The global high school competition was held virtually for the first time in ISEF history.
Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2021 recently took place, bringing together over 1800 finalists from nearly 400 affiliate fairs in 64 countries. The event—founded and produced by the Society for Science—was held from May 16 to May 21, at the end of which $5 million worth of prizes and scholarships were awarded to the world’s most promising high school scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and inventors.
Due to the pandemic, Regeneron ISEF was held virtually for the first time in its 70-year history. The fair had canceled its competition element in 2020, although finalist projects were still displayed after having won at Society-affiliated local, regional, state and national science fairs.
This year, ISEF’s opening ceremony kicked off with a keynote address from Michio Kaku, a renowned physicist known for his work in string field theory. In case you missed his session, you can still check out the recording under the Auditorium section on ISEF’s ProjectBoard page, along with the fair’s Special Awards and Grand Awards ceremonies. (Full disclosure: ProjectBoard is developed and owned by engineering.com.)
The ProjectBoard platform was successfully leveraged for navigating different aspects of the ISEF experience in a dynamic virtual setting. ISEF finalists’ research projects were showcased in the Finalist Exbibit Hall, which granted visitors 24/7 access to projects along with the ability to provide feedback within a collaborative environment. The STEM Career Hall and Sponsors pages supplied links to the fair’s sponsors and partners (with Regeneron being the title sponsor). A college fair presented detailed information for hundreds of educational entities, while the STEM Experiential Hall provided resources for various professional organizations across numerous disciplines. The Auditorium page displayed videos of ceremonies, panel discussions and more, and the ISEF Store linked participants to limited edition ISEF t-shirts.
zFairs and Event Farm were two other technological platforms that strived to provide an engaging, interactive student experience.
zFairs was employed during ISEF’s judging process that took place from May 3–6, where finalists participated in a series of rigorous interviews with scientists from all over the globe.
Event Farm catered to ISEF’s key focus of connecting students with one another, in a world where they weren’t afforded the opportunity to meet face-to-face. The platform facilitated social events through the use of avatars, which could be utilized for activities such as taking virtual trips to the beach, going on boat rides, visiting stadiums and much more.
Regeneron ISEF 2021’s Big Winners
Regeneron ISEF 2021’s full list of award-winning projects can be explored here.
ISEF’s Top Awards were streamlined in the following way:
- Grand Awards were first presented for each of the 21 ISEF categories. Students received $5000 for the 1st Award, $2000 for the 2nd, $1000 for the 3rd and $500 for the 4th.
- Top Awards winners were selected from among the 1st Award winners. The top prize—the George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award of $75,000—went to Michelle Hua for her discovery of an AI-based algorithm used for recognizing human actions. Using human silhouettes, Hua was able to design and implement a novel deep learning framework that could outperform all similar state-of-the-art algorithms.
Other Top Awards winners were: Catherine Kim and Daniel Shen for two Regeneron Young Scientist Awards ($50,000 each); John Benedict Estrada for the Gordon E. Moore Award for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations ($50,000); Arya Tschand for the Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation ($10,000); Neha Mani for the Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research ($10,000); and Franklin Wang for the Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication ($10,000).
Special Awards were also bestowed on student finalists by organizations representing government, industry and education across a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
“The Regeneron ISEF finalists form the next generation of remarkable STEM talent and deserve special commendation for their ability to complete and showcase their research during an unprecedented pandemic,” said George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron. “The COVID-19 crisis and amazing global response have demonstrated the critical role that science and technology play in keeping people safe and healthy around the world. Regeneron ISEF recognizes the young scientists who are well-equipped and unafraid to tackle the existential threats facing our society. To all the participants: we need you more than ever, and congratulations on your achievements.”
Engineering.com would like to congratulate all the winners and participants for their inspiring work in the world of science. Stay tuned for upcoming stories related to the Regeneron ISEF 2021 event!
