16/05/2026
Days 8 and (early) Day 9 AUSSEF at ISEF 2026
Grand Award Ceremony
The hard work that has been put in by our AUSSEF and NZ teams has been rewarded with three of our students receiving Grand Awards at this morning's Grand Award Presentation Ceremony.
Our star achiever in the Special Awards last night, Michael Reeves, was again our top performer today taking out 2nd place in the Embedded Systems category. Here is the list of our Grand Award winners for ISEF 2026:
Michael Reeves, Ivanhoe Grammar School, Victoria: Second Award in Embedded Systems - CryoFlow: A Streaming FPGA Architecture for High-Efficiency Cryogenic Electron Microscopy Reconstruction
Daniel Cox, The Scots College, NSW: Fourth Award in Environmental Engineering - A Distributed Solar Photothermal System for Scalable, Chemical-Free W**d Control
Jayashruthi Palanisamy, Chevalier College, NSW: Fourth Award in Technology Enhances the Arts - Echo Glove
Earning a Grand Award at ISEF is a most significant achievement and congratulations to Daniel, Jayashruthi and Michael. All finalists, have put in a marvellous effort and performed strongly. They have been exemplary ambassadors for Australia and New Zealand.
Having come together as total strangers eight days ago, they have formed a tight knit community. It is this opportunity to work together as a team and network with like-minded students from around the world that makes this ISEF trip a life-changing experience. Thank you once again to all our sponsors for making this trip possible and we would be extremely grateful if you could continue your support for future years.
Day 8
With the pressure of judging behind them, finalists enjoyed a day focused on connection, collaboration, and community engagement through the Category Networking sessions and Education Outreach Day.
Students from across Arizona, along with members of the public, attended Exhibition Hall to experience what world-class science, technology, and engineering looks like in action. Many younger students were excited to meet our Australian finalists, proudly sharing what they already knew about Australia and enthusiastically learning more about the students’ projects. The koalas our team brought along once again proved to be extremely popular with visiting students.
Throughout the day, finalists also participated in Category Networking sessions, where they connected with peers from their respective disciplines over breakfast or lunch alongside members of the Regeneron community. These sessions provided valuable opportunities for students to discuss their research journeys, future aspirations, and shared scientific interests with fellow finalists from around the world.
The Special Awards Ceremony.
Professional organisations representing a broad range of scientific disciplines across government, industry, and education partner with Regeneron ISEF as Special Award Organisations. While many awards are often presented to students connected to the countries or regions those organisations represent, international students who meet specific criteria are also recognised. Australia does not frequently receive awards at this ceremony, making tonight’s result particularly significant. We are incredibly proud to share that Michael received a First Prize Special Award from the Society for Science Alumni group. His judging interview yesterday clearly made a strong impression, and this achievement marks a significant milestone as the first student from Victoria, Australia, to receive an award at ISEF. The entire Australian delegation was absolutely delighted to celebrate this outstanding accomplishment together.
