THE MELODIES OF MATERIALS
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03/30/2026 ⋅ By Rishi Pai ⋅ 6 min read
A Weekend in Athens: The 78th Georgia Science & Engineering Fair
In my last post, I wrote about placing 2nd at the Fulton County Regional Science Fair and earning my spot at GSEF. I said, with full confidence, that I had no doubt I could succeed at the state competition. I talked about ISEF almost as a dream worth chasing. I meant every word of it when I wrote it, though. But there is a significant difference between believing something is possible and actually watching it unfold in front of you. This past weekend, I got to experience that difference firsthand.
Going into the 78th Georgia Science & Engineering Fair, I knew it would be different from what I had experienced at the Fulton County Regional Fair in February. It was my first time competing at a science fair of this level, so my county fair was overwhelming enough for me. A couple of my seniors who had competed at GSEF before warned me about it: the scale, the caliber of competitors, the sheer weight of what it means to represent your county and your school at the state level. What I didn’t expect was just how profoundly the weekend would leave its mark on me.
GSEF took place March 26-28 at The Classic Center in downtown Athens, Georgia.
Thursday: Setting the Stage
Exhibitors were given the option to set up their booths on Thursday evening, which I took full advantage of. The Classic Center is a stunning venue, the kind of space that makes you stand a little straighter just by being inside it. Walking in that Thursday evening and seeing the exhibit hall begin to fill with boards, binders, and nervous energy from students across the entire state was honestly a bit humbling. These were the students who had risen to the top of their respective regional fairs, some of whom had even qualified for ISEF already. After carefully arranging my exhibit, confirming my forms were in order in my binder, and signing my Exhibit ID card, I headed back to my hotel to get some last minute practice and good sleep. Setting up on Thursday rather than Friday morning was a good call; it left me with a clear head going into the most important day.
Friday: The Main Event
Friday was the heart of it all. The morning set-up window closed at 9:30 AM, at which point exhibitors were cut loose for a couple of hours: free time to grab an early lunch, decompress, or wander around the sweet downtown of Athens before returning to the hall at 11:45 AM. Athens is genuinely a wonderful city, and the stretch of shops and restaurants near the campus gave me just enough of a distraction to keep the nerves of science fair from taking over my body completely.
Then judging began.
From 11:45 AM to 5:30 PM, with only a brief concession break in the Atrium from 3:00 to 3:30, it was just exhibitors and judges in that hall. No parents, no teachers, and no outside audience. That isolation and intimacy is intentional, and it works. It creates a kind of focused intensity that’s hard to describe. You’re standing at your exhibit, waiting, and then a judge approaches to strike up a conversation. Some conversations flowed effortlessly. Others pushed me to think harder than I had anticipated. One judge had even asked me to explain my project as if he were a 5th grader, which was quite an unique and honestly fun experience. Unlike the regional fair where I had a structured ten-minute window, the interviews here felt more organic, more like genuine scientific dialogue rather than a formal presentation.
True to the handbook, we were not released early. By 5:30 PM, when we finally walked out of that hall, I was mentally spent, but in the satisfying way that comes after giving something everything you had. My feet, however, had a less poetic reaction to six straight hours of standing on a hard floor.
Saturday: Public Day and the Awards Ceremony
Saturday brought a completely different energy. The Exhibit Hall opened to the public at 9:00 AM, and by the time the 1:00 to 3:00 PM window arrived, when all the exhibitors were required to be at their projects, the hall had filled with university faculty, industry representatives, and members of the public. Talking with people who weren’t evaluating you, but were simply curious about your work, was a refreshing change of pace after the pressure of Friday.
At 3:30 PM, GSEF staff guided us all into a procession. The Awards Ceremony began at 4:00 PM in the Classic Center Theatre, and I genuinely had no idea what to expect. I had done my best. Whatever happened, I was proud of having made it this far and of how I had performed over the day of judging.
Little did I know, what followed was one of the most surreal experiences of my life.
The Awards
By the end of the ceremony, I had received a number of special awards, including the American Chemical Society (ACS) Award for Achievement in Chemistry, the Georgia Intellectual Property Alliance Young Inventor’s Award, which comes with free legal assistance toward a patent, and the Yale Science & Engineering Association Award, all for my research in the Chemistry category (and Materials Chemistry subcategory). I also received a First Honors ribbon, placing my project in the top 90th percentile of the entire Senior Division.
And then came the Grand Awards. My project was named one of the Senior Division Top Ten, which meant I was among the ten highest-performing projects at the entire state fair.
But the final announcement, the one that I am still processing, was the GSEF Pinnacle Award, given to the top overall project at the Georgia Science & Engineering Fair. And alongside it, the Regeneron ISEF Award, which means I will be one of four Georgia delegates to represent the state at the international level.
I genuinely did not have the words at the moment. I still don’t have the right ones now. No joke, I was dreaming of this very moment ever since the seventh grade, and it is still mind-boggling to process that my dream came true.
Looking Ahead
This weekend reminded me of something I’ve come to believe more deeply with each experience: the process of doing real research, of standing behind your work in front of experts who will challenge it, is one of the most formative things a young scientist can do. The city of Athens, the grandeur of the Classic Center, the precision of the judging format, and the genuine caliber of everyone competing, it all combined into something I will never forget.
I am beyond grateful to everyone who has supported this research on my way here. This blog has been a record of that journey, and I am thrilled that the next chapter involves the international stage. However, even after ISEF, there is a great deal of work ahead, and I plan to share every step of it here. So until dhin . . . stay upbeat, and stay tuned.