jonathan lai

Bartlesville High School freshman Jonathan Lai has been selected as one of the Top 300 Junior Innovators in the 2024 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge (JIC), a program of Society for Science. His entry, from Spring 2024, was titled: Go Solar, Go Green, Go Smarter: Optimizing Energy Output of Solar Panels. This honor places him among a select group of Junior Innovators throughout the United States and the only selection from Oklahoma.

The Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge is the nation’s premier STEM competition for middle school students. The Top 300 Junior Innovators were selected from 1,862 students from 48 states, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands, who applied to compete. 

The next step in the Thermo Fisher JIC takes place on September 18 at noon Eastern Time, when 30 finalists will be announced from the Top 300 Junior Innovators. These students will be invited to Finals Week of the competition, held in Washington, DC, from October 25th – 30th.