The 2025 Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair finals was Wednesday, Mar. 12 at Quinnipiac University. This fair brings together every school in the state to showcase top projects in the fields of life science, engineering and physical science across Grades 7-12. Participation is based on nominations from local school fairs.

This year, 10 Wilton students received tremendous accolades for their projects spanning computer science, genetic modeling, radiation reduction, and environmental sciences.

Notably, four Middlebrook students were named 2025 National Thermo Fisher Scientific Innovators Challenge Nominees: Bennett Norful, 7th grade; Vidit Prabhu, 8th grade; Alex Shiue, 8th grade; and Kabir Rokkam, 8th grade. This is the most prestigious Middle School science competition in the U.S. and is invitation-only to represent the state of CT. The competition will take place in September 2025.

The excitement continued when Prabhu was named the sole middle school recipient of a $30,000 scholarship to Quinnipiac University for his project, “Bus Notification System with Raspberry Pi.”

Several students were named first in the state across multiple categories as well as receiving notable special awards from institutions across the country.

The full list of Individual Student Awards are:

Wilton High School

Jackson Norful, 9th Grade: Leveraging natural language processing to identify real-time risk for mental health conditions among teens

  • Top Behavioral or social sciences-related high school project in CT (sponsored by Bushnell Center of Performing Arts)

Middlebrook School

Anamitra Arjun, 7th grade, and Anandita Arjun, 7th Grade: Smart Sprouts: Automated Precision Care for Optimal Plant Health

  • Connecticut Science Fair Association Life Science Awards with The Jackson Laboratory — CSF Medallion

Bennett Norful, 7th Grade: Cell Shield: Investigating Materials to Block Non-ionizing Radiofrequency Radiation from Common Cell Phone Use

  • #1 in CT: Connecticut Science Fair Association Physical Science Awards with CMS Dorothy Minervino — 1st Place Physical Sciences 7th Grade
  • #1 in CT: Top Prize in Nuclear Energy (EBMA Science and Engineering Research Award — Middle School)
  • #3 in CT: Alexion Biotechnology Awards
  • American Society of Safety Professionals Award (7th/8th grade project)
  • Kiev Family Award For Excellence in Engineering — Middle School

Kanira Baskar, 8th Grade: The Effect of Screen Time on Your Body’s Circadian Rhythms

  • 2025 American Psychological Association Award

Shrushruth Balaji, 8th Grade: Kidney Chronicles: Genes at Work

  • #1 in CT Biology and Bioinformatics Awards — 1st Place Middle School
  • # 1in CT Pfizer Computational Biology and Bioinformatics Award
  • #5 in CT Connecticut Science Fair Association Life Science Awards with The Jackson Laboratory — 5th Place Life Sciences 8th grade
  • Alexion Biotechnology Awards — CSF Medallion

Ishan Chugh, 8th Grade: Smart Eye: Assistive Glasses for the Visually Impaired

  • Alexion Biotechnology Awards — Biotechnology 8th grade — CSF Medallion
  • American Society of Safety Professionals Award
  • IEEE William R. Wessman Award
  • Dreams Unlimited Award
  • Connecticut Invention Convention “Next Step Inventors” — Invitation to compete at the 2025 Invention Convention, May 3

Alex Shiue, 8th Grade, and Kabir Rokkam, 8th Grade: Ocean Acidification and Its Effect on Plant Growth

  • #1 in CT — Connecticut Science Fair Association Life Science Awards with The Jackson Laboratory — 1st Place Life Sciences Middle School Team
  • Alexion Biotechnology Awards — CSF Medallion

Vidit Prabhu, 8th Grade: Bus Notification System with Raspberry Pi

  • #2 in CT — Connecticut Science Fair Association Physical Science Awards with CMS Dorothy Minervino — 2nd Place Physical Sciences 8th Grade Ind.
  • # 1 in CT Infosys Foundation Computer Science Awards — 1st Place Middle School
  • #1 in CT Pepsico Engineering Awards — 1st Place Engineering Middle School
  • IEEE William R. Wessman Awards
  • Society of Women Engineers — Hartford Section Award
  • National Center for Inquiry Learning — Daniel and Maggie Award for Imagination

The Middlebrook Science and Engineering fair is held every January and is made possible through the generous sponsorship of the Wilton Education Foundation and the Middlebrook PTA.