California’s Alameda County Fair Showcases Cutting-Edge Student Research

India-West Staff Reporter

HAYWARD, CA -The 14th annual Alameda County Science & Engineering Fair took place from March 14-16 at Chabot College here, with the awards ceremony held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds. The event celebrated the innovative research and discoveries of hundreds of students from across the county, recognizing outstanding projects in science and engineering.

The fair’s founding director, Patti Carothers, and the organizing board of directors expressed pride in leading and supporting the next generation of scientists and engineers. “It’s exciting and mind-blowing to hear the students’ stories and watch their faces light up as they explain their projects and results,” Carothers said.

Hundreds of students from 6th through 12th grades presented individual and team projects to a panel of judges representing local universities, community colleges, and professional laboratories. These judges, comprised of practicing scientists, engineers, computer scientists, and mathematicians, evaluated the projects to determine those advancing to higher-level competitions, including the California State Science Fair (April 2025), the national Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (June 2025), and the Regeneron International Science & Engineering Fair (May 2025).

This year, artificial intelligence (AI) emerged as a prominent research tool, enhancing the scope and depth of student projects. With 546 students representing 45 high schools and 27 middle schools, the competition showcased a remarkable level of scientific rigor and innovation far beyond traditional grade-school science fair projects.

Middle School Grand Award Winners

Engineering:

• Yookta Pandit, 8th grade, The Quarry Lane School
• 
  Project Title: Reading the Brain: Using MRIs for Early Detection of Dyslexia
  Pandit’s project aimed to develop an AI model for dyslexia detection in children using 3D anatomical MRIs, enabling earlier diagnosis before reading difficulties arise. She analyzed 82 MRIs (40 dyslexic, 42 controls), segmented into 132 brain parts each, and used a pre-trained MONAI model to compute gray and white matter volumes. These features trained AI models in three different trials to enhance dyslexia detection methods.

Science:

• Ayana Baul, 8th grade, Stratford School Fremont/Osgood
  Project Title: Blue Horizons: Predicting and Preventing Algae Blooms
  Baul investigated harmful algae blooms (HABs), testing aeration techniques to eliminate toxins in affected water. Her research demonstrated that continuous aeration at high speeds over ten days effectively reduced toxins. Additionally, she mined open-source data on nitrogen and phosphate levels to develop AquaScan, a predictive model for future HAB occurrences based on nutrient levels.

Both students will advance to the national Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge and the California Science and Engineering Fair.

High School Grand Award Winners

Engineering & Environmental Science:

• Neev Tamboli & Aksh Parekh, 11th grade, American & Washington High Schools
  Project Title: HydroROOT: Hydrogel-Mediated Nutrient Mobilization and Soil Hydration to Counter Desertification
  Addressing the global challenge of desertification, the duo developed HydroROOT, a system utilizing hydrogels to transport NPK nutrients, soil organic carbon, and water from deeper soil layers to topsoil. Their experiments demonstrated increased soil moisture (+7%), improved nutrient content, and enhanced oxygen diffusion rates, offering a promising solution for land revitalization.
• Roneet Dhar, 11th grade, The Quarry Lane School
  Project Title: Stellar Tracer
  Dhar created Stellar Tracer, a novel software tool for identifying and tracing the origins of tidal structures in open star clusters. By employing a hybrid DBSCAN + GMM ML model and the MWPotential2014 framework, his research advances understanding of dark matter subhaloes and stellar dynamics.

Biotechnology & Medicine:

• Shrivansh Bansal & Saanvi Gudisay, 11th grade, Dublin High School
  Project Title: Olfactory Receptors in Tumor Cell Modulation: Deep Learning-Driven Drug Discovery
  This study explored olfactory receptors (ORs) as potential targets for cancer therapy. Bansal and Gudisay identified OR51E2 and related ORs as promising therapeutic targets, developing a deep-learning-driven methodology to discover novel drug candidates that activate these receptors to inhibit cancer proliferation and migration.

Climate Science & Sustainability:

• Ryka Chopra, 11th grade, Mission San Jose High School
  Project Title: CryoStrat-RL: A Dynamic Graph-Game Framework for Arctic Conservation Using Reinforcement Learning
  Chopra’s project tackled Arctic ice depletion, integrating reinforcement learning and game theory to develop a predictive model that improved climate forecasts by 25.1% compared to traditional models. Her work contributes to strategic conservation efforts amid rising global temperatures.

Material Science & AI:

• Anusha Narayan, 10th grade, The Nueva School
  Project Title: FabAgent: An Agentic Optimization Framework for the Design of Sustainable Fabric Blends Using Large Language Models and Evolutionary Algorithms
  Narayan developed FabAgent, an AI-driven framework leveraging large language models to optimize sustainable fabric blends. Her dataset, covering 101 fabric materials across 24 attributes, represents one of the most comprehensive resources for eco-friendly textile innovation.

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