3 Students Win Awards at Regional Science Fair

Three Fox Chapel Area School District students won awards at the 2025 Pittsburgh Regional Science & Engineering Fair (PRSEF).

Dorseyville Middle School eighth-grader Rishabh Krishnamurthy was named the first-place winner in the intermediate division of the behavioral and social science category. Sixth-grader Alexander Li received third place in the junior division physical science and engineering category. As a result of those wins, Rishabh and Alexander have been nominated for the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. Additionally, Fox Chapel Area High School sophomore Param Thawani won sponsor awards from the Naval Nuclear Lab and the Princeton Alumni Association of Western Pennsylvania.

The PRSEF is open to students in grades 6-12 from 21 counties in Western Pennsylvania and Garrett County in Maryland. Each year, students from nearly 100 schools spend up to 12 months developing and executing a project and compete for more than $1 million in cash, scholarships, and trips. All of the students who participated in the fair conducted individual science research and presented their projects to a committee of judges. The judging took place April 1 and 2 at the Carnegie Science Center, a virtual awards ceremony was held April 4, and a showcase for all first-place winners was held April 5.