REGENERON ISEF

A THIRD PRIZE IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING FOR THE GRAND DUCHY.

With the support of Capitalatwork, two young scientists from Luxembourg represented the Fondation Jeunes Scientifiques Luxembourg (FJSL) at Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) - the world’s largest international pre-college science competition - and one of them won a third prize of biomedical engineering home to the Grand Duchy. 

During this year’s national Jonk Fuerscher contest, Elias Fizesan and Sarah Mackel swayed the jury with their respective projects and were therefor chosen to participate in the Regeneron ISEF. 

With her project in chemistry titled “Efficient Sulfur Dioxide Estimation in Wine: Improvements on the Ripper Titration”, 17-year-old Sarah from the International School of Luxembourg evaluated an improved method for the amount of free sulfur dioxide used in the wine making process, allowing it to remain a lot safer, with less danger related to its storage, its aging process, and especially its taste. 

Elias - currently a student at St. Paul’s School in London, UK - on the other hand delved into biomedical engineering for his project “Device for Analysing Coughing Patterns to Diagnose and Monitor Asthmatic Patients”. The 17-year-old created a small device capable of diagnosing asthmatic patients, by placing it on the patient’s chest to collect cough vibration data throughout the day. This data is in turn processed through various machine learning algorithms to diagnose the patient and monitor their condition.

The third prize for a better quality of life for asthma patients! 

For his forward-thinking and groundbreaking project, the jury of the ISEF awarded Elias the third prize in his category, which includes a $1,000 prize. “ISEF was a fantastic experience where I was able to share my project with a variety of scientists specialised in the field of biomedical engineering and the public. The whole fair was really well organised and the FJSL team was able to help me throughout the whole competition”, so Elias. 

At this year’s exceptional edition of Regeneron ISEF, the two finalists each had to defend their projects during a 3-hour video conference with four individual judges from different backgrounds. The fair’s additional program from May 16-21, 2021, included panels by Nobel laureates, a live conversation with pioneers in artificial intelligence, and a WomeninSTEM panel, among many other activities. Both Sarah and Elias also presented their scientific research at the public exhibition along with 1,840 other finalists across 21 scientific disciplines from around the world. 

Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is the world’s largest international pre-college science competition awarding approximately $4 million in prizes each year. It is organized by the Society For Science, a nonprofit membership organization focused on promoting the understanding and appreciation of science. More information about Regeneron ISEF and its activities is available at https://www.societyforscience.org.