106 students will receive expense-paid trips to the National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C.EXPLR is founded by Jenny Buccos and co-founded by Kari Byron (former Discovery Channel Mythbuster) and Andrew Zimmern (Bizarre Foods)
NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — EXPLR announces the 106 students whose outstanding projects have earned them the title of National STEM Champions. These students will be recognized at the National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C., March 19-22, 2025.
Each student and a guardian will receive an expense-paid trip, including lodging and travel, to attend the Festival and showcase their projects to the public and business and government leaders. In addition, each National STEM Champion will receive free access to EXPLR’s educational streaming video and curriculum platform for the teacher of their choice.
EXPLR invited students in grades 7-12 from across the U.S. and its territories to conceive and submit STEM innovations, inventions, and research across six categories: Aerospace Innovation, Environmental Stewardship, Future Food, Health and Medicine, Powering the Planet, and Tech for Good.
“Congratulations to all the students selected as National STEM Champions! EXPLR created the National STEM Festival to spotlight the next generation of innovators—students who are bold thinkers, dynamic leaders, and creators with the power to make a real impact. I’m incredibly excited to welcome our STEM Champions to the Festival this spring, where their ideas will inspire us all,” said Jenny Buccos, Founder & CEO of EXPLR and Co-Director of the National STEM Festival.
In addition to being selected as National STEM Champions, select students were also recognized for the following special awards:
The AISES Indigenous Ingenuity Award recognizes the creativity, ingenuity, and technical prowess of the first scientists by honoring Indigenous students from North American tribes or the Pacific Islands who have developed research projects that answer burning questions or address real-world challenges from their communities.
The Congressional Innovation Award recognizes the creativity, ingenuity, and technical prowess of students who have developed outstanding mobile and web applications that address real-world challenges.
EXPLR Catalyst Award recognizes an outstanding entrant who demonstrates exceptional ingenuity and a commitment to solving real-world problems through innovative solutions. This award honors an individual whose project relentlessly pursues practical applications to address significant societal challenges with creativity and innovation.
The Autodesk Design & Make Champion Award honors one 2025 National STEM Champion for exceptional creativity and innovation in completing a project that demonstrates outstanding skills throughout the entire design and make process.
The following students were named National STEM Champions:
ALABAMAAanchal Behara (Birmingham), Ashu Anand (Birmingham)
ALASKASara DeVolld (Soldotna)
AMERICAN SAMOAAmelie Chen (Pago Pago)
ARIZONAHumberto Gil Villalobos (Yuma), Akshay Karthik (Chandler), Carmen Martinez (Yuma)
ARKANSASHarshith Guduru (Bentonville), Bennet Chen (Little Rock)
CALIFORNIADavid He (San Diego), Shriya Nedumaran (San Jose), Joanna Deng* (Orinda)
*Joanna Deng is also a recipient of the Congressional Innovation Award
COLORADOAlexander Zhang (Boulder), Anirudh Rao (Highlands Ranch)
CONNECTICUTSnigtha Mohanraj (New Haven), Tyler Malkin* (Greenwich)
*Tyler Malkin is also the recipient of the Alumni Award
DELAWARECailyn Pan (Wilmington), Riddik Sri Satya Neetipalli (Wilmington)
FLORIDACarson Granese (St. Petersburg), Gabriella Weiner (Melbourne), Rudra Patel (Tampa)
GEORGIADaniel Li (Suwanee), Hannah Coley (Conyers)
From the NASEF Farmcraft team from Brookwood High School in Snellville: Nakariana Jones, Evie Moore, Sydney King, Indus Lewis, Layla Young, Wren Hall, Ella Foghis Myers
GUAMMitekshi Ghosh (Chalan Pago)
HAWAIILiam Chattergy* (Honolulu), Jinghao Li (Kapolei)
*Liam Chattergy is also a recipient of the Congressional Innovation Award
ILLINOISManaal Siddiqui (Naperville), Sammit Chidambaram (Dunlap)
INDIANASophia Fu (Carmel), Rohan Bhosale (Carmel), Tara Kim (West Lafayette)
IOWAAmal Eltayib (Iowa City), Ritvik Gupta (Johnston)
KANSASElizabeth Barnes (Overland Park), Mahi Kohli (Olathe)
KENTUCKYLucy Teng (Louisville), Vallabh Ramesh (Louisville)
LOUISIANAAbigail Qi (Baton Rouge), Gyeongyun Min (Lake Charles)
From the NASEF Farmcraft team from University View Academy in Baton Rouge: Alanna Piper, Elison Hebert, Diego Santana, Charles Steele
MAINEGabriel Kirmani (Limestone)
MARYLANDMegan Yeager (Hanover), Bryan Hijam (Baltimore)
MASSACHUSETTSNichelle Thinagar (Shrewsbury), Sarah Wang (Andover)
MICHIGANChikanma Okoisor (Midland), Elliot LeClair (Midland), Tanay Panja* (Ann Arbor)
* Tanay Panja is also a recipient of the Congressional Innovation Award
MINNESOTATyler Clair (Minnetonka), Kevin Qiu (Plymouth), Surjosnato Dhar (Plymouth)
MISSISSIPPICelia Lane (Ridgeland), Pranav Reddy (Ridgeland)
MISSOURIElizabeth Saleeby (Saint Louis), Anikait Rawat (Manchester)
MONTANAAkira Lanes (Bozeman)
NEBRASKADakota Sage (Central City), Thanvi Bhat (Omaha)
NEVADAJordan Chong (Reno), Jayna Kim (Las Vegas)
NEW HAMPSHIREViktor Osadsky (Exeter), Jiaxuan Dai (Exeter)
NEW JERSEYIshaan Kunwar (Edison), Krithik Alluri (Medford)
NEW MEXICOSteven Xu (Roswell), Natashia Anderson* (Farmington)
* Natashia Anderson is also the recipient of the AISES Indigenous Ingenuity Award
NEW YORKTristan Burchett* (Brooklyn), Mai Tran (New York City), Isabella Wissa (Lincolndale), Chase Ende (Harrison)
*Tristan Burchett is also the recipient of the EXPLR Catalyst Award
NORTH CAROLINASakhyata Gurram (Cary), Swayam Shah (Raleigh), Keertana Ramars Jillella Venkata* (Raleigh)
* Keertana Ramars Jillella Venkata is also a recipient of the Congressional Innovation Award
NORTH DAKOTAFatemeh Saeedi (Grand Forks)
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDSMisha Kim (Northern Mariana Island, Saipan)
OHIODeepthisri Paruchuri (Columbus), Anuki Mudalige (Delaware)
OKLAHOMACaytie Couch* (Quapaw), Emma Zhang (Jenks)
* Caytie Couch is also the recipient of the AISES Indigenous Ingenuity Award
OREGONAnisha Dhoot (Portland), Liam Aranda-Michel (Lake Oswego), Nidhi Yadalam (Portland)
PENNSYLVANIAAadi Deshmukh (Bethlehem), Audrey Rozea (West Chester), Dharunish Yugeswardeenoo (Warrington)
PUERTO RICOShanti Isaac (Guaynabo)
RHODE ISLAND Jimin Shon (Portsmouth)
SOUTH CAROLINAKarthik Arumugam (Mauldin), Sydney Poliakoff (Charleston)
SOUTH DAKOTAKambria Tamayo* (Lower Brule), Lila Vanderlei (Avon), Steven Swallow (Porcupine)
* Kambria Tamayo is also is also the recipient of the AISES Indigenous Ingenuity Award
TENNESSEE Benjamin Taylor (Memphis), Shashank Lahoti (Mount Juliet)
TEXASHasini Leo Jayaraj (Leander), Adel Sisy* (Manvel)
* Adel Sisy is also a recipient of the Congressional Innovation Award
UTAHAadhi Umamageswaran (Salt Lake City), Ian JakeKim (Salt Lake City)
VIRGINIAAshrita Gandhari (Alexandria), Ani Nishanian (Chantilly), Linda Pistun (Alexandria)
WASHINGTONLakshmi Agrawal (Bellevue), Matthew “Jerry” Yao* (Walla Walla)
*Matthew Yao is also the recipient of the Autodesk Design & Make Champion Award
WISCONSINAditi Muduganti* (Onalaska), Ritisha Dey (Shorewood)
*Aditi Muduganti is also a recipient of the Congressional Innovation Award
WYOMINGPadmalakshmi Ramesh (Laramie), Teagan Thomas (Greybull)
The National STEM Festival, presented by EXPLR, is able to offer inspiring and engaging experiences to participants, both in Washington, D.C. and online, thanks to the support of co-presenting sponsors Autodesk and Broadcom Foundation, in addition to a number of supporting organizations that share a commitment to advancing innovation and STEM education. A full list of sponsors and supporters can be found on the National STEM Festival website.
For media and interview requests or inquiries about National STEM Festival coverage, please contact Skai Blue Media at [email protected].
SOURCE EXPLR
