Riverside – A total of 64 students earned gold medals, including three sweepstakes winners, while dozens of prizes and entries into state and international fairs were awarded at the conclusion of the 2025 Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair, which was held at the Riverside Convention Center on Saturday, March 1, 2025. 

“The curiosity, experimentation, innovation, and critical thinking exhibited by students at the Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair are great examples of the skill sets necessary to compete in a global marketplace,” said Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Edwin Gomez. “I am confident these award-winning young scientists will represent Riverside County with excellence at state and international competitions.” 

A total of 487 students from 28 affiliate fairs representing public, charter, and private schools, presented their findings in 343 projects spanning 22 subject matter categories. 

Gold, silver (runner-up), and bronze (third place) medals were presented, along with community donor awards. Within each of the 22 subject matter categories, students competed in the Elementary division (grades 4-5), Junior division (grades 6-8), and Senior division (high school). Winners in the Junior and Senior division advance to the California State Science and Engineering Fair. 

Sweepstakes awards were presented to one project in Grades 4/5 combined, one project in the Junior Division, and one project in the Senior Division: 

The honorees at the December event include:

• Elementary Division Sweepstakes (Grades 4-5)
  Natalya Benor
  Clara Barton Elementary School, Corona-Norco USD The Coolest House on the Block: The Effect of Color and Material on House Temperature 
  
  

• Junior Division Sweepstakes (Grades 6-8)
  Shreyansh Medatati
  Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School, Corona-Norco USD
  Integrating Renewable Energy and Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Automated Fire Fighting

• Senior Division Sweepstakes (Grades 9-12) 
  Harleen Virk
  Eastvale STEM Academy/Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Corona-Norco USD Wax, Water, and Phase Change: Employing Phase Change Materials for Compact Thermal Energy Storage in Residential Heating Systems

Three Senior Division students advance to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) to be held May 10-16, 2025, in Columbus, Ohio.

• Ava George
  Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD 
  A Novel Approach to Fall Prediction and Prevention: Integrating Machine Learning and IoT for Elderly Safety 
• Rayyan Khalique, Trevon Nguyen, and Dylan Patel
  Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD Combining Accessibility with Machine Learning: Utilizing Machine Learning to Create a User Friendly Medical Application to Process and Detect Histopathological Images of Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma 
• Tom Reznick
  Riverside STEM High School, Riverside USD
  Listening for Silent Flight - The Morphology of Silent Flight in Birds of Prey

2025 Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair
Gold Medal Winners 

Grade 4 Gold Medal Winners 

Chloe Pruitt, McAuliffe Elementary School, Alvord USD
Julio Armenta Ibarra, Mead Valley Elementary School, Val Verde USD
Vivian Shaver, James Carter Elementary School, Desert Sands USD
Noah Pineda, Sunnymead Elementary School, Moreno Valley USD 
Vismaad Ahluwalia, Susan B. Anthony Elementary School, Corona-Norco USD 

Grade 5 Gold Medal Winners 

Gabriel Sosa, River Springs Charter School
Santiago Arriaga-Rauk, James Carter Elementary School, Desert Sands USD
Senitha Weerakoon, Kennedy Elementary School, Riverside USD
Kara Riomales, Valley View Elementary School, Nuview Union SD
Natalya Benor, Clara Barton Elementary School, Corona-Norco USD
Odin Garcia, Della S. Lindley Elementary School, Palm Springs USD
Melanie Avila, Hemmerling Elementary School, Banning USD
Zaden Zamudio, Hemmerling Elementary School, Banning USD
Zak Bryant, Harry Truman Elementary School, Desert Sands USD
Luz de Luna Gomez, REACH Leadership STEAM Academy
Matthew Nguyen, Triple Crown Elementary, Val Verde USD

Junior Division Gold Medal Winners (Grades 6-8)***▲ 

Oliver Abeyta, St. Edward School
Sophia Lai, Philistine Rondo School of Discovery, Corona-Norco USD
Aimee Almanza, Palm View Elementary School, Coachella Valley USD
Daisy Vargas, Palm View Elementary School, Coachella Valley USD
Jazlyn Zepeda, Palm View Elementary School, Coachella Valley USD
Henry Grover, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD
Jack Grover, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD
Vienna Zhou, El Cerrito Middle School, Corona-Norco USD
Audrey Cruz, St. Edward School
Melody Lopez-Aguayo, Mission Middle School, Jurupa USD
Edward Hernandez, Vista Verde Middle School, Val Verde USD
Caleb McMahon, Vista Verde Middle School, Val Verde USD
Rodrigo Rangel, Vista Verde Middle School, Val Verde USD
Jimena Gonzalez, Jurupa Middle School, Jurupa USD
Lilly Abeyta, St. Edward School
Ryan Samer Abu Hilal, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD
Ritobroto Roy-Chowdhury, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD
Shreyansh Medatati, Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School, Corona-Norco USD
Hannah Jang, Western Center Academy, Hemet USD  

Senior Division Gold Medal Winners (Grades 9-12)*** 

Arav Randhawa, Corona High School, Corona-Norco USD
Avijeet Randhawa, Corona High School, Corona-Norco USD
JiSeon Kazsuk, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Erin Nguyen-Khoa, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Harleen Virk, Eastvale STEM Academy/Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Corona
Norco USD
Ava George, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD
Rayyan Khalique, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD
Trevon Nguyen, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD
Dylan Patel, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD
Anthony Hernandez, Riverside STEM High School, Riverside USD
Lara Randhawa, Corona High School, Corona-Norco USD
Jason Sun, Eastvale STEM Academy/Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Corona-Norco USD
Derek Zhang, Eastvale STEM Academy/Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Corona-Norco USD
Darius Fields, Lakeside High School, Lake Elsinore USD
Aiden Pianalto, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Robert Christian Flores, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Aiden Rheem, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
James Riviere, Palm Desert High School, Desert Sands USD
Nimmer Kaur, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD
Ian Do, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Caelan Shelton, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Ian Zhang, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Emmanuel Pudussery, Riverside STEM High School, Riverside USD
Vinaya Ayinampudi, Eastvale STEM Academy/Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Corona-Norco USD
Cassandra Caluag, Temescal Canyon High School, Lake Elsinore USD
Tom Reznick, Riverside STEM High School, Riverside USD
Avery Wise, Centennial High School, Corona-Norco USD
Shanmukh Bachhu, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD
Patrick Moon, Martin Luther King High School, Riverside USD 

*** Gold medal winners in Junior and Senior division advance to California State Science and Engineering Fair 

▲ Gold medal winners in Junior division also advance to the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge  

 2025 Riverside County Science and Engineering Fair Community Awards 

Broadcom Foundation 

• Shreyansh Medatati, Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School, Corona-Norco USD

Inland Empire Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG) 

• Zak Bryant, Harry Truman Elementary School, Desert Sands USD

• Mia Barrera, St. Edward School

• Jennavieve Covington, Moreno Valley High School, Moreno Valley USD

• Lilyana Covington, Vista Heights Middle School, Moreno Valley USD 

Science and Technology Education Partnership (STEP) 

• Natalya Benor, Clara Barton Elementary School, Corona-Norco USD

• Shreyansh Medatati, Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School, Corona-Norco USD

• Harleen Virk, Eastvale STEM Academy/Eleanor Roosevelt High School, Corona-Norco USD 
  
  

2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge Nominees

• Oliver Abeyta, St. Edward School

• Sophia Lai, Philistine Rondo School of Discovery, Corona-Norco USD

• Aimee Almanza, Palm View Elementary School, Coachella Valley USD

• Daisy Vargas, Palm View Elementary School, Coachella Valley USD

• Jazlyn Zepeda, Palm View Elementary School, Coachella Valley USD

• Henry Grover, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD

• Jack Grover, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD

• Vienna Zhou, El Cerrito Middle School, Corona-Norco USD

• Audrey Cruz, St. Edward School

• Melody Lopez-Aguayo, Mission Middle School, Jurupa USD

• Kasiah Cherland, Western Center Academy, Hemet USD

  Edward Hernandez, Vista Verde Middle School, Val Verde USD

• Caleb McMahon, Vista Verde Middle School, Val Verde USD

• Rodrigo Rangel, Vista Verde Middle School, Val Verde USD

• Jimena Gonzalez, Jurupa Middle School, Jurupa USD

• Lilly Abeyta, St. Edward School

• Ryan Samer Abu Hilal, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD

• Ritobroto Roy-Chowdhury, Riverside STEM Academy, Riverside USD

• Shreyansh Medatati, Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School, Corona-Norco USD

• Evelyn Trujillo, John Glenn Middle School, Desert Sands US

• Hannah Jang, Western Center Academy, Hemet USD