Upper School Students Shine at Badger State Science and Engineering Fair

Twenty-nine Upper School students from University School of Milwaukee competed in the Badger State Science and Engineering Fair (BSSEF) on Saturday, March 8 at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Institute for Discovery. Students took home a total of 20 awards, and were joined by Dr. Amber Bakkum, Upper School science teacher. This year, Eliana Igwike ’26 received the prestigious 1st place Best of Fair award.

“It was a grueling day of interviews and activities, but all our students represented very well and I’m extremely proud of them for committing to the competition,” said Bakkum. “They committed themselves to meaningful research, and successfully completed projects that originated in their natural curiosity.” 

Congratulations to the following BSSEF award recipients:

Grand Award Recognition:
Best of Fair, 1st Place: Eliana Igwike ’26

Specialty Award Recognition:
Jasleen Chahal ’26: American Psychological Association Award
Chloe Chen ’27: Philip Streich Memorial Award, Ricoh Sustainable Development Award
Grace Chen ’27: Alpha Chi Sigma Award; Regeneron Biomedical Award; United States Air Force Award
Jeanette Clement ’27 and Maia Scherman ’27: Z. Galin Excellence in Social Sciences Award
Eliana Igwike ’26: Yale Science and Engineering Award
Simrin Patel ’27: MacGyver Award – STI Engineering; American Science & Surplus
Kaitlyn Paullin ’26: Association of Women Geoscientists Award; MacGyver Award – STI Engineering; American Science & Surplus
Sophia Torinus ’25: Genius Olympiad; US Stockholm Junior Water Prize

Category Awards Recognition:

Behavioral Science
First Award: Jasleen Chahal ’26
Second Award: Emily Pan ’27
Third Award: Yusra Khan ’26

Biology/Chemistry/Biochemistry
First Award: Grace Chen ’27
Second Award: Eashan Anne ’26
Third Award: Chloe Chen ’27

Math/Computer Science
First Award: Angela Wang ’26

Medicine/Health
First Award: Eliana Igwike ’26
Third Award: Eshaan Vasudev ’26

Engineering/Physics
Third Award: Iris Liu ’28

Environmental Science
First Award: Kaitlyn Paullin ’26
Third Award: Sophia Torinus ’25

BSSEF Participants:
Eashan Anne ’26, Diana Apolinario Santos ’27, Jasleen Chahal ’26, Alex Chen ’25, Chloe Chen ’27, Grace Chen ’27, Jeanette Clement ’27, Calder Ely ’27, Anand George ’26, Lucy Grady ’26, Yusra Hashim ’26, Eliana Igwike ’26, Aradh Kaur ’26, Jind Kaur ’28, Yusra Khan ’26, Iris Liu ’28, Stella Nicoli ’27, Emily Pan ’27, Skye Pannu ’27, Simrin Patel ’27, Kaitlyn Paullin ’26, Deven Sharma ’27, Maia Scherman ’27, Lauren Stone ’26, Francesca Sturino ’26, Harini Tallam ’26, Sophia Torinus ’25, Eshaan Vasudev ’26, Angela Wang ’26, and Madeline Weber ’28.

The top three projects from BSSEF and top two from the USM Regional Fair move on to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Columbus, Ohio from May 10–16, where they will compete for nearly $5 million in awards, prizes, and scholarships. 

Eashan Anne, Anand George, Eliana Igwike, and Angela Wang will participate as members of USM’s Regeneron ISEF delegation.

Please join us in congratulating all our young scientists on their fine work throughout the year. Best of luck to our Regeneron ISEF Finalists!