“Passionate about Passionflower: A Natural Remedy for Anxiety“ by Abigail Mathew
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety rates have risen by 25% and one in five teens experiences symptoms of anxiety or depression. When confronted with growing anxiety among her peers, Abigail explored an alternative medication without some of the harsh side effects of prescription anxiety meds. Her research led her to passion flower, a plant that has been used in conjunction with other herbs as an anxiety treatment before, but never studied independently. Preliminary studies show a positive correlation between heart rate reduction and passion flower use.
About Abigail Mathew:
Abigail Mathew, a sophomore in San Jose, California, spends her time with her family and friends, reading, playing piano, singing in the choir, and practicing taekwondo. Her interest in debate and biology, two of her favorite school subjects, has her deciding between a future career in either law or medicine.
“PlanetPoints: A Personal Environmental Sustainability Tracker” by Kaaviya Aravind
For years, Delhi has been labeled as one of the most polluted cities in the world. But while the air quality is poor, small changes have been made and the daily AQI decreased by 29.4% from 2022 to 2023. Inspired by the communal changes made in her hometown, Kaaviya created PlanetPoints, an app that helps users see how their own small efforts towards sustainability can pay off in a big way.
About Kaaviya Aravind:
Kaaviya Aaravind is a senior in Chennai, India. She plans to pursue a career in computer science so that she can be a part of the ever changing conversation surrounding artificial intelligence and how it impacts daily life in so many different fields. Outside of school, Kaaviya enjoys reading classic historical fiction and surfing.
“Novel Bioplastic” by Miles Elliott
Globally, we have reached a staggering 400 million tons of plastic consumption each year. Americans use an average of .75 pounds of plastic on a daily basis–that’s like throwing away over 35 pens worth of plastic every day. While some replacement bioplastics exist, Miles wanted to focus on plastics for household use. He created a bioplastic film alternative made from potato, alfalfa, and kelp and discovered that not only was it a viable replacement, but it even looked as clear as the “real” thing!
About Miles Elliott:
Miles Elliott is a senior at a private school in California where he plays tuba in the marching band. He hopes to become a physical therapist specializing in sports medicine. Outside of school, he spends time with his family and friends and plays video games.
“Video Time Capsule” by Isha Bajpai
Stories connect us, but with the growing digital divide between generations, it is harder for those narratives to be shared. Inspired by stories of her family from India, Isha created Video Time Capsule, an app designed to make it easy for generations to share and save stories from their past without the confusion present in social media platforms. The app provides prompts to help people feel comfortable sharing the stories that make them uniquely themselves.
About Isha Bajpai:
Isha is a senior in the Bay Area. In her spare time, she plays competitive table tennis and enjoys hiking and designing art. She plans to pursue a career in a STEM field since it is constantly evolving and there is always something new to look forward to.
“Mycelium Woven Wall” by Brandon Xu
The 2020 Northern Complex Fire destroyed 318,935 acres of land and turned the skies over Northern California a dark orange from chemicals trapping carbon dioxide particles. Brandon wondered what could be done to mitigate these types of natural disasters in the future. He investigated whether mycelium, fungal threads that grow in the soil beneath mushrooms, could be used to create a drywall alternative that holds up to construction standards. Not only will his mycelium wall be better in disaster situations, it also reduces carbon emissions.
About Brandon Xu:
Brandon Xu is a senior in the Bay Area. He intends to pursue a career in environmental engineering so that he can continue learning about how we can apply environmental policy to solve real world problems. In his spare time, Brandon enjoys playing soccer, badminton, and basketball, fishing, contributing to his community garden, and spending time with his family and friends.
“Sakkar.ai: Managing Diabetes and Transforming Lives through Artificial Intelligence” by Nundhaa Sivabalan
Diabetes affects more than 537 million adults worldwide. In the US alone, 11% of the population has been diagnosed with diabetes and another 28% are classified as being prediabetic. After watching his grandparents struggle for years with confusing advice about diet and the financial burden of medication, Nundhaa decided to develop an app, Sakkar.ai, a personal diabetes assistant designed to provide tailored advice on lifestyle changes to prevent prediabetes and control Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes more effectively.
About Nundhaa Sivabalan:
Nundhaa is a high school senior living in Southern California. He wants to explore the intersection of business and artificial intelligence so that he can contribute towards fulfilling humanitarian needs in the ever-changing digital world. This fall he intends to travel to India to launch his app with rural healthcare providers and patients. In his free time, he enjoys making historical and linguistic educational videos that have reached over 25,000,000 views.
“EduBoost Tax” by Katie Luong
It is no secret that the education system in the United States is chronically underfunded. Schools across America suffer from massive teacher shortages, a lack of up-to-date technological resources, and a problem with both physical and mental student safety. Katie looks to add to the Department of Education budget through a system of taxing the wealthiest Americans using a sliding scale based on income. Her formula would see a negligible percentage of those Americans’ taxes being used to benefit millions of children across the country.
About Katie Luong:
Katie Luong is a senior in the Bay Area. She hopes to find a career in business analytics working for a tech company to help make positive changes in the world through numbers. She has been a competitive dancer for the past 11 years and also enjoys playing piano, baking, and finding new and fun restaurants to eat at with family and friends.
“Ode to Advance Directives” by Nicole D’Arcy, MD
By using a bit of humor and music, D’Arcy and Anna Krawisc encourage everyone to write their advance directives. By writing these, your loved ones will know how you want them to handle your end-of-life care and decisions. They produced this music video with the Stanford Videography Dept. while med students at Stanford Medical School.
About Nicole D’Arcy:
Nicole D’Arcy is an Emergency Physician at Valley Medical Center in San Jose, CA. She is also the Deputy Medical Director of the Alameda County EMS Agency.