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Sadly, EISEF Senior Champion Manasa Pagadala will not represent Iowa at ISEF in Los Angeles in May.
On March 30 we learned that Manasa’s science mentor has patented the cancer treatment that Manasa’s project is based on. He (the mentor) is okay with her presenting the work at small fairs like EISEF and SSTFI (Iowa state fair), but not at ISEF where it might receive international exposure — and his objection means that Manasa can’t go to ISEF.
Manasa, the morning EISEF judges rated you highly among the senior projects. In the afternoon, the finalist judges named you one of the best. This patent twist — disappointing as it must be — can’t take away what you did at EISEF.
What about a replacement?
No, we won’t send another student to ISEF in place of Manasa. We asked the finalist judges to name the strongest two or three students as worthy to represent us at ISEF; that’s what they did. We didn’t ask them to name alternates, “just in case”; and in fact they said that none of the other students they interviewed came close to Manasa, Aaron Wills, and Mason Burlage.