Oakton Students at the Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair

By Oakton High School Administration
March 28, 2025

The 70th Annual Fairfax County Regional Science and Engineering Fair was held March 21-23, 2025 at Robinson Secondary School.  Oakton High School was represented by 33 students.  We are proud of every student who was selected to participate.  We had four students earn first place awards, with one student becoming a Grand Prize winner.   

Our first place award winners were invited to participate at this years Virginia State Science Fair on April 4, 2025.  Our grand prize winner was also invited to participate at this year’s Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May!  

Please see below a comprehensive list of our participating students and accolades earned. Congratulations to all! 

Student NameProject Category/TitleCategory AwardsOrganizational Awards 
Thomas Sparling ESMD - Micro Closed-Loop, Pumped, Hydro-Power System Turbine Assessment Grand Prize Winner; 1st Place2nd Place IEE of Northern Virginia, $50 
Kent FruchtmanENVE - SustainabiliTree: An Integrated System for Water, Solar Energy and Flood Watches and Warnings1st Place; Grand Prize Nominee Ricoh-sustainable Development Award Certificate
Madison LeeCHEM - Refining Sodium Hydrochlorite Safety Guidelines for Cutting Boards 1st Place 
Yoonsub ChoiMCRO - Measuring Microorganism Interactions with Microplastics1st Place  
Aiden Lu; Yaseen SaeedANIM = The Effects of Salinity Levels on Brine Shrimp Hatch Rate2nd Place 
Yanis Mehenni; Jadon XuBMED - Detecting Cancerous Lymph Cells Using LASSO - based CNNs2nd Place Washington Statistical Society 3rd place Award Certificate
Justine Bell; Allison HeggEAEN; Hydrophytes’ Phytoremediation on Copper2nd Place The Aerospace Corporation Honorable Mention Award
Chris Devine; Henderson ZhouESMD - The Effect of Turbine Configuration on Turbine Efficiency 2nd Place 
Isabela RevisESMD - Testing the Efficiency of a Locally-Adapted Rocket Stove Prototype Using Biomass Briquettes 2nd Place Society of Women Engineers Baltimore-Washington Section Outstanding Engineer Award, $25
Kaden Hromek-Vaitla; Andreas Spoormaker; Bora YimeniciogluETEC - Novel Machine Learning Approach for Autonomous MEV Satellite Docking via Deep Reinforcement Networks2nd PlaceRobert Herndon Science Comp; Drone for each student; US Airforce Awards and USBs; Armed Forces 1st Place
Khartik UppalapatiMATS - Novel Nanopillar Structured Graphene - CNT Microelectrode Array Coatings: Plasticity and Fidelity2nd Place  
Michael ZouMCRO - The Effect of Lead Nitrate on Lemna Minor2nd Place 
Julie XuBEHA - Enhancing Early Access to Sign Language Education for Deaf Children: A Deep Learning-Based Solution3rd Place 
Anna Chen; Nancy LiBMED - Quest for Better Mobility for Stroke SurvivorsHonorable Mention  
Monica Uribe; Ivy XuBENG - Creating an Artificial Pancreas: A Circuit Simulation Honorable Mention  
Ishika ThalluriEAEN - The Effect of Natural Filtrating Organisms on Polluted Water Honorable Mention The American Water Works Association Third Place Award, $50, NOVA Dental Society HM
Aarna Gupta; Marissa TurekESMD - The Impact of Sand Type on Energy Storage Capacity in Sand BatteriesHonorable Mention US Metric Association Science Fair Award, AFCEA NOVA Honorable Mention Award 
Nicholas FlaniganETEC - The Effect of the Variability of Propeller Type on the Stability and Agility of a Quadcopter AV Honorable Mention 
Mays Numan; Sidra ZidanENVE - The Effect of Biodegradable Hydrogels on the Conservation of WaterHonorable Mention  
Alisha DesaiEAEN - The Effect of Oysters on Water Nitrogen LevelRegional Qualifier Certificate of Merit - George Mason University, Department of Geography and Geoinformation Science
Eesha Goel; Nicole NordBCHM - The Effects of Heat and Chemicals on the Quality of Human HairRegional Qualifier 
Rishab NanduriBCHM - Quantum Dot Bayesian Adaptive Parameter Tuner: A Novel AI-Optimized Simulation Regional Qualifier 
image of students at the science fair