Seven Connecticut students took home awards from this year’s Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. It’s the largest pre-college science and engineering fair in the world. 

The students were part of the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair before moving on to the international science fair.

Wilbur Cross High School of New Haven Student Maya Geradi won third place for her her research focusing on developing a radiotracer that can be used in PET scans for the research and diagnostics of Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and other neurodegenerative diseases. She worked on modifying the chemical synthesis of a radiotracer targeting the protein SV2A, with the aim of its increasing practicality and accessibility to multiple PET centers.

Greenwich High School Student Raina Jain won first place for her project which helps detect arsenic in water, a highly toxic metal contaminant commonly found in our drinking water, which is responsible for many accidental deaths. Currently, the only visual arsenic-in-water detection system is tedious.