Taiwanese students win six awards at American science fair

Taipei, May 17 (CNA) A team of Taiwanese students won six awards at the 75th Annual Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (Regeneron ISEF) in Columbus, Ohio, the National Taiwan Science Education Center (NTSEC) said Saturday.

The NTSEC selected 19 students who submitted 12 projects to the competition, and they won one Third Award, three Fourth Awards, one special Second Award from the American Chemical Society, and one special award from the American Mathematical Society.

This year's competition was held in Columbus, Ohio from May 10 to May 16, with 1,657 students from 63 countries and regions submitting 1,334 projects, according to a press release by the NTSEC.

The judges applauded Shih Hsiang-cheng (施翔程) and Fan Zhong-yue (范忠悅) from Taipei Municipal Chien Kuo High School for discovering a virus from waste water that kills the klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria, earning them an award in microbiology.

Klebsiella pneumoniae causes pneumonia, urethral infections, and bacteremia, and it has grown increasingly resistant to antibiotics, posing a serious medical challenge.

Chen Yun-jen (陳筠臻) from Taipei First Girls High School also won an award in chemistry and a special award from the American Chemical Society for her work that helped optimize material combinations for brighter and more efficient LED displays.

For the event, Taiwan also established the Taiwan International Science Fair Special Award, which gave two foreign students an award enabling them to participate in the 2026 Taiwan International Science Fair.

The NTSEC said it created the award to show "the importance of international science research and interaction to science education," and it hoped to see the two recipients share their research with students in Taiwan in 2026.