year’s winners.
Meron Mathias leads corporate social responsibility (CSR) for Thermo Fisher Scientific, the world leader in serving science. She partners across the company to shape and action environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives that drive positive business and societal outcomes.
Please email annalisa.alpaugh@thermofisher.com for assistance.