The Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair, founded in 1985, started out with a little more than 100 projects and has grown considerably to include participants from across the Commonwealth.
This year we expect between 200 and 250 exhibits to participate in the Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair from students who presented at their local and regional fairs. The regional fairs contributing to this year's VSSEF are:
Blue Ridge Highlands Regional Science Fair
Central Virginia Regional Science Fair
Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Loudoun County Science and Engineering Fair
Northern Virginia Science & Engineering Fair
Prince William-Manassas Regional Science Fair
Shenandoah Valley Regional Science Fair
Tidewater Science and Engineering Fair
Virginia Piedmont Regional Science Fair
Western Virginia Regional Science Fair
Virginia State Science and Engineering Fair 2022 - Winners and Awards
ISEF Participants
Name
Project ID
Title
Category
Regional Fair
Tony Bright, Hamza Lateef, Gabriel Ralston
VSSEF-BMHS-068
Concussion Recovery in Youth Optimized using a Comprehensive App-based Program (CRYO CAP)
Biomedical and Health Sciences
Prince William-Manassas
Suraj Vaddi
VSSEF-EAEV-081
Tar Print: Novel Convolutional Remote Sensing Techniques to Quantify Urbanization and Study Water Quality
Earth Environmental Sciences
Fairfax
Omar Abul-Hassan
VSSEF-TMED-178
A Helmholtzian Deep Learning Approach to Glomeruli Segmentation using Energy-based Models
Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Translational Medical
Tidewater
Colin Berry
VSSEF-BEHA-072
Bringing Truth into Fake News: The Diffusion of Fact-Checked Fake Stories on Twitter
Behavioral and Social Sciences
NOVA
Michelle Hu
VSSEF-ROBO-180
Deepfake Detection Using Deep Learning
Robotics, Intelligent Machines, and Systems Software
Tidewater
Grand Award Winners
Tony Bright, Hamza Lateef, Gabriel Ralston
VSSEF-BMHS-068
Concussion Recovery in Youth Optimized using a Comprehensive App-based Program (CRYO CAP)
Suraj Vaddi
VSSEF-EAEV-081
Tar Print: Novel Convolutional Remote Sensing Techniques to Quantify Urbanization and Study Water Quality
Omar Abul-Hassan
VSSEF-TMED-178
A Helmholtzian Deep Learning Approach to Glomeruli Segmentation using Energy-based Models
Category Winners
Animal Sciences (ANIM)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Rania Lateef
VSSEF-ANIM-078
Dozing off with Drosophila: The effect of Circadian Dysfunction and Sleep Deprivation on Mortality, Mood, and Addiction in Fruit Flies
Second Place
Colin Surabian
VSSEF-ANIM-104
The Effect of Substrate Type on Black Soldier Fly Larvae Mass
Third Place
Clara Carter
VSSEF-ANIM-039
The Effect of Various Concentrations of Methylparaben on the Regeneration Rate of Planaria
Honorable Mention
Abhinav Karri
VSSEF-ANIM-076
Col-IV: An Indicator of Vascular Formation and Pericyte Recruitment
Behavioral and Social Sciences (BEHA)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Colin Berry
VSSEF-BEHA-072
Bringing Truth into Fake News: The Diffusion of Fact-Checked Fake Stories on Twitter
Second Place
Sara Elanchezhian
VSSEF-BEHA-083
AI in School Safety: Using Neural Networks to Perform Threat Level Assessment for School Shootings via the Analysis of Psychosocial Attributes
Third Place
Sohini Banerjee
VSSEF-BEHA-145
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Biomarker Identification using Integrative Network Fusion and Deep Learning with Bayesian Hyperparameter Optimization
Honorable Mention
Claire Chang, Olivia Chang
VSSEF-BEHA-176
Flies on the Fly: A Novel Research on Thiamine as a Preventative Measure to Traumatic-Brain-Injury-Induced Locomotive Ability Loss
Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCHM)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Jadesola Akinbi, Comfort Ohajunwa
VSSEF-BCHM-218
A Study on Biofuel Production: Investigating Methods to Enhance Fermentation in the Production of Bioethanol
Second Place
Eleanor Little
VSSEF-BCHM-058
Circadian Rhythmicity of Cellular Healing
Third Place
Tanish Jain
VSSEF-BCHM-121
In Silico Prediction of Blood-Brain Barrier Permeability of Chemical Compounds through Molecular Feature Modeling
Honorable Mention
Neha Jagasia
VSSEF-BCHM-209
Impact of Polyethylenes on Dugesia tigrina Healing as a Model for Human Skin Aging and Healing
Biomedical and Health Sciences (BMHS)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Tony Bright, Hamza Lateef, Gabriel Ralston
VSSEF-BMHS-068
Concussion Recovery in Youth Optimized using a Comprehensive App-based Program (CRYO CAP)
Second Place
Jacqueline Hou
VSSEF-BMHS-018
The Effects of Inflammatory Neutrophils on Endothelial Cell Integrity
Third Place
Richa Misra
VSSEF-BMHS-124
EasyWAQ: A Novel Approach to Quantification of Human Gait Using Wearable Accelerometers
Honorable Mention
Ella Bryant, Christina Okenquist
VSSEF-BMHS-098
The Effect of RNA Interference on the Apoptosis of Small Cell Lung Carcinoma
Biomedical Engineering (ENBM)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Rockwell Li
VSSEF-ENBM-185
Swim Smart, Swim Fast - Development and Application of a Fitbit App for Swim Technique Study
Second Place
Grace Huang
VSSEF-ENBM-067
Bone segmentation from hip MRI by using local salient anatomy to guide deep learning-based object localization
Third Place
Brock Duma
VSSEF-ENBM-019
An Optimized Whitewater Helmet Prototype Designed Using a Newly Developed Helmet STAR Evaluation System and 3D Printing
Honorable Mention
Dylan Mach
VSSEF-ENBM-190
Engineering a Low-Cost and Efficacious Apparatus for Alleviating Finger Joint Pain in Arthritic Patients
Chemistry (CHEM)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Jodilee Irby
VSSEF-CHEM-027
Influence of Fiber Reactive Dyes on the Ultraviolet Protection Factor of Cotton and Linen Fabrics
Second Place
Leila Silva
VSSEF-CHEM-062
The Effect of Natural Disinfectants on the Concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds
Third Place
Georgia Honts
VSSEF-CHEM-196
Effects of Sodium and Potassium Compounds on Explosive Force
Honorable Mention
Keane Tao
VSSEF-CHEM-179
Reagent-loaded Annulus-shaped Reactor on Filter Paper with Virtual Colorimeter for Onsite Detection of Chlorogenic Acid
Earth & Environmental Sciences (EAEV)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Suraj Vaddi
VSSEF-EAEV-081
Tar Print: Novel Convolutional Remote Sensing Techniques to Quantify Urbanization and Study Water Quality
Second Place
Brooke Bretney, Vaneeza Shoaid
VSSEF-EAEV-152
NOVA WATERSHED WATER QUALITY PROJECT CONTINUATION
Third Place
Jenna Cai
VSSEF-EAEV-048
Assessing the Impacts of Rapid Climate Change on Arctic Soil Conditions by Combining Satellite and In Situ Measurements
Honorable Mention
Mehreen Rahman, Kevin Sae-Tung
VSSEF-EAEV-215
The Effect of Copper Sulfate on the Ability of Ulva lactuca to Prevent Critical Levels of Nutrients in Water
Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design (EGSD)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Zoe Benton
VSSEF-EGSD-044
Fabrication of a Combination Darrieus Rotor and Helix Shape Hydroelectric Turbine for Irrigation
Second Place
Shaunak Sinha
VSSEF-EGSD-129
PAMN: A Novel Cooperative Modular Neural Network to Predict and Optimize Electrical Energy within Heaving Point Absorbers
Third Place
Sofia Saucedo Sato
VSSEF-EGSD-216
Effect of the Efficiency of Solar Conversion on the Output of Electrical Energy
Honorable Mention
Gwyneth Liu
VSSEF-EGSD-011
Novel Model of an Adaptive Wave Energy Converter with Spectral Analysis-based Sea State Classification
Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics (ETSD)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Hanako Patten
VSSEF-ETSD-053
The Effect of Different Vanes on the Efficiency of a Water Wheel
Second Place
Eugene Choi, Raffu Khondaker, Irfan Nafi
VSSEF-ETSD-052
Decentralized Shared Intelligence of Autonomous Vehicles with Real-Time Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning
Third Place
Micah Willis
VSSEF-ETSD-036
Comparing Flexibility of Different Composites Used in Aerospace
Honorable Mention
Justin Jose, Tina Jose
VSSEF-ETSD-134
An Arm in Need from a Robot Indeed!
Environmental Engineering (ENEV)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Vinay Ayala
VSSEF-ENEV-054
Developing a Low-cost Localized Flood Alert System to Prompt for Road Closures During Hazardous Conditions
Second Place
Justin Pokrant
VSSEF-ENEV-110
The Effect of Seawall Design on Flood Prevention
Third Place
Emma Batty
VSSEF-ENEV-082
Using Food Waste to Create Starch-Based Bioplastic
Honorable Mention
Béla Williams
VSSEF-ENEV-207
Effect of Biochar on Bioavailable Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Food Waste Compost
Mathematics (MATH)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Alvan Arulandu
VSSEF-MATH-138
Parameter Identification and Agent-Based Modeling Approaches for Prediction and Data Visualization of COVID-19 Dynamics and Interventions
Second Place
Lillian Sun
VSSEF-MATH-064
De Novo Prediction of RNA-Protein Interactions for Discovery of Tissue-Specific Binding Sites and Study of RNA Gain-of-Function Diseases
Third Place
Shoshana Elgart
VSSEF-MATH-206
A New Approach to Image Stitching: Minimizing Distortion and Computational Costs
Honorable Mention
Alice Fang, Lillian Lam
VSSEF-MATH-189
Geospatial Derivation of Stellar Radii Via Asteroid Occultations from a Spacecraft
Creating Novel Bacteriophage Solutions as a Preventative Measure for Escherichia coli Biofilm Formation on Elastomer Biomaterials in Medically Relevant Settings In Vitro
Second Place
Fiona Dreesbach
VSSEF-MCRO-045
Changing the Martian Atmosphere: Examining Lichen's Effect on Oxygen Percentage in a Simulated Martian Atmosphere
Third Place
Clare Flynn
VSSEF-MCRO-056
SODIS Is Clean Water?
Honorable Mention
Bethel Abebe, Christina Fernandez
VSSEF-MCRO-198
Quantifying the Degradation and Adherence of Staphylococcus epidermidis' Biofilms When Exposed to Select Proteolytic Enzymes on Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Surfaces​
Physics and Astronomy (PHYS)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Orla Haggerty
VSSEF-PHYS-088
Race to the "Fin"ish
Second Place
Morgan Henshaw
VSSEF-PHYS-075
Harmonic Analysis of the B-flat Clarinet
Third Place
Rishav Sen
VSSEF-PHYS-015
Classifying Stars in the GAIA Catalog Using Machine Learning
Honorable Mention
Sam Watchman
VSSEF-PHYS-092
Mapping the Milky Way: Observations of Galactic Structure from the 21 cm Hydrogen Line
Plant Sciences (PLNT)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Naman Agarwal
VSSEF-PLNT-210
A Low-Cost Deep Learning Solution for Early Detection of Lettuce Stress in Indoor Farms
Second Place
Katherine Cross, Sophia Schumaecker
VSSEF-PLNT-093
Transient Genetic Transformation of Cuscuta Campestris Using Arginine-functionalized Nanohydroxyapatites as a Plasmid Delivery Vector
Third Place
Abby Wyatt
VSSEF-PLNT-049
The Effect of Invasive Species on Plants and Soil Microbes
Honorable Mention
Daisy Maxwell
VSSEF-PLNT-061
The Effect of Sunscreen on Elodea canadensis
Robotics, Intelligent Machines, and Systems Software (ROBO)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Michelle Hu
VSSEF-ROBO-180
Deepfake Detection Using Deep Learning
Second Place
Seoyoung Jun
VSSEF-ROBO-117
Mind Beacon: A Portable Spatial Recognition Device for the Visually Impaired Using a 3D Depth Sensor and Custom Tactile Display
Third Place
Raahi Chada
VSSEF-ROBO-089
Combating Disease in Under-resourced Areas: Synthetic Degradation as a Method to Low-quality Image Classification
Honorable Mention
William Savage, Alexander Shipley
VSSEF-ROBO-070
Using Computer Vision and Augmented Reality to Utilize Pupil Movement as an Alternative to Traditional Tactile Input Systems
Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, and Translational Medical (TMED)
Name
Project ID
Title
First Place
Omar Abul-Hassan
VSSEF-TMED-178
A Helmholtzian Deep Learning Approach to Glomeruli Segmentation using Energy-based Models
Second Place
Lynn Tao
VSSEF-TMED-122
Early Breast Cancer Risk Detection: A Novel Framework Leveraging Polygenic Risk Scores and Machine Learning
Third Place
Laasya Konidala
VSSEF-TMED-008
A Novel Approach To Automated ROI Detection For Glioma Severity Prediction
Honorable Mention
Rebecca Qiu
VSSEF-TMED-066
A Precision Medicine Approach: In Silico Analysis of a Novel Anti-Tumor Peptide as a Future Targeted Therapy
Special Awards
American Meteorological Society
Harriet Shapiro
VSSEF-EAEV-214
The Effect of Urban Heat Island Mitigation Strategy on Surface and Atmospheric Temperature
American Psychological Association
Sohini Banerjee
VSSEF-BEHA-145
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Biomarker Identification using Integrative Network Fusion and Deep Learning with Bayesian Hyperparameter Optimization
ASM Materials Education Foundation
Brock Duma
VSSEF-ENBM-019
An Optimized Whitewater Helmet Prototype Designed Using a Newly Developed Helmet STAR Evaluation System and 3D Printing
Association for Women Geoscientists
Jenna Cai
VSSEF-EAEV-048
Assessing the Impacts of Rapid Climate Change on Arctic Soil Conditions by Combining Satellite and In Situ Measurements
Leidos 2022 Young Virginia STEM Research Award
Thomas Chia
VSSEF-TMED-043
i-Sight: Utilizing Semi-supervised Learning in Compound Neural Networks for a Holistic Ophthalmic Diagnosis
Leidos Award for Excellence in Applied Science
First Place
Brett Wilson, Laasya Doppalapudi
VSSEF-ENBM-200
Evaluating the viability of an asymmetric electrospun nanofiber composed of polycaprolactone, chitosan, and curcumin to promote chronic wound healing
Second Place
Irfan Nafi, Raffu Khondaker, Eugene Choi
VSSEF-ETSD-052
Decentralized Shared Intelligence of Autonomous Vehicles with Real-Time Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning
Third Place
Chloe Yan
VSSEF-BMHS-071
Development of RNA Vaccines Targeting Alzheimer's Disease Using Single-Cell RNA Sequencing and Proteomic Analysis
Honorable Mention
Jacqueline Hou
VSSEF-BMHS-018
The Effects of Inflammatory Neutrophils on Endothelial Cell Integrity
Honorable Mention
Richa Misra
VSSEF-BMHS-124
EasyWAQ: A Novel Approach to Quantification of Human Gait Using Wearable Accelerometers
Honorable Mention
William Savage, Alexander Shipley
VSSEF-ROBO-070
Using Computer Vision and Augmented Reality to Utilize Pupil Movement as an Alternative to Traditional Tactile Input Systems
Leidos Award for Excellence in Computational Science
First Place
Ron Nachum
VSSEF-TMED-148
PANDwriting: An Accessible, High-Sensitivity Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Screening System Using Vision-Based Handwriting Kinematic Analysis and Machine Learning
Second Place
Shoshana Elgart
VSSEF-MATH-206
A New Approach to Image Stitching: Minimizing Distortion and Computational Costs
Third Place
Lynn Tao
VSSEF-TMED-122
Early Breast Cancer Risk Detection: A Novel Framework Leveraging Polygenic Risk Scores and Machine Learning
Honorable Mention
Omar Abul-Hassan
VSSEF-TMED-178
A Helmholtzian Deep Learning Approach to Glomeruli Segmentation using Energy-based Models
Honorable Mention
Grace Huang
VSSEF-ENBM-067
Bone segmentation from hip MRI by using local salient anatomy to guide deep learning-based object localization
Honorable Mention
Rohit Prasanna
VSSEF-PHYS-077
Real-Time Prediction of Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections
Mark Licata Award for Biotechnology
First Place
Malini Dharni
VSSEF-BCHM-177
The Effect of Calcium Chloride on the Diameter of Blood Clots
Second Place
Ron Nachum
VSSEF-TMED-148
PANDwriting: An Accessible, High-Sensitivity Parkinson's and Alzheimer's Screening System Using Vision-Based Handwriting Kinematic Analysis and Machine Learning
Third Place
Grace Huang
VSSEF-ENBM-067
Bone segmentation from hip MRI by using local salient anatomy to guide deep learning-based object localization
Mu Alpha Theta
Shoshana Elgart
VSSEF-MATH-206
A New Approach to Image Stitching: Minimizing Distortion and Computational Costs
NASA Earth System Science Award
Amrita Sahu
VSSEF-PHYS-160
Calibrating Space PlasmA Diagnostic SuitE (SPADE) Data for Applications to the Characterization of Space Weather
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Vaneeza Shoaib, Brooke Bretney
VSSEF-EAEV-152
NOVA Watershed Water Quality Project Continuation
Ricoh Sustainable Development Award
Béla Williams
VSSEF-ENEV-207
Effect of Biochar on Bioavailable Nitrogen and Phosphorus in Food Waste Compost
Society of In Vitro Biology
Christina Fernandez, Bethel Abebe
VSSEF-MCRO-198
Quantifying the Degradation and Adherence of Staphylococcus epidermidis' Biofilms When Exposed to Select Proteolytic Enzymes on Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Surfaces​
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID): Science Champion
Kyle Rajapakse
VSSEF-EAEV-012
Clear Water Doesn't Always Mean Clean Water: Detection of Water Contamination
U.S. Metric Association
Daisy Maxwell
VSSEF-PLNT-061
The Effect of Sunscreen on Elodea canadensis
Virginia Section of the American Water Works Association
First Place
Clare Flynn
VSSEF-MCRO-056
SODIS Is Clean Water?
Second Place
Dhruvi Patel
VSSEF-EAEV-099
The Effect of Bioprinted Chlorella-Based Filtration Systems on Nitrate Concentration in Water
Third Place
Kyle Rajapakse
VSSEF-EAEV-012
Clear Water Doesn't Always Mean Clean Water: Detection of Water Contamination
Honorable Mention
Hanako Patten
VSSEF-ETSD-053
The Effect of Different Vanes on the Efficiency of a Water Wheel
Yale Science & Engineering Association
Hamza Lateef, Tony Bright, Gabriel Ralston
VSSEF-BMHS-068
Concussion Recovery in Youth Optimized using a Comprehensive App-based Program (CRYO CAP)
Fair Director
Gabriel Franke Assistant to the Dean College of Sciences 143 Oceanography & Physics Bldg. Norfolk, VA 23529 mfranke@odu.edu 757-683-5057
Assistant Fair Director
Justin Mason Planetarium Director Physics Department 128 Oceanography & Physics Bldg. Norfolk, VA 23529 jrmason@odu.edu 757-683-3474
Chair of the Scientific Review Committee
Lesley Greene Associate Professor & Associate Dean Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry Chemistry Building, 4501 Elkhorn Ave Norfolk, VA 23529 lgreene@odu.edu 757-683-6596
