YOUTH SCIENCE CANADA
Team Canada wins seven awards at Regeneron ISEF 2023 in Dallas, Texas

Dallas, Texas -Team Canada competed at the 2023 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair from May 14 to 19. Members of Team Canada won seven awards including five Fourth Awards in various categories including biomedical engineering and robotics and intelligent machines. Representing Team Canada (from left to right) were Thomas Yang, Cindy Cheng, Tara Zhan, Keerthan Kamala Krishnamoorthy, Annabelle Rayson, Krish Modi, Max Du, and Aditya Dewan. Photo credit: Adelina Neilsen.

Five Canadian high school students received seven awards at the world's leading youth STEM project competition - the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, held in Dallas, May 14 to 19. An eight-person team selected by Youth Science Canada (YSC) represented the country during the prestigious weeklong event.

Annabelle Rayson, a Grade 12 student from Sarnia, Ontario, won two awards for her project on the analysis of Daphnia genotype biomanipulation for algae bloom prevention including a Fourth Award in earth and environmental sciences and a special award from the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). Aditya Dewan, a Grade 11 student from Mississauga, Ontario earned a Fourth Award in robotics and intelligent machines and the second-place award in cybersecurity for his project on effective knowledge distillation for deep neural networks via saddle region approximation.

"It was incredible to see the remarkable performance of Team Canada's outstanding students at this global event," says Prof. Patrick Whippey, chair of the selection panel at Youth Science Canada, the national charitable organization behind Team Canada-ISEF since 1995. "The students' ingenious ideas, scientific talent, and unending inquisitiveness were on display throughout the competition. Their exceptional commitment to STEM was evident in their projects. It was truly inspiring to witness."

A total of five Grand Awards were presented to Team Canada-ISEF during the Regeneron ISEF 2023 event:

Fourth Award - Biomedical engineering, $500
Cindy Cheng, Laurel Heights Secondary School, Waterloo, Ontario
Detecting Hypoxia Through the Non-Invasive Monitoring of Sweat Lactate and Tissue Oxygenation

Fourth Award - Biomedical engineering, $500
Tara Zhan, David Thompson Secondary, Vancouver, British Columbia
HemiStride: Design of a Low-Cost and Backdrivable Lower-Limb Exoskeleton for Hemiplegic Patients

Fourth Award - Earth and environmental sciences, $500
Annabelle Marie Rayson, Saint Patrick's Catholic High School, Sarnia, Ontario
Plankton Wars: An Innovative Analysis of Daphnia Genotype Biomanipulation for Algae Bloom Prevention

Fourth Award - Embedded systems, $500
Thomas Yang, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto, Ontario
Seeing Cells Without a Lens: Compact 3D Digital Lensless Holographic Microscopy for Wide-field Imaging

Fourth Award - Robotics and intelligent machines, $500
Aditya Dewan, The Woodlands School - Secondary, Mississauga, Ontario
SPRKD: Effective Knowledge Distillation for Deep Neural Networks via Saddle Region Approximation

Two special awards were presented to Team Canada-ISEF during the Regeneron ISEF 2023 event:

China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) - Award of $1,200
Annabelle Marie Rayson, Saint Patrick's Catholic High School, Sarnia, Ontario
Plankton Wars: An Innovative Analysis of Daphnia Genotype Biomanipulation for Algae Bloom Prevention

"Cybersecurity"- Second Place Award
Aditya Dewan, The Woodlands School - Secondary, Mississauga, Ontario
SPRKD: Effective Knowledge Distillation for Deep Neural Networks via Saddle Region Approximation

"The success of Team Canada at Regeneron ISEF highlights the importance of nurturing the natural curiosity of Canadian youth in STEM," says Reni Barlow, executive director of Youth Science Canada. "The young Canadian scientists, engineers, and innovators on the team displayed a level of scientific merit that is truly commendable. Congratulations to all our Team Canada members on a successful fair."

The YSC Team Canada-ISEF program is made possible thanks to the Gwyn Morgan & Patricia Trottier Foundation, through its Youth Can Innovate program. To learn more about the program or donate in support of youth in STEM, please visit the Youth Science Canada donation page.