Dutchess County Regional Science Fair Competitive Awards

April 11, 2026

5TH GRADE COMPETITIVE AWARDS

1ST PLACE
Vassar Brothers Institute ($50)

• Rachel Perfecto Science Award ($100)

Nora Alfaro

West Road

Water Works (Importance of & How to Clean Water)

2ND PLACE
Mei Ling Chan Memorial Award ($50)

Leandro Ojeda-Roa

Holy Trinity

Windy Situation

3RD PLACE
TEG ($50)

Eli Rogovic

Chancellor Livingston Elementary School

The Drop Zone: Which Filament Survives - PLA, PETG or TPU?

HONORABLE MENTION

Loui Ogino

Brinckerhoff Elementary School

Can Magicians Cut a Cucumber?

HONORABLE MENTION

Isaac Mejias

Titusville Intermediate School

Sphero AI Outrun

HONORABLE MENTION

Theo Chang

Arthur S. May Elementary School

Stealthy Shape

HONORABLE MENTION

Hunter Frasene

St. Mary School Fishkill

Crash Test Science

HONORABLE MENTION

Kinsley Harkins

Arthur S. May Elementary School

Does Water Temperature Affect The Fizz Of A Bath Bomb?

HONORABLE MENTION

Olivia LaPlante

St. Mary School Fishkill

Save the Ocean

HONORABLE MENTION

Kylin Turner

Holy Trinity

Potato Power

HONORABLE MENTION

Juliette Castillo

Vail Farm Elementary School

Which natural elements best filter contaminated water?

HONORABLE MENTION

Samuel Perez

Gayhead Elementary School

Forces versus structures

HONORABLE MENTION

Jedidiah Davis

Chancellor Livingston Elementary School

Catapult

HONORABLE MENTION

Davin Williams

Netherwood Elementary School

It's Electric! (The electric pickle)

HONORABLE MENTION

Avery Touchon

Arthur S. May Elementary School

How do Astronauts land their spacecraft? Interactive discovery

HONORABLE MENTION

Julianne Samantha A. Paladin

Holy Trinity

Which Filtration Material Leads to the Best Drinking Water?

HONORABLE MENTION

Lilliana Nelson

Eugene Brooks Intermediate School

Mixing Magic

HONORABLE MENTION

Ansh Vekaria 

Sheafe Road Elementary School

Know our solar system

HONORABLE MENTION

Maggie Oconnell

West Road

Rethink Your Popcorn Brand

HONORABLE MENTION

Zayn Shah

Titusville Intermediate School

SUGAR RUSH

HONORABLE MENTION

Sadi Leach

Noxon Road Elementary School

How Much Energy Can Humans Produce?

HONORABLE MENTION

Bailey Rowe

Vail Farm Elementary School

The Power of Magnet Powder

HONORABLE MENTION

Izabella White

Holy Trinity

Baking Soda Volcano

6TH GRADE COMPETITIVE AWARDS

1ST PLACE
Vassar Brothers Institute ($50)

• Laya Varanasi Science Award ($100)

Nipun Tunga

St. Mary School Fishkill

Out with Toxins: Changing the World One less Allelochemical at a Time!!

2ND PLACE
John Cwiklik Memorial Award ($50)

Tegh Garcha

Gayhead Elementary

Man vs Machine: Plant Hydration

3RD PLACE
TEG ($50)

Hannah Russin

Dutchess Day School

Don't Melt Under Pressure: What is The Amount of Sugar Needed to Keep Ice Cream Cold Inside of a Meringue

HONORABLE MENTION

Amir Tandon

Union Vale Middle School

Earthquake resistant building concepts

HONORABLE MENTION

Logan Digilio

St. Mary School Fishkill

Salty or Sweet? Know Before You Eat

HONORABLE MENTION

Avan Mishra

Brinckerhoff Elementary School

No More Snore

HONORABLE MENTION

Joshua Mingst-Tuttle

Rombout Middle School

Germs : All About Bacteria

HONORABLE MENTION

Gyan Holmes

Union Vale Middle School

The effects of ice melters on concrete

HONORABLE MENTION

Marco Romani

Union Vale Middle School

Why Does a Cat Purr Calm People?  Testing Sound vs. Vibration

HONORABLE MENTION

Kavya Holmes

Union Vale Middle School

Sleep Study: Does White Noise Affect Your Sleep

HONORABLE MENTION

Kaija Moore

Pawling Middle School

Soda Spike

HONORABLE MENTION

Benjamin Brien

Dutchess Day School

Flying High:  An Investigation Into Paper Airplanes

HONORABLE MENTION

Kayden Ashraf

Dutchess Day School

ROTATOR CUFF REPAIR ANCHOR TESTING

HONORABLE MENTION

Kieran Rode

St. Mary School Fishkill

AI or Not

HONORABLE MENTION

Arwen Tveekrem Dague

LaGrange Middle School

How do Domestic Cats React to Recorded Bird Songs?

HONORABLE MENTION

Lillian Hamedl

Dutchess Day School

Germs Gone Wild

HONORABLE MENTION

Emma Gilpin

Dutchess Day School

Glucose in candy

HONORABLE MENTION

Tatiana Conrad

Union Vale Middle School

Which Reaction Produces the Most Heat?

HONORABLE MENTION

Vera Schwarz

Beekman Elementary School

Rock Candy!

HONORABLE MENTION

Genevieve Horton

Millbrook Middle School

Levitating water  fountain

HONORABLE MENTION

Kai Raszkiewicz

Oak Grove Elementary School

The nature of a black hole

7TH GRADE COMPETITIVE AWARDS

1ST PLACE
Vassar Brothers Institute ($50)

• Sue Serino Science Award ($100) 

Margie Gunnels

Dutchess Day School

The Dirty Truth About Water

2ND PLACE

• 
  Clemson University

Prof. June J. Pilcher

Science Award ($50)

• TEG ($50)

Nehlah Mohammed

Van Wyck Junior High School

Magnetic Cleanup: Keeping Microplastics out of the Ocean

3RD PLACE
TEG ($50)

Christopher Zupan

Van Wyck Junior High School

Reaction speed in gamers

HONORABLE MENTION

Julian Bergdall

Pawling Middle School

How does density affect cooling times?

HONORABLE MENTION

Martin Xu

Van Wyck Junior High School

Testing Variables On DIY Batteries

HONORABLE MENTION

Brendan Walsh

Pawling Middle School

The Thaws of Melting

HONORABLE MENTION

Rachel Sims

Dutchess Day School

Rust in Real Time

HONORABLE MENTION

Lily Okin

Van Wyck Junior High School

Cold Plasma and Radish Seeds

HONORABLE MENTION

Falyn Rice

Holy Trinity

Acoustic levitation

HONORABLE MENTION

Maxwell Delgado

Bulkeley Middle School

Plant Photosynthesis Rates

HONORABLE MENTION

Cali Cowan

St. Mary School Fishkill

Detecting Black Ice for Blind Pedestrians

HONORABLE MENTION

Katherine Drury

Dutchess Day School

Clean Versus Green

HONORABLE MENTION

Mia Chen

Van Wyck Junior High School

Water Purity

HONORABLE MENTION

Charlie Liptay

Bulkeley Middle School

Pickleball Physics: How hole size affects bounce height

HONORABLE MENTION

Christian Byrne

Union Vale Middle School

Nucleation

HONORABLE MENTION

Xavier Gibson

Van Wyck Junior High School

Who Gives a Poop: A study of dog poop bags

HONORABLE MENTION

Nadly Elhalafawy

Millbrook Middle School

Chilling out: Temperature’s Role in Sugar Crystal Size

HONORABLE MENTION

Tia Almakhamreh

Holy Trinity

Wildlife on the move

8TH GRADE COMPETITIVE AWARDS

1ST PLACE
Vassar Brothers Institute ($50)

• Brian T. Martin Memorial Award ($100)

Abigail Watson

Wappingers Junior High School

Warming Up to Change

2ND PLACE
Lowell Butler Award ($50)

• TEG ($50)

Rhianne Ortiz-Luis

St. Mary School Fishkill

Angle Matters

HONORABLE MENTION

Lucy Sherar

St. Mary School Fishkill

Hue Knew? Testing Color and Memory Recall

HONORABLE MENTION

Ria Vekaria

Wappingers Junior High School

Satellite-Based Microplastic Accumulation Mapping

9TH GRADE COMPETITIVE AWARDS

1ST PLACE
Vassar Brothers Institute ($50)

• New York State Senator Robert Rolison Science Award ($100)

Danica DiPaola

Our Lady of Lourdes

Biofashion: A Living Tapestry

2nd PLACE
Clemson University Prof. June J. Pilcher Science Award ($50)

• TEG ($50)

Lion Ogino

John Jay High School

Non-Powered Water Cooling Machine

HONORABLE MENTION

Victoria Hoyt

John Jay High School

Syringe Powered Hydraulic Arm

HONORABLE MENTION

Grace Cozzocrea

Pawling High School

Modeling Tumor-Induced Vascular Leakiness Using 3D-Printed Micro Perforated Tubes in a Gelatin Matrix

HONORABLE MENTION

Sabin Kain

Webutuck High School

Can Gatorade Substitute for Water When Watering Plants?

SENIOR DIVISION COMPETITIVE AWARDS

1ST PLACE

• 
  Sigma XI ($100)

• Vassar Brothers Institute ($50)

• Dr. James Green Science Award ($100)

• DCC President Dr. Peter Grant Jordan Science Award ($100)

• Robert Verkuil Science Award ($100)

• ISEF Trip to International Fair

Adam Mah

Spackenkill High School

Using Different Convergence Behaviors Across Samples to Detect Minority Subgroups in Data

2ND PLACE
Sigma XI ($75)

• Edmund Lynch III Science Award ($100)

• Brian & Benjamin Lei Science Award ($100)

• Dutchess County Dental Society Certificate of Achievement ($50)

• ISEF Trip to International Fair

Ainsley Bosman

Roy C. Ketcham High School

Photocatalytic Remediation of PET Microplastics via MnO2

3RD PLACE
Sigma XI ($50)

• Nancy O’Shea Memorial Award ($100)

• Rita Brannen Memorial Science Award ($50)

Lucas Walsh

Pawling High School

Machine Learning Approaches to Growth, Maturation, Relative Age Effects, and Performance in Youth Soccer

HONORABLE MENTION

Sam Fidler

Pawling High School

Acute Cognitive and Neural Consequences of Personalized Short Form Video Exposure in Adolescents: A Controlled EEG Study

HONORABLE MENTION

Emma Huynh

Our Lady of Lourdes

Optimizing iPhone Battery Life

HONORABLE MENTION

Adam Khurshid

Spackenkill High School

Preserving Academic Integrity in the Age of Generative AI: A Comparative Study of Author Verification and AI Detection Abstract

HONORABLE MENTION

Angela Liu

Spackenkill High School

Eagles and Hawks: American Teenage Perceptions Towards Nuclear Weapon Use in Various Community Types

HONORABLE MENTION

Ana Haridevara

Spackenkill High School

Predicting Heart Failure Readmissions Using Passive In-Home Monitoring

HONORABLE MENTION

Sarah Willie

Pawling High School

Testing for Medium-Range Model Locational Error in Nor’easter Low Pressure System Placement

HONORABLE MENTION

Shanum Choudhury

Spackenkill High School

The Impact of Mental Health Burden on Cardiovascular Health: A ZIP Code-Level Analysis Across the U.S.

HONORABLE MENTION

Sayeed Hossain

Spackenkill High School

Probing Quantum Gravity Signatures: Sensitivity Curves for Novel Interferometer Topologies for the QUEST Experiment using FINESSE

HONORABLE MENTION

Julianna Knowles

Pawling High School

The Correlation Between Transitional Stressors in Veterans, Incarcerated People, and Graduated High School Students

HONORABLE MENTION

Qadira Scheidelman

Spackenkill High School

Comparison of Low and High Viscosity Oil Absorption by Sea Moss in Saltwater

HONORABLE MENTION

Alyssia Cosden

Pawling High School

A Brief  Statistical Analysis of Cyber Crime in Relation To Economic Growth of Industries

HONORABLE MENTION

Qingyu (Derek) Wang

Spackenkill High School

The Effect of Electrode Spacing and Voltage Variations on the Exhaust Velocity of Ionic thruster

HONORABLE MENTION

Josue Perez

John Jay High School

Drones and Camera Vibration

HONORABLE MENTION

Rocco Romani

Arlington High School

Is five really the best? Rethinking the human mold

HONORABLE MENTION

Stephanie Balan

Pawling High School

Factors Influencing Surgeon Decision-Making in Bone Graft Selection During Spinal Fusion

HONORABLE MENTION

Giuliana Frisenda

Our Lady of Lourdes

Active vs. Passive Flight

HONORABLE MENTION

Zanaiya McNair

Arlington High School

What’s in the water?!

HONORABLE MENTION

Lond’n Powell

Arlington High School

The Great Exhaustion

Dutchess County Regional Science Fair Special Awards

April 11, 2026

WINNER

SCHOOL

PROJECT TITLE

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION of UNIVERSITY WOMEN

Nehlah Mohammed 

Van Wyck Junior High School

Magnetic Cleanup: Keeping Microplastics out of the Ocean

Abigail Watson

Wappingers Junior High School

Warming Up to Change

AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY - MID-HUDSON

Vera Schwarz

Beekman Elementary School

Rock Candy!

Hannah Russin

Dutchess Day School

Don't Melt Under Pressure: What is The Amount of Sugar Needed to Keep Ice Cream Cold Inside of a Meringue

Rachel Sims

Dutchess Day School

Rust in Real Time

Ainsley Bosman

Roy C. Ketcham High School

Photocatalytic Remediation of PET Microplastics via MnO2

ASSOCIATION FOR WOMEN GEOSCIENTISTS

Juliette Castillo

Vail Farm Elementary School

Which natural elements best filter contaminated water?

BOBBI ALCOCK FOUNDERS AWARD IN CHEMISTRY- BEST CHEMISTRY PROJECT

Ainsley Bosman

Roy C. Ketcham High School

Photocatalytic Remediation of PET Microplastics via MnO2

CARY INSTITUTE of ECOSYSTEM STUDIES

Katherine Drury

Dutchess Day School

Clean Versus Green

Ainsley Bosman

Roy C. Ketcham High School

Photocatalytic Remediation of PET Microplastics via MnO2

Qadira Scheidelman

Spackenkill High School

Comparison of Low and High Viscosity Oil Absorption by Sea Moss in Saltwater

Nipun Tunga

St. Mary School Fishkill

Out with Toxins: Changing the World One less Allelochemical at a Time!!

Xavier Gibson

Van Wyck Junior High School

Who Gives a Poop: A study of dog poop bags

CITADEL SECURITIES INNOVATION PRIZE

Tegh Garcha

Gayhead Elementary School

Man vs Machine: Plant Hydration

FRICIS AND EMMA ERNSTSONS “Make A Difference” AWARD

Cali Cowan

St. Mary School Fishkill

Detecting Black Ice for Blind Pedestrians

HANCOX INDEPENDENT TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Rachel Sims

Dutchess Day School

Rust in Real Time

HOPEWELL DEPOT PROJECT

Gyan Holmes

Union Vale Middle School

The effects of ice melters on concrete

INSTITUTE of ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONIC ENGINEERS

Lillian Hamedl

Dutchess Day School

Germs Gone Wild

Tegh Garcha

Gayhead Elementary School

Man vs Machine: Plant Hydration

Kylin Turner

Holy Trinity

Potato Power

Davin Williams

Netherwood Elementary School

It’s Electric (The electric pickle)

Ana Haridevara

Spackenkill High School

Predicting Heart Failure Readmissions Using Passive In-Home Monitoring

Angela Liu

Spackenkill High School

Eagles and Hawks: American Teenage Perceptions Towards Nuclear Weapon Use in Various Community Types

JANE & BARBARA HELMER VOLUNTEERS AWARD

Abigail Watson

Wappingers Junior High School

Warming Up to Change

LORETTA ANNE HTOO MEMORIAL SCIENCE AWARD

Tegh Garcha

Gayhead Elementary School

Man vs Machine: Plant Hydration

ME WOOD AND ASSOCIATES MATHEMATICS AWARD

Kavya Holmes

Union Vale Middle School

Sleep Study: Does White Noise Affect Your Sleep

MID-HUDSON ASTRONOMICAL ASSOCIATION

Avery Touchon

Arthur S. May Elementary School

How do Astronauts land their spacecraft? Interactive discovery

Kai Raszkiewicz

Oak Grove Elementary School

The nature of a black hole

Giuliana Frisenda

Our Lady of Lourdes

Active vs. Passive Flight

MID-HUDSON PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB

Margie Gunnels

Dutchess Day School

The Dirty Truth About Water

MID-HUDSON VALLEY BLACK NETWORK

Tegh Garcha

Gayhead Elementary School

Man vs Machine: Plant Hydration

Kylin Turner

Holy Trinity

Potato Power

Cali Cowan

St. Mary School Fishkill

Detecting Black Ice for Blind Pedestrians

Nipun Tunga

St. Mary School Fishkill

Out with Toxins: Changing the World One less Allelochemical at a Time!!

Isaac Mejias

Titusville Intermediate School

Sphero AI Outrun

Nehlah Mohammed

Van Wyck Junior High School

Magnetic Cleanup: Keeping Microplastics out of the Ocean

MID-HUDSON VALLEY GEM and MINERAL SOCIETY

Rachel Sims

Dutchess Day School

Rust in Real Time

Ainsley Bosman

Roy C. Ketcham High School

Photocatalytic Remediation of PET Microplastics via MnO2

Amir Tandon 

Union Vale Middle School

Earthquake resistant building concepts

Nehlah Mohammed

Van Wyck Junior High School

Magnetic Cleanup: Keeping Microplastics out of the Ocean

NANCY PFIRMAN MEMORIAL SCIENCE AWARD

Xavier Gibson

Van Wyck Junior High School

Who Gives a Poop: A study of dog poop bags

NASA EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE AWARD

Sarah Willie

Pawling High School

Testing for Medium-Range Model Locational Error in Nor’easter Low Pressure System Placement

NATIONAL OCEANIC and ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION

Sarah Willie

Pawling High School

Testing for Medium-Range Model Locational Error in Nor’easter Low Pressure System Placement

NSBE SUNY NEW PALTZ STEM RECOGNITION AWARD

Ayan Mishra

Brinckerhoff Elementary School

No More Snore

Loui Ogino

Brinckerhoff Elementary School

Can Magicians Cut a Cucumber?

Davin Williams

Netherwood Elementary School

It’s Electric! (The electric pickle)

Cali Cowan 

St. Mary School Fishkill

Detecting Black Ice for Blind Pedestrians

Juliette Castillo

Vail Farm Elementary School

Which natural elements best filter contaminated water?

REGENERON BIOMEDICAL INNOVATION AWARD

Stephanie Balan

Pawling High School

Factors Influencing Surgeon Decision-Making in Bone Graft Selection During Spinal Fusion

RHONDA HTOO MEMORIAL AWARD

Ainsley Bosman

Roy C. Ketcham High School

Photocatalytic Remediation of PET Microplastics via MnO2

SOCIETY OF HISPANIC PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS

Tegh Garcha

Gayhead Elementary School

Man vs Machine: Plant Hydration

Loui Ogino

Brinckerhoff Elementary School

Can Magicians Cut a Cucumber?

Adam Mah

Spackenkill High School

Using Different Convergence Behaviors Across Samples to Detect Minority Subgroups in Data

SOCIETY of WOMEN ENGINEERS

Katherine Drury

Dutchess Day School

Clean Versus Green

Hannah Russin

Dutchess Day School

Don’t Melt Under Pressure: What is The Amount of Sugar Needed to Keep Ice Cream Cold Inside of a Meringue

Grace Cozzocrea

Pawling High School

Modeling Tumor-Induced Vascular Leakiness Using 3D-Printed Micro Perforated Tubes in a Gelatin Matrix

Ainsley Bosman

Roy C. Ketcham High School

Photocatalytic Remediation of PET Microplastics via MnO2

Ana Haridevara

Spackenkill High School

Predicting Heart Failure Readmissions Using Passive In-Home Monitoring

Qadira Scheidelman

Spackenkill High School

Comparison of Low and High Viscosity Oil Absorption by Sea Moss in Saltwater

Olivia LaPlante

St. Mary School Fishkill

Save the Ocean

Lucy Sherar

St. Mary School Fishkill

Hue Knew? Testing Color and Memory Recall

Tatiana Conrad

Union Vale Middle School

Which Reaction Produces the Most Heat?

Juliette Castillo

Vail Farm Elementary

Which natural elements best filter contaminated water?

Nehlah Mohammed

Van Wyck Junior High School

Magnetic Cleanup: Keeping Microplastics Out of the Ocean

UNITED STATES METRIC ASSOCIATION

Kaija Moore

Pawling Middle School

Soda Spike

WESLEY PFIRMAN MEMORIAL AWARD

Julianna Knowles

Pawling High School

The Correlation Between Transitional Stressors in Veterans, Incarcerated People, and Graduated High School Students