A Plano ISD middle school student has been named a Top 300 competitor in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge® – the nation’s premier STEM competition for middle school students by Thermo Fisher Scientific and the Society for Science & the Public.
Congratulations to Murphy Middle School student Megan Lien for her project titled: Redesigning the Casing of the Epinephrine Auto-Injector to Increase Accessibility.
The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC) seeks to inspire young scientists, engineers and innovators to solve the challenges of the 21st Century. Middle school students across the nation were invited to apply for the Thermo Fisher JIC by placing among the top 10% of participants at Society-affiliated science fairs during the 2025-26 school year. The 2026 Top 300 MASTERS were selected from 1,997 applicants hailing from 34 states, plus Puerto Rico and Guam. All members of the Top 300 will receive a $125 award from the Department of Defense STEM Education Consortium.
On September 16, 30 of the Top 300 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators will be selected as finalists by a nationally ranked panel of scientists, engineers and educators. Top 30 winners will travel to Washington, D.C., to present their research projects and compete as teams in STEM challenges to demonstrate their 21st Century skills in critical thinking, collaboration, communication and creativity. Top awards include a grand prize of $25,000, multiple $10,000 awards, stipends for STEM summer camps and more.
Read more about the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge on the Society for Science & the Public website.