Strong Entries Earn Kudos in 2025 State Science Fair

Outstanding students represented FCPS well in the 2025 Kentucky Science & Engineering Fair. The 23rd annual competition was March 28-29 at Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond. Congratulations to all!

High School Division

Best of Fair / Life Sciences

• 2nd Place: Grace Sun, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Novel Distance Metric and Machine Learning-Powered Tool to Predict Enzymatic Distances in Metabolic Profiles”
• 3rd Place: Thomas Yuan, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Overcoming Docetaxel Resistance in Prostate Cancer”

Best of Fair / Physical Sciences

• 2nd Place: Clara Fuller, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Analysis of Machining Parameters Effects on Surface Integrity of Titanium”

Category Awards

Biochemistry

1st Place: Grace Sun, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Novel Distance Metric and Machine Learning-Powered Tool to Predict Enzymatic Distances in Metabolic Profiles”

3rd Place: Sohan Parsi, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Role of Semaphorin 4D in Modulating Neuronal Excitability”

Biomedical and Health Sciences

3rd Place (tie): Luke Jones, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Role of Inflammation and Endothelial Injury in Neonatal Intraventricular Hemorrhages”

3rd Place (tie): Nina Tay, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Determining TP53 Mutational Contributions to Radiation Resistance in H3K27M Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG)”

Biomedical Engineering

3rd Place: Karthika Hariprasad, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “A Novel Skin Cancer Detector Using Machine Learning”

Cellular and Molecular Biology 

1st Place: Thomas Yuan, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Overcoming Docetaxel Resistance in Prostate Cancer”

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics 

1st Place: Saikrish Kolli, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Novel Differentially Expressed Genes in Alzheimer’s Disease, LATE, and Their Co-Occurrence”

Earth and Environmental Science 

2nd Place: Winston Zhuang, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Sustainable and Affordable Coagulant Solutions for Mitigating Heavy Metal and Organic Pollution”

Embedded Systems 

3rd Place: Katherine Zhang, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Optimizing Edge-AI on the ESP32-S3 using SIMD Acceleration”

Materials Science 

1st Place: Clara Fuller, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Analysis of Machining Parameters Effects on Surface Integrity of Titanium”

Mathematics 

2nd Place: Lars Myrup, Lafayette, “Asteroids and Chaos: Uncertainty in Mathematical Predictions of Gravitational Motion”

Microbiology 

1st Place: Julia Wright, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “The Role of Cell Wall Hydrolases in Biology of Dental Pathogen Streptococcus mutans”

Plant Sciences 

2nd Place: Ainjini Patra, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “Engineering a Drought-Tolerant Plant: A CRISPR Knockout of SLEEPY1 in Arabidopsis”

Translational Medical Science 

1st Place: Tejas Basneth, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “MaR-VeL: Novel 3-D Magnetic-Controlled Bioprinted Micro-Robotic Systems for Enhanced Stem Cell Integration and Regeneration”

2nd Place: Mitchell McNeal, Paul Laurence Dunbar, “AI-Powered Coronary Calcium Scoring: Optimizing Self-Supervised Learning for Low-Resource Environments”

Middle School Division

Best of Fair, Life Sciences

• 2nd Place: Sarah Islam, Meadowthorpe Elementary, “Boosting Brain Power:  Evaluating the Impact of Sensory Stimulus on Memory Recall”

Category Awards

Behavioral and Social Sciences

1st Place: Sarah Islam, Meadowthorpe Elementary, “Boosting Brain Power:  Evaluating the Impact of Sensory Stimulus on Memory Recall”

2nd Place: Havi Sheth, Tates Creek Middle, “Mr. Forgetful”

Biochemistry 

2nd Place: David Sun, Meadowthorpe Elementary, “Mineral vs. Chemical: Which sunscreen is better?”

Biomedical and Health Sciences 

2nd Place: Garima Parajuli, SCAPA at Bluegrass, “Which Home Remedy Provides the Best Relief for Heartburn?”

3rd Place: Jonathan Owens, SCAPA at Bluegrass, “Heartbeats and Harmonies”

Chemistry 

2nd Place: Enrico Zambon, Leestown Middle, “Water and Surface Tension (Under Pressure Temperature vs. Tension)”

Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design 

2nd Place: Zachary Stamper, Edythe J. Hayes Middle, “Maximizing River & Water Mill Performance”

Environmental Engineering 

3rd Place: Diya Patel, Beaumont Middle, “Climate Modeling: Predicting Future Climate”

Mathematics 

2nd Place: Aarav Tibrewal, Beaumont Middle, “Zipping up Zipf’s Law”

Microbiology 

3rd Place: Rhea Pradeep, Edythe J. Hayes, “Attack That Acne”

Physics and Astronomy 

2nd Place: Anne McKee Hastings and John Sienkiewicz, Morton Middle, “CURRENTS! How minerals affect conductivity in water”

Plant Sciences 

2nd Place: Samuel Sprinkle, Bryan Station Middle, “Water Absorption and Shedding in Various Wood Species”

Special Awards

American Psychological Association Award: Havi Sheth, Tates Creek Middle School, “Mr. Forgetful”

NOAA Taking the Pulse of the Planet: Ida Bauer, Morton Middle School, “Microplastics: Tiny Particles, Big Problem”

Stockholm Junior Water Prize: Winston Zhuang, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, “Sustainable and Affordable Coagulant Solutions for Mitigating Heavy Metal and Organic Pollution”

Thermo Fisher Junior Innovators Challenge: Matthias Myrup, Morton Middle School, “Weighting for Takeoff: How Weight Distribution Affects the Flight of a Plane”

Military Awards

Navy-Marine Corp Excellence in Research Award: 

• Clara Fuller, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, “Analysis of Machining Parameters Effects on Surface Integrity of Titanium”
• Jayden Jeong, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, “CAM-KIM: A Precision Surveillance AI Model for Predicting Gene Mutations and Advancing Early Cancer Treatment”

U.S.  Army Award: Winston Zhuang, Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, “Sustainable and Affordable Coagulant Solutions for Mitigating Heavy Metal and Organic Pollution”