15-year-old Designs Low-Cost Device to Monitor Airborne Bacteria in the Environment; Wins $25,000 Top Award at the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge

Young innovators awarded more than $100,000 for research on dementia-related proteins, alternatives to agricultural plastics and wildfire prevention

Key Takeaways:

• Thermo Fisher Scientific and Society for Science announced the winners of the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (Thermo Fisher JIC), the nation's premier middle school STEM competition.
• Bailey Quinn Frank, 15, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, won the $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND Award, the competition's top prize, for both the low-cost environmental DNA (eDNA) sampler she designed to monitor environments for pathogens and for her performance during team challenges.
• The 30 finalists, who were selected from nearly 2,000 applicants representing 47 states and five territories, collectively received more than $100,000 in awards at an annual ceremony in Washington, D.C.
• Other top winners included Henry Grover ($10,000 Broadcom Coding with Commitment^® Award); Myreen Ahsan, ($10,000 Citadel | Citadel Securities Innovation Award); Jack Grover ($10,000 DoW STEM Talent Award) and Wileidy Enid Feliciano-Rivera ($10,000 The Lemelson Foundation Award for Invention).
• For more information about the top winners and access to visual assets, visit our media kit here.
  

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- 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. Bailey Quinn Frank, 15, from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, won the $25,000 Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND (Aspiring Scientists Cultivating Exciting New Discoveries) Award, the top prize in the competition. Bailey built a low-cost environmental DNA (eDNA) sampler using a small fan and filter paper to collect airborne bacteria. She envisions that this affordable approach could make it easier for rural communities to monitor potential health threats, particularly in areas where limited resources make traditional disease surveillance challenging.

The Thermo Fisher JIC, a program of Society for Science, reaches 60,000 students annually through the Society’s Affiliated Fair Network. The competition inspires them to pursue their STEM interests and explore exciting college and career paths. The 30 finalists, selected from nearly 2,000 applicants representing 47 states and five territories, collectively received more than $100,000 at tonight's awards ceremony in Washington, D.C. Winners were chosen by a panel of distinguished scientists, engineers and educators. Each finalist's school 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 coded with micro:bit processors to design sustainable cities, investigated an outbreak of multiple illnesses to prioritize patients for care, explored how AI could help scientists identify turtles, and designed and built protective enclosures for diamondback terrapin eggs.

“Middle school is where a spark of interest can become a lifelong passion for science,” said Maya Ajmera, President & CEO, Society for Science and Executive Publisher, Science News. “Bailey's research on using eDNA samplers to detect pathogens is a remarkable example of that spark in action. I congratulate Bailey and all of the 2026 finalists. Their talent and creativity give me great hope for the future.”

The other top winners included:
Henry Grover, 14, from Riverside, California, 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 a Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations. Inspired by the devastating 2025 Palisades fire, Henry and his twin brother Jack investigated whether a water-absorbing gel, or hydrogel, could help prevent fires from reigniting. They identified sodium polyacrylate as the most promising hydrogel and designed a sprayer to apply it to areas at risk of rekindling.

Myreen Ahsan, 14, Friendswood, Texas, won the $10,000 Citadel | Citadel Securities Innovation Award for utilizing data-driven decision making to create innovative solutions to problems.
Inspired by her grandfather's dementia diagnosis, Myreen used machine learning to identify molecules that could target tau, a protein that becomes abnormally folded in people with frontotemporal dementia. Of the four molecules she tested, CNS-11 emerged as the most promising candidate for further research into potential treatments.

Jack Grover, 14, Riverside, California, won the $10,000 DoW 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. Inspired by the devastating 2025 Palisades Fire, Jack and his twin brother Henry investigated whether a water-absorbing gel, or hydrogel, could help prevent fires from reigniting. They identified sodium polyacrylate as the most promising hydrogel and designed a sprayer to apply it to areas at risk of rekindling.

Wileidy Enid Feliciano-Rivera, 13, Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, won the $10,000 The Lemelson Foundation Award for Invention, awarded to a young inventor creating promising solutions to real-world problems. Wileidy used plantain peels from her school cafeteria to create a biodegradable mulch designed to control weeds. She tested it against both conventional plastic mulch and uncovered soil, finding that her plant-based alternative controlled weeds just as effectively as plastic mulch while also helping keep the soil cool and moist.

Thermo Fisher's sponsorship of the Junior Innovators Challenge reflects the company's longstanding commitment to broadening access to STEM education. For decades, the company has invested in school-based and community STEM programs, and colleagues across the company volunteer thousands of hours each year to support education initiatives around the world.

“This year’s winners have demonstrated impressive scientific rigor, personal passion and the character skills to succeed at such a young age,” said Karen Nelson, Chief Scientific Officer, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “And their journey doesn’t end here. Our hope is that they are inspired by this exciting experience to advance their research to solve some of the world’s greatest challenges and encourage more students to see a future for themselves in STEM.”

In addition to the top prizes, Thermo Fisher and the Society announced first- and second-place winners in each STEM category, as well as the competition's Team Award.

First- and second-place STEM Award winners demonstrate exceptional skills and promise in science, technology, engineering or math. First-place winners received $3,500 and second-place winners received $2,500 in educational stipends.

Science Award:

• Seiji Iigaya, Tenafly, New Jersey: "Modeling Violin Expression: Timbral Dynamics at the Instability Boundary"
• Lilly Swigert, Los Angeles, California: "Fly Away From Addiction: Testing Dibenzazepine’s Effect on Ethanol Preference in Drosophila melanogaster"

Technology Award:

• Bowen Wang, San Carlos, California: "Aftershock Oracle: Machine Learning-Based Aftershock Risk Forecasting for Earthquake Safety"
• Rye Lynn Rost, Baker, Montana: "Musa acuminata and Musa paradisiaca Mashup: Developing Higher Resistant Starch Bioplastics"

Engineering Award:

• Andrew Sun-Zhuang, Shoreline, Washington: "VisionStrike: Portable AI-Powered Baseball Pitching Machine"
• Nathan Gael Montelongo, La Joya, Texas: "Shellfish Contributions to Ecosystem and Human Health: Evaluating Chitosan’s Natural Ability To Remove Microplastics"

Mathematics Award:

• Isabel Rossi, Williamsburg, Virginia: "Listening in the Right Places: Game Theory and Optimization for Earthquake Sensor Placement"
• Ishaan Dokania, Beaverton, Oregon: "Eye in the Sky: From Pixels to Predictions for Lithium and Beyond"

Team Award: 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. The winning team members are Myreen Ahsan, Ankith Burki, Linden Hunter-Pinsky, Shrikari Punjala and Isabel Rossi.

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 2026 awardee Locklyn Raye Ward from Grove, Oklahoma.

Media Kit: https://www.societyforscience.org/thermo-fisher-jic-2026-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, Instagram and LinkedIn

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue over $45 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, Gibco, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD. For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.

Gayle Kansagor, Society for Science
703-489-1131, gkansagor@societyforscience.org

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8ae8b070-ef12-4062-98c8-ed650ed4abde