Uncategorized

Nearly 70 students win awards at 2025 Synopsys Championship

Last month, at the Synopsys Science & Technology Championship, nearly 70 Harker middle and upper school students received awards, including a Grand Prize for junior Disha Gupta, which earned her a trip to the California Science and Engineering Fair. The full list of winners is found below.

Middle School

Student

Award

Title

Gr

 Rebecca 

Ding

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

What is the effect of manuka honey on redworm respiration rates? (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Aila XiYi

El-Charif

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

The Effect of Different Types of Tea and Coffee on the Nervous System of Planarian Worms (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Sarafina 

Fung

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

What is the effect of manuka honey on redworm respiration rates? (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Selena 

Ghane

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Creating durable, biodegradable packaging using mycelium from different mushroom species (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Rohan 

Kaushal

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

Bioremediation of Different Polyethylene Plastic Bags by Bacillus megaterium (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Aarav 

Kumar

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

Mycoremediation of Plastics by Mushroom Species (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Zooey Shan

Lan

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

A Novel AI Approach to Analyze the Cardiovascular Effects of Artificial Sweeteners Using Daphnia magna (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Aaron 

Lau

Isabelle Stone Award for Best Biological Science Projects – Qualified for State Science Fair, Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Assn – Board of Directors Awards – Middle School

Comparison of supplements and pesticides on silkworm growth and productivity (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Anya Wing

Lee

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

A Novel AI Approach to Analyze the Cardiovascular Effects of Artificial Sweeteners Using Daphnia magna (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Bhavani 

Linga

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

Bioremediation of Different Polyethylene Plastic Bags by Bacillus megaterium (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Sarah 

Thiru

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

Mycoremediation of Plastics by Mushroom Species (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Heidi 

Wang

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Creating durable, biodegradable packaging using mycelium from different mushroom species (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Ethan 

Weyn

Isabelle Stone Award for Best Biological Science Projects – Qualified for State Science Fair, Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Assn – Board of Directors Awards – Middle School

Comparison of supplements and pesticides on silkworm growth and productivity (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Sophia 

Xu

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

The Effect of Different Types of Tea and Coffee on the Nervous System of Planarian Worms (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Angela Zhifei

Li

$100 and Certificate of Achievement, Schonert Award

DaphniaTrack: AI-Based Monitoring of Daphnia Magna Behavior for Evaluating Ocean Toxicity in Northern California (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Rohan Giridhar

Rajaram

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

The Effect of Plant based and Biological Pesticides on Culicidae eggs and Larvae. (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Shivam Saran

Sharma

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

The Effect of Plant based and Biological Pesticides on Culicidae eggs and Larvae. (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Hannah Yuxuan

Tay

$100 and Certificate of Achievement, Schonert Award

DaphniaTrack: AI-Based Monitoring of Daphnia Magna Behavior for Evaluating Ocean Toxicity in Northern California (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Braden 

Yang

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

Using Machine Learning Visual Recognition Models to Detect Poor Posture and Eye Strain (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

    

 

Middle School Student – Certificate of Achievement, Letter of Congratulations from the Chief of Naval Research, and Medallion, Office of Naval Research -United States Navy/ US Marine Corps

 Maya 

Akunuri

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

Investigating the Use of Dried Out Contact Lenses for Water Retention in a Lettuce Plant (Lactuca Sativa) (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Dhruva 

Gopal

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

Effect of Various Amounts of Culturing Salts Supplements on the Bioethanol Production of Chlorella Vulgaris Cultures (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Hemansh 

Gupta

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Hydra: An Application Identifying Optimal Controlled Fire Locations to Restore Ecosystem Health (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Anusha 

Kotalwar

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

Investigating the Use of Dried Out Contact Lenses for Water Retention in a Lettuce Plant (Lactuca Sativa) (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

 Hailey Shirina

Li

Honorable Mention, Physical Science and Engineering Category

The Effect of Different Materials and Structures on Mechanical Properties of Kirigami as a Substitute for Bubble Wrap (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Rohan 

Mahapatra

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Hydra: An Application Identifying Optimal Controlled Fire Locations to Restore Ecosystem Health (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Sophie 

Shen

Honorable Mention, Physical Science and Engineering Category

The Effect of Different Materials and Structures on Mechanical Properties of Kirigami as a Substitute for Bubble Wrap (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

 Tvisha 

Singh

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

Effect of Various Amounts of Culturing Salts Supplements on the Bioethanol Production of Chlorella Vulgaris Cultures (Biological Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Maggie 

Sun

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

Utilizing Food Waste to Produce Biodegradable Packaging Material (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

    

 

Middle School or High School $150 and a Certificate of Achievement, Northern California Institute of Food Technologists (NCIFT)

 Serena 

Yuan

Nominated to compete envelope to apply for Thermo Fisher JIC, Thermo Fisher JIC – 8th Grade

Utilizing Food Waste to Produce Biodegradable Packaging Material (Physical Science and Engineering)

8

    

 

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

    

 

Middle School or High School $150 and a Certificate of Achievement, Northern California Institute of Food Technologists (NCIFT)

29

Upper School

Student

Award

Title

Gr

 Vidwat 

Shekar

$50 cash award and certificate, Bruce Kawanami Engineering Award

Low-Cost Biodegradable Indoor Air Purifier (Physical Science and Engineering)

9

 Aditya 

Shivakumar

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

HgMap: Ultra-Low-Cost, Real-Time Mercury Detection & Remediation with Physics-Informed NNs and Plasmon Resonance Sensors (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

    

 

1st Place $150, Valley Water Awards HS

    

 

Certificate of Achievement and opportunity to advance to state, national and international competitions, U. S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize

 Trisha 

Shivakumar

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

HgMap: Ultra-Low-Cost, Real-Time Mercury Detection & Remediation with Physics-Informed NNs and Plasmon Resonance Sensors (Physical Science and Engineering)

10

    

 

1st Place $150, Valley Water Awards HS

    

 

Certificate of Achievement and opportunity to advance to state, national and international competitions, U. S. Stockholm Junior Water Prize

 Jayden 

Liu

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

A Multiscale Anchor-Free 3D CNN Integrated with Denoising for Early Lung Nodule Detection in Low-Dose CT Images (Biological Science and Engineering)

10

 Ishan Krishna

Mysore

2nd Award, RRI Physical Science and Engineering Category

Predicting Depression Risk for Adolescents through Social Media Post Data: A Machine Learning Approach (RRI Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Ananya 

Pradhan

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease with Optical Coherence Tomography, Magnetic-Resonance Imaging, and Deep Learning (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Andrew Dongjoo

Shin

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

AGEOptimizer: A Novel Multi-Technique Optimization Tool for Enhanced Model Prediction and Discovery of Cancer Biomarkers (Biological Science and Engineering)

10

 Eddie 

Zhang

2nd Award, RRI Physical Science and Engineering Category

AI-Surgeon: A Transfer Learning Multimodal Ensemble Transformer based VR Copilot for Action Prediction in Trauma Surgery (RRI Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Disha 

Gupta

Grand Prize Alternate – Biological Sciences – Qualified for California Science & Engineering Fair (CSEF), Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Assn – Board of Directors Awards – High School

Identifying novel GLS-1 inhibitors with deep chemical models & 3D molecular analysis for rapid cancer drug discovery (Biological Science and Engineering)

11

    

 

Certificate of Achievement + Letter from Sponsor (regarding $25 gift card redeemable online + internship opportunity with ASEI Industry Partner + free 1 year membership to ASEI), ASEI Award

    

 

Upper Division :- Honorable Mention Student Award: $65 and Certificate of Achievement, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Yuqin 

Ma

Upper Division :- Honorable Mention Student Award: $65 and Certificate of Achievement, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

Systematic Assessment of Protected Species Bycatch with Spatio-Temporal Neural Networks in Subpolar and Tropical Pacific (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

    

 

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

 Danielle Alice

Steinbach

$100, Robby Beyers Innovative Solutions Awards

A multi-institution foundation model for EEG biomarkers of brain disorder progression, classification, and drug response (Biological Science and Engineering)

11

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

    

 

$100 and a certificate, IBM Award

 Evan 

Zhang

Grand Prize – Best of Championship – Physical Sciences – Qualified to be a Regeneron ISEF Finalist, Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Assn – Board of Directors Awards – High School

AI-Driven Artificial Muscle for Cardiac Assist using Hydraulically Amplified Self-Healing Electrostatic Actuators (RRI Biological Science and Engineering)

11

    

 

Certificate of Achievement + Letter from Sponsor (regarding free 1 year membership to ASEI), ASEI Award

    

 

1st Award, RRI Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Anish 

Kosaraju

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Revolutionizing AI Security: A Novel Multimodal Framework for Detecting, Isolating, & Preventing Data Poisoning Attacks (Physical Science and Engineering)

10

    

 

High School Student – Certificate of Achievement, Letter of Congratulations from the Chief of Naval Research, Medallion and $50 gift card (redeemable online), Office of Naval Research -United States Navy/ US Marine Corps

 Farhan 

Ansari

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

From Pixels to Pulse: Enhancing Remote Photoplethysmography Accuracy in Compressed Videos (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Aditya 

Banwasi

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

DeepSleep: A Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Sleep Apnea Detection by Analyzing Electroencephalogram Data (Biological Science and Engineering)

9

 Siddhant 

Gaur

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

The Role of Mutated Plant-Derived VOCs in Mental Illness: A Biological Factor of Suicide studied in the Aokigahara-Jukai (Physical Science and Engineering)

9

 Avi 

Gupta

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

DeepSleep: A Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Sleep Apnea Detection by Analyzing Electroencephalogram Data (Biological Science and Engineering)

9

 Danika 

Gupta

Honorable Mention, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Scaling of Textile Pollution Mitigation via Computational Methods: NIRS Fabric Classification and Dye Mycoremediation (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Neil 

Krishnan

1st Award, RRI Physical Science and Engineering Category

On the Connectivity of Friends-and-strangers Graphs (RRI Physical Science and Engineering)

12

 Phoebe 

Lee

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

AI-Driven Forecasting: Deep Learning-Based Predictive Modeling of Wind Power Output to Optimize Clean Energy Supply (Physical Science and Engineering)

10

 Nathan 

Mao

2nd Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

DeepSleep: A Novel Convolutional Neural Network for Sleep Apnea Detection by Analyzing Electroencephalogram Data (Biological Science and Engineering)

9

 Krish 

Nachnani

Certificate of Achievement + Letter from Sponsor (regarding free 1 year membership to ASEI), ASEI Award

Recurrent Event Analysis and Biomarker Discovery for Glioblastoma Using mRNA-sequenced Data (Biological Science and Engineering)

11

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Brenna 

Ren

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

RBDGuard: Accessible Early Detection of REM Sleep Behavior Disorder Using Single-Lead ECG and Unsupervised Deep Learning (Biological Science and Engineering)

11

 Lily 

Shi

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

OphthaLVLM: A Locally Deployable Large Vision-Language Model for Explainable Eye Disease Diagnosis and Dialogue (Biological Science and Engineering)

11

 Kallie 

Wang

Honorable Mention, RRI Biological Science and Engineering Category

Gene Expression Profiles of Different Stage Lung Cancer Cells Under Hypoxia (RRI Biological Science and Engineering)

11

 Claire 

Xu

Grand Prize – Best of Championship – Biological Sciences – Qualified to be a Regeneron ISEF Finalist, Santa Clara Valley Science & Engineering Fair Assn – Board of Directors Awards – High School

Non-Invasive Blood-Based Early Alzheimer’s Detection Using Sex-Specific Brain-Blood Graph Reinforcement Learning (Biological Science and Engineering)

10

    

 

$100, Robby Beyers Innovative Solutions Awards

    

 

$375 Cash Prize Voucher from Society for Science and Certificate, Regeneron Biomedical Science Award

    

 

Upper Division :- Honorable Mention Student Award: $65 and Certificate of Achievement, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)

    

 

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

 Tiffany 

Zhu

Honorable Mention, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Predicting the Survivability and Future Growth of Coral Using Machine Learning (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Medha 

Choudhry

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

A Novel Integration of Multimodal Strategies and Ensemble Learning to Enhance Reliability in Early Skin Cancer Detection (Physical Science and Engineering)

9

 Hannah 

Lin

1st Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

MazeAstro: Discovery of High Proper-Motion Y Brown Dwarfs with Shift-Patch Vision Models and Long-Period Infrared Survey (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Aditya 

Ramanathan

Honorable Mention, RRI Physical Science and Engineering Category

Deconstructing Household Energy Use: A Machine Learning Approach (RRI Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Elizabeth 

Zhang

2nd Award, RRI Physical Science and Engineering Category

Pioneering the First Ever Blind-Search on Circumbinary Planets Using a Novel Non-periodic Deep-learning Algorithm (RRI Physical Science and Engineering)

10

 Lucas 

Wu

1st Award, Biological Science and Engineering Category

De novo Discovery of a Mucin-1 Inhibitor via Machine Learning (Biological Science and Engineering)

9

 Pratulya 

Rangavazzala

$100 and a certificate, IBM Award

Effect of Wingspan on Airplane efficiency (Physical Science and Engineering)

10

 Tanisha Supriya

Vaish

Honorable Mention, Biological Science and Engineering Category

Effect of Persimmon Natural Products on Common Household Bacterial Growth (Biological Science and Engineering)

10

 Vishwa 

Vijay

$100 and a certificate, IBM Award

Effect of Wingspan on Airplane efficiency (Physical Science and Engineering)

10

 Linda 

Zeng

1st Award, RRI Physical Science and Engineering Category

Reinforcing Multi-Step Reasoning through Self-Learning in LLMs (RRI Physical Science and Engineering)

11

 Ellie 

Zhou

2nd Award, Physical Science and Engineering Category

Developing a Non-Contact Cardiac Monitoring System via Remote Photoplethysmography (rPPG) (Physical Science and Engineering)

10

 Ananya 

Gurushankar

2nd Place – $75, Certificate of Achievement, SAMPE – Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering

Synthesis and Mechanical Analysis of Conductive Alginate Hydrogels for Enhanced Tissue Regeneration (Physical Science and Engineering)

11

The Harker Magazine

Published two times a year, The Harker Magazine showcases some of the top news, leading programs, inspiring people and visionary plans of the greater Harker community.

Get News via Email
* indicates required
Email Format