Vedika Devarajan, a ninth-grade student at Redmond High School in Redmond, Washington, received a Third Award of $1,200 in Materials Science at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, for a project using banana-leaf vein patterns as inspiration for a neonatal incubator liner intended to manage condensation and reduce conditions associated with hospital-acquired infections.
Washington ninth-grader wins ISEF Materials Science award for banana-leaf-inspired incubator liner
Vedika Devarajan, a ninth-grade student at Redmond High School in Redmond, Washington, received a Third Award of $1,200 in Materials Science at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix, Arizona, for a project using banana-leaf vein patterns as inspiration for a neonatal incubator liner intended to manage condensation and reduce conditions associated with hospital-acquired infections.
Devarajan's project, called BananaBaby and formally titled 'Musa spp. anisotropic and parallel venation biomimetic neonatal incubator liner,' uses the directional vein structure of Musa species leaves as the basis for a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold that reproduces the leaf pattern on an incubator surface, according to the ISEF project description.
The liner is designed to direct condensation along specific pathways rather than allowing moisture to remain on flat incubator surfaces, which the project argues may contribute to conditions supporting microbial contamination and hospital-acquired infections, particularly in developing countries where medical resources are limited.
Devarajan first earned first place at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair as a ninth-grade student, which qualified her for the international competition. At the 2026 Regeneron ISEF, more than 1,700 high-school researchers from more than 65 countries participated, according to the Lake Washington School District.
In addition to the $1,200 third-place Materials Science award for project MATS063, Devarajan also received recognition through a Non-Trivial Fellowship Scholarship. BananaBaby remains a student research project and has not undergone clinical testing or regulatory approval for use in hospitals.
- The source does not state the specific test results or data Devarajan obtained from the PDMS liner prototype, such as measured condensation reduction or antimicrobial performance.
- The source does not state whether the project was independently reviewed, mentored by a scientist or institution, or conducted in a laboratory setting outside the school.
- The source does not state what the Non-Trivial Fellowship Scholarship entails in terms of monetary value or obligations.
- The source does not state how BananaBaby's condensation management compares quantitatively to standard incubator liners or surfaces.
- The source does not state whether any clinical or microbiology researchers have evaluated the prototype's potential effectiveness.
Read the original at The Times of India