May 13-19 2023. Dallas, TX ~

The temperature was forecasted for 80 Fahrenheit a day but that didn’t account for air conditioning, nor the impending stress and the very high density of sciency teens packed into the huge “Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas”. All in all, it equilibrium-ed its way back to 80 Fahrenheit, so props to the weather people for that prediction.

Team Oregon sends about thirty students to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair, more commonly known as ISEF, each year. For ISEF 2023, seven come from the West-Linn Wilsonville School District; two are Wilsonville High School students– freshman Arush Goswami and senior Aditi Bhaskar.

It was Goswami’s first time participating in the ISEF program, and he certainly made the most of it. He advanced to both the state and international fair from the school district fair.  He recounts a day full of exciting events at NWSE, the state level fair. “It was a really great experience as I got to do a day trip with my friends. I got to meet a lot of amazing people there and we had a lot of fun both during interviews and hanging out during down time.” Not only did Goswami get to enjoy the rich community aspect of the fair, hosted by Portland State University, but he also gained recognition as the 3rd place Computer Science and Robotics project, which was exciting as well. “It was great to hear my name called up for a category award during the NWSE award ceremony.” 

Senior Aditi Bhaskar attended ISEF for the third time this year, so she was able to give insight on previous years. In 2021, her first year participating, she explained, “They had an online world because of COVID, where everyone picked their own avatars and wandered around on speedboats around a little ISEF Island.” While she had a virtual experience her first year, she did get the chance to travel in 2022; ISEF 2022 was held in Atlanta, and the competition comprised people from all over the world. Bhaskar recalls, “I got to meet many, many people! From South Africa, to Saudi Arabia, to local students from Atlanta.” Despite the tough competition, she came through strongly: “Last year, I placed third in my category, Embedded Systems, at internationals, which approximately translates to ‘third best electronics project in the world in 2022.’”

After returning from ISEF 2023 Dallas mere weeks ago, Goswami and Aditi were excited to tell us about their ISEF experiences

Goswami “got to meet some of the smartest high schoolers in the world, and learn about tons of creative new projects.” He met students from Thailand who are incubating predators to kill pests on one of their team members’ farms. He thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet kids his age who were as passionate about science as he is. 

Aside from the competition, the social aspect is very important to Goswami. “Whether it be watching movies together at night, playing football in the pool, or being in the middle of a mosh pit at a party, we were always having a great time together as a group.” 

Bhaskar agrees with Goswami, “While part of ISEF is about winning, the other half is networking. I met lots of new people, including some girls who put the W in ‘Women in STEM.’” She also “had exciting reunions during the pin exchange event, on the dance floor, by elevators, and in the expansive exhibit hall.”

ISEF is a very special extracurricular. Whether you place or not, you come out with slaying scientific inquiry skills, rizz-esque presentation skills, the stan-worthy brilliant friends, and something you can most definitely put on your totally based resume. If you have any interest in STEM, Aditi highly recommends joining ISEF either during school or as an extracurricular. (contact: [email protected])

Visit Aditi’s project at https://projectboard.world/isef/project/ebed012-ascend 

Visit Arush’s project at https://projectboard.world/isef/project/tmed028t-determining-melanoma-treatment-via-gut-microbiome 

(Published first in 2023 Q4 paper, academics section)