April 2, 2025
The Texas Science and Engineering Fair (TXSEF) is an annual state science competition for students in grades six through 12. To advance to the TXSEF competition, students must have placed at their district and regional fairs.
This year’s competition was held in College Station, Texas on March 28–29, 2025. Students were judged on their document submissions (a two minute overview video, digital board, and presentation of physical boards) as well as their in-person interviews.
With more than 20,000 students in Texas starting the science fair process on their campuses, approximately 1,200 participated in this year's event, competing in 21 categories in the life and physical sciences across Junior and Senior divisions.17 Plano ISD students earned 23 awards and distinctions at the competition, including Best in the State of Texas Runner Up award in Life Science - Senior Division.10 Plano ISD Senior Division students placed first, second or third in their category and have earned the opportunity to attend the Governor’s Science and Technology Champions Academy.
Top Senior Division projects advance to compete in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Three Plano ISD students qualified to advance to ISEF. They will join the eight Plano ISD ISEF qualifiers from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair to compete at ISEF in Columbus, Ohio May 11-16, 2025.
BEST IN THE STATE OF TEXAS
Senior Division, Life Science Runner Up
Ananya Nagendra, Plano East Senior High School, Utilizing Ants to Mitigate MSW Landfill-Derived Methane Production through Novel Aerobic Digester System for Anthropogenic Food Waste Decomposition
Image of Ananya Nagendra with her science presentation.
SPECIAL AWARDS
JUNIOR DIVISION
Ritisha Bhat, Rice Middle School, Environmental Engineering, Carbon Capture from Wood Combustion
- Naval Science Award
- Science Toy Magic | $150
Zoe Tranytos, Rice Middle School, Robotics and Intelligent Machines, Recycling-Sorting Machine Using AI - Science Toy Magic | $150
SENIOR DIVISION
Jerusha Abraham & Raina Hasan, Plano West Senior High School, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Regulating Ligninolytic Enzymes to Improve Agrowaste Pretreatment Methods for Bioethanol Production - Science Toy Magic | $150
Dhroov Bharatia, Plano Senior High School, Robotics and Intelligent Machines, AutoMates: Automating With Self-Learning Intelligent Agents - ExxonMobil Award | $750
Ananya Nagendra, Plano East Senior High School, Animal Sciences, Utilizing Ants to Mitigate MSW Landfill-Derived Methane Production through Novel Aerobic Digester System for Anthropogenic Food Waste Decomposition
- Science Toy Magic | $150
- TXSEF Board Member | $750
Ana Spiride, Plano East Senior High School, Engineering Technology: Statics and Dynamics, HandTalk: A Two-Way Translation System for American Sign Language - ExxonMobil Award | $750
Varun Sridhar, Plano East Senior High School, Embedded Systems, Modality Matched Sensory Smart Skin System To Restore Tactile Sensation for Amputees with Adaptive Visuo-Tactile Predictive Texture Recognition - Samsung Award
CATEGORY AWARDS
Junior Division
Second Place
Chloe Ni, Rice Middle School, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Using Inducer (IPTG) to Boost L-Asparaginase Production for Anti-Tumor Treatment and Acrylamide Mitigation
Third Place
Rajveer Savla, Rice Middle School, Materials Science, Creating Environmentally Friendly Bioplastics Using Potato Peels
Matthew Kuo, Renner Middle School, Energy: Sustainable Materials & Design, Factors Affecting Fuel Cell Energy Efficiency
Image of the Plano ISD TXSEF Junior Division participants.
Senior Division
First Place*
Dhroov Bharatia, Plano Senior High School, Robotics and Intelligent Machines, AutoMates: Automating With Self-Learning Intelligent Agents
Prisha Bhat, Plano East Senior High School, Microbiology, Paracoccus denitrificans for Bioremediation - Optimizing Formate Dehydrogenase in Paracoccus denitrificans for Development of a Non-toxic Bioremediation Strategy for Toxic C1 Compounds
Ananya Nagendra, Plano East Senior High School, Utilizing Ants to Mitigate MSW Landfill-Derived Methane Production through Novel Aerobic Digester System for Anthropogenic Food Waste Decomposition
Ana Spiride, Plano East Senior High School, HandTalk: A Two-Way Translation System for American Sign Language
All Plano ISD first place finishers qualified for ISEF 2025.
Second Place*
Annie Li, Plano West Senior High School, Chemistry, Cyclometalated Platinum Complexes for Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diodes
Aarini Sen, Jasper High School, Physics and Astronomy, A BIOPHYSICAL APPROACH TO TACKLING EYE REFRACTIVE DISORDERS OptiSkew System: Advancing Clinical Optimetrics through Simulations and Innovative Techniques
Vijay Shivnani, Shepton High School, Microbiology, Elucidating Allergy Risk: The Role of Food Introduction and Type on the Infant Gut Microbiome
Jessica Zhang, Jasper High School, Environmental Engineering, Pressure-ase: Optimizing PET Degradation Rate by Stimulating Pressure
Third Place*
Arya Gurumukhi, Plano East Senior High School, Energy: Sustainable Materials and Design, The Bionic Leaf: Developing a Novel Self-Healing, Bi-Functional Nickel Oxide Catalyst to Use with the Bacterium Ralstonia eutropha for Sustainable Ethanol Production
Sravya Pilla, Jasper High School, Biomedical Engineering, Wearable, High Sensitivity Bio-Transistor for the Detection of Lactate in Sweat (Year II)
*All first through third place senior division winners qualify for the Texas Governor’s Science and Technology Academy
Image of Plano ISD TXSEF Senior Division participants.
ISEF Qualifiers
Keshav Anand, Plano East Senior High School, GaitGuardian: Real-Time Freezing of Gait Prediction and Optical Monitoring for Parkinson's Disease (II), qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Dhroov Bharatia, Plano Senior High School, AutoMates: Automating With Self-Learning Intelligent Agents, qualified from the Texas Science and Engineering Fair
Prisha Bhat, Plano East Senior High School, Paracoccus denitrificans for Bioremediation - Optimizing Formate Dehydrogenase in Paracoccus denitrificans for Development of a Non-toxic Bioremediation Strategy for Toxic C1 Compounds, qualified from the Texas Science and Engineering Fair
Evelyn Ding, Plano West Senior High School, SpeakNow: AI-Powered Early Detection of Developmental Speech and Language Disorders in Children, qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Shreyas Kolan, Jasper High School, Building a Machine Learning Algorithm to predict Cardiovascular Disease and coding an application to provide personalized feedback, qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Chloe Lee, Plano East Senior High School, 2-phenylalkynylsilyl Acetaminophen as a Less Toxic and More Effective Pain-Relief Medicine, qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Ananya Nagendra, Plano East Senior High School, Utilizing Ants to Mitigate MSW Landfill-Derived Methane Production through Novel Aerobic Digester System for Anthropogenic Food Waste Decomposition, qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Sravya Pilla, Jasper High School, Wearable, High Sensitivity Bio-Transistor for the Detection of Lactate in Sweat (Year II), qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Ana Spiride, Plano East Senior High School, HandTalk: A Two-Way Translation System for American Sign Language, qualified from the Texas Science and Engineering Fair
Varun Sridhar, Plano East Senior High School, Modality Matched Sensory Smart Skin System To Restore Tactile Sensation for Amputees with Adaptive Visuo-Tactile Predictive Texture Recognition, qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Ryan Xu, Jasper High School, GIVS: A Novel, Generative Artificial Intelligence Vision System for the Visually Impaired, qualified from the Dallas Regional Science and Engineering Fair
Image of all Plano ISD TXSEF participants.
