In the Media

2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC)

STEM Fair Participant Selected as Top 30 National Finalist

The San Mateo County STEM Fair is proud to congratulate Bowen Wang, a seventh grader at Central Middle School in San Carlos, on being named one of just 30 finalists in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC), the nation's premier middle school STEM competition. Bowen, who competed in the 2025 and 2026 SMC STEM Fairs, earned this honor with his project "Aftershock Oracle: Machine Learning-Based Aftershock Risk Forecasting for Earthquake Safety," which uses machine learning to forecast aftershock risk and improve earthquake safety. Selected by a panel of distinguished scientists and engineers from 1,890 applicants across 47 states, D.C. and five U.S. territories, Bowen will travel to Washington, D.C. this October 23–28 for Finals Week, where finalists compete in rigorous STEM, critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration challenges for more than $100,000 in awards, including a top prize of $25,000.

All SMC Top 300 Junior Innovators

The following students were recognized as being one of the Top 300 Junior Innovators in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge.

• Bloom, Lyra, Grade: 8th
  School: Sandpiper Elementary School
  Project Title: BinBuddy: AI Trash-Sorting Robot for Kids
• Park, Andrew, Grade: 8th
  School: Sandpiper Elementary School
  Project Title: Interactive 3D Sound Antenna for Real-Time Sound Localization and Visualization
• Roychowdhury, Ayan, Grade: 7th
  School: Sacred Heart Schools
  Project Title: How Much Hidden Degradation Is There Behind Your Favorite Drinks?
• Tseng, Jay, Grade: 7th
  School: Stanford Online High School
  Project Title: Real-Time Pothole Detection, Mapping and Driver Warning Using AI Computer Vision and Smartphone Accelerometer Data
• Wang, Bowen (also selected as part of the Top 300 in a prior year), Grade: 7th
  School: Central Middle School
  Project Title: Aftershock Oracle: Machine Learning-Based Aftershock Risk Forecasting for Earthquake Safety

California Science and Engineering Fair

The following students placed in their category at the Californis Science and Engineering Fair

2026

• Cakmak, Erdem, Grade: 8th
  School: Burlingame Intermediate School
  Category: Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology — 5th Place
• Chakraborty, Onnika, Grade: 6th
  School: North Star Academy
  Category: Environmental Engineering (Track 2) — 5th Place
• Hsieh, William, Grade: 8th
  School: Crystal Springs Uplands School
  Category: Earth & Environmental Sciences — 5th Place
• Multani, Leena, Grade: 7th
  School: Crocker Middle
  Category: Cognitive Science — 5th Place
• Okamoto, Natalie, Grade: 6th
  School: Central Middle School--San Carlos
  Category: Materials Science — 3rd Place
• Park, Andrew, Grade: 8th
  School: Sandpiper School
  Category: Electronics & Electromagnetics — 2nd Place
• Romanoff, Isaac, Grade: 8th
  School: Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School
  Category: Electronics & Electromagnetics — 5th Place
• Roychowdhury, Ayan, Grade: 7th
  School: Sacred Heart School Atherton
  Category: Product Science — 1st Place
• Wang, Bowen, Grade: 7th
  School: Central Middle School
  Category: Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) — 4th Place
• Yen, Jacob, Grade: 7th
  School: Stratford Middle School San Francisco
  Category: Plant Biology — 4th Place
• Yung, Maxwell, Grade: 7th
  School: Central Middle School--San Carlos
  Category: Applied Mechanics — 5th Place

2025

• Beasley, Anna, Grade: 8th
  School: Synapse School
  Category: Cognitive Science — 4th Place
• Burke, Joshua, Grade: 8th
  School: Synapse School
  Category: Cognitive Science — 4th Place
• Fox, Vikram, Grade: 8th
  School: Corte Madera School
  Category: Applied Mechanics — 4th Place
• Kim, Arianna, Grade: 7th
  School: Sacred Heart Schools Atherton
  Category: Chemistry — 5th Place
• Pavlidou, Maria, Grade: 8th
  School: Ralston Middle School
  Category: Microbiology — 3rd Place
• Saxena, Tanishk, Grade: 8th
  School: Crystal Springs Uplands Middle School
  Category: Mathematical Sciences — 5th Place
• Shah, Anay, Grade: 8th
  School: Ralston Middle School
  Category: Chemistry — 1st Place
• Wang, Bowen, Grade: 6th
  School: Central Middle School
  Category: Earth & Environment: Air/ Water — 2nd Place