Minnesota Academy of Science

Congrats to the 12 students who earned prestigious Medtronic awards at the 2025 Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair! All winners receive an exclusive invitation to spend a day at Medtronic with a Technical Fellow as well as a generous cash prize. The Medtronic Innovation Award recognizes students whose projects exemplify excellence through innovative ideas, self-motivated independent work, passion for discovery and science, and the potential to impact their category or the world. The 2025 Medtronic Innovation Award winners are: High School: 💫 First place: Milan, Minnetonka High School 💫Second place: Rathan, Mayo High School 💫Third place: Vick, Eden Prairie Middle School: 💫First place: Claire, Breck School 💫Second place: Lauren, Emmy & Hekla, John Adams Middle School 💫Third place: Colleen, John Adams Middle School The Medtronic Technical Achievement Award recognizes students whose projects demonstrate excellence through imagination and inventiveness, tackling a challenging technical question, rigorous scientific inquiry and execution, and the potential to solve a technical problem. The 2025 Medtronic Technical Achievement Award winners are: Biomedical Applications 💫High School: Mira, Minnetonka High School 💫Middle School: Grace, John Adams Middle School Science & Engineering 💫High School: Riddhi, Stillwater Area High School 💫Middle School: Maria, Co-Cathedral of St. John The Evangelist Middle School Sustainability 💫High School: John, Mounds View High School 💫Middle School: Nora, Franklin Middle School (Thief River Falls) Learn more here: mnmas.org/2025-ssef-awards

As the school year wraps up, FORSE is supporting a flurry of hands-on STEM activities, including: 🔬 Family STEM Night at Highwood Hills Elementary 🔬 Field trips to the Bakken Museum, Works Museum, Como Zoo, and Science Museum of Minnesota 🔬 A workshop by UMN Neuroscientists for high schoolers 🔬 A seedball activity for kindergartners

Thank you to Medtronic, the Premier Sponsor of our 2025 Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair! Medtronic's support is vital to Science Fair - a program that is instrumental in preparing and motivating the next generation of STEM professionals in Minnesota.

This Saturday, Dr. Noelle Noyes will present the Keynote Address at our 45th Annual Winchell Undergraduate Research Symposium!

Congrats to the 15 high school students and 15 middle school students who won the 3M Young Inventor Recognition at the 2025 Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair! This award recognizes students who demonstrate unique resourcefulness in their approach to innovation, finding ways to do more with less, discovering new solutions to difficult problems.

National Science Bowl is this weekend! Teams from Minnetonka Middle School East (pictured below) and Wayzata High School will head to Washington DC to represent Minnesota in this prestigious competition celebrating science and math knowledge. #sciencebowl

High School for Recording Arts students recently visited the UMN Anthropology Genetics Lab during an event organized by our FORSE program! During the field trip, students: 🧬 learned about DNA and genetics 🧬 completed DNA extraction and analysis activities 🧬 toured labs 🧬 spoke with researchers Learn more about our FORSE program ➡️ mnmas.org/forse

✨Free Webinar: How to Stand Out in the College Admissions Process for STEM Students✨ TODAY, April 15, 2025 at 7 pm with InGenius Prep Zak Harris, Former Senior Admission Advisor at Johns Hopkins University Register 👉 https://lnkd.in/gw23E22w

Interacting with judges is such an important part of the State Science Fair for our student participants! Thank you to the 100s of STEM professionals who take the time to serve as judges - your support is vital to encouraging Minnesota STEM students. "I felt that every judge I interacted with at the fair was genuinely excited about my project and curious to learn more, which changed my mindset about what presenting research is like. Before the fair, I would always get nervous at the though of presenting my work, but seeing how excited the judges were to hear from me made me excited to talk to them. I now feel much more comfortable presenting and causally talking about my work thanks to this experience." - Alexandra, 2025 State Science & Engineering Fair student presenter

On March 28, the Minnesota Academy of Science hosted the 88th Annual Minnesota State Science & Engineering Fair at the Saint Paul RiverCentre — and what an exciting day it was! Some highlights from this year’s fair: - Hundreds of students sharing their original research and creative problem-solving, presenting their projects to judges and peers, and contributing to a vibrant community of learning and discovery. - A fantastic keynote from science communicator Liz Heinecke, who brought energy and excitement to the stage, reminding us that science belongs to everyone. - Hands-on STEAM activities led by The Makery, where students explored art through shadow and grayscale. A huge thank you to our wonderful exhibitors, including: 3M (Visiting Wizards), American Society of Civil Engineers, APWA-MN Chapter Group, American Society of Plumbing Engineers, Beckman Coulter Diagnostics, Bell Museum, Medtronic, Minnesota Department of Health (INSPIRE program), Minnesota Nano Center, Pavek Museum of Electronic Communication, University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota, and Luther College — your interactive activities and connections were invaluable! The fair wrapped up with an awards ceremony recognizing outstanding projects, with over $30,000 in prizes and special awards from 42 organizations supporting STEM education. To our sponsors, volunteers, educators, and families: thank you for making this event a true celebration of learning, discovery, and community. Check out the video recap of the day here: