Robert Sansone听won first place and received the听$75,000听George D. Yancopoulos Innovator Award. Robert鈥檚 research improved the torque (rotational force) and efficiency of synchronous reluctance motors, which are rugged, efficient, magnet-free alternatives to traditional permanent magnet motors. He hopes his research will lead to the proliferation of electric vehicles that do not require magnets made from economically and environmentally unsustainable rare-earth elements.

Abdullah Al-Ghamdi, 17, of听Dammam, Saudi Arabia,听received one of two听Regeneron Young Scientist Awards of听$50,000听for modifying a metal-organic material so it could be used to both extract hydrogen from water and safely store it for clean energy production. Because the materials he added are relatively inexpensive, his work could significantly reduce the cost of hydrogen extraction and storage.

, 17, of听Portland, Oregon, received the second听Regeneron Young Scientist Award听of听$50,000听for developing an AI-based model to enable rapid and cost-effective production of drugs, such as recombinant COVID-19 vaccines, using synthetic DNA engineering. His model is trained to optimize the selection of genetic codes in DNA.

Napassorn Litchiowong, 17; Chris Tidtijumreonpon, 16; and Wattanapong Uttayota, 17, of Mueang Chiang Mai, Thailand received the Gordon E. Moore Award of $50,000 for Positive Outcomes for Future Generations for their creation of a faster and more accurate way to diagnose a type of liver fluke infection that can lead to bile duct cancer in humans.

Amon Schumann,听17, of听Berlin, Germany, received the听Craig R. Barrett Award for Innovation听of听$10,000听for developing balloon-borne, light-weight solar-powered instruments that transmit aerial images, telemetry and climate data to a website he created. His device can stay aloft for several weeks circumnavigating the Earth at a consistent altitude and greatly reduces instrumentation costs.

Rebecca Cho,听17, of听Jericho, New York, received the听H. Robert Horvitz Prize for Fundamental Research听of听$10,000听for creating a geological model that incorporates the effects of changing landscapes, climate, sea level and erosion. Her model can be used to investigate ecological changes over 20 million years in the western U.S. and potentially predict the effects of climate change on the area鈥檚 biodiversity.

Anika Puri,听17, of听Chappaqua, New York, received the听Peggy Scripps Award for Science Communication听of听$10,000 for her low-cost machine learning software that can analyze night-time infrared videos taken by a drone flown over the African wilderness to spot elephant poachers in real-time. In tests, her $300 system worked with 91% accuracy, a fourfold improvement over current systems, without needing high-resolution thermal cameras that can cost up to $10,000.