Four Santa Cruz County students brought their curiosity, research, and problem-solving skills to one of the world’s premier student science competitions this month, representing our county at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona.
The opportunity began at the Santa Cruz County STEAM Expo, where students from across the county shared research, engineering, and creative projects rooted in real-world questions. Now in its third year, the STEAM Expo, hosted by the Santa Cruz COE, builds on 38 years of county science & engineering fairs. It brings together a competitive science fair, non-competitive showcase, interactive exhibitions, and performances, all designed to expand access to hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. The 2026 event took place March 28 at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds.
From there, top-performing Santa Cruz County students had the opportunity to advance to the California Science & Engineering Fair as well as Regeneron ISEF, held May 9-15 at the Phoenix Convention Center. This year’s ISEF event brought together more than 1,700 young scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and inventors from 365 affiliated fairs in more than 60 countries, regions, and territories, with finalists competing for more than $7 million in awards and scholarships.
Santa Cruz County’s ISEF finalists were Amelie Pan, whose project in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics was titled Deimmunizing Antibodies via Fine Tuned PLM, and Aditya “Adi” Menon, whose Robotics and Intelligent Machines project was titled Autonomous Wildfire Suppression Robot. They were joined by student observers Anastasia Miin and Brandon Kong, who had the opportunity to explore finalist projects, attend presentations, and learn from students and researchers from around the world.
Throughout the week, students set up their project booths, completed display and safety inspections, practiced interviews, met with judges, attended symposia, met with college representatives, and exchanged ideas
with peers from across California, the United States, and the world. In the days before judging, the team gathered in their hotel room to refine presentations, time speeches, and practice answering cha
llenging questions, a behind-the-scenes reminder that success in research depends not only on discovery, but on communication, persistence, and preparation.
That preparation showed during judging day. Amelie met with six Grand Awards judges and two Special Awards judges, while Adi met with 10 Grand Awards judges and three Special Awards judges. After a full day of interviews, the Santa Cruz County team joined other delegations in cheering on finalists as they exited the exhibit hall.
The week also highlighted the value of bringing observers to ISEF. Adi and Amelie, who had previously attended ISEF as observers, shared with another delegation that the experience helped them understand the event before returning as finalists. This year, they helped guide Anastasia and Brandon through that same learning experience.
One of the week’s highlights came during the Special Awards Ceremony, when Adi received an award from the Patent and Trademark Office Society, continuing a strong Santa Cruz County showing at the international fair.
Beyond the awards and formal presentations, the experience offered something equally powerful: a global community of young people united by curiosity. Students visited booths, asked questions, traded pins, attended networking sessions, and connected through everything from project discussions to informal games and conversations. The notes from the trip captured a recurring theme: ISEF is not only a competition, but a place where students find peers who are eager to learn, share, and welcome one another.
The Santa Cruz COE thanks STEAM Expo Lead Judge, and ISEF chaperone, Miguel Aznar for his exceptional support and mentorship, as well as Science Coordinator and STEAM Expo lead organizer Nicole Silva for providing this impactful platform to students. In addition, the Santa Cruz COE congratulates Amelie, Adi, Anastasia, and Brandon for representing Santa Cruz County with curiosity, creativity, and determination. Their journey from the STEAM Expo to ISEF reflects the promise of local science education and the power of giving students meaningful opportunities to ask big questions, test ideas, and share their work with the world.