From Hausner’s STEM Fair to National Recognition: Isaac Romanoff Named a Top 300 Junior Innovator

A young man holds a certificate and a red award ribbon in the foreground, standing before a lush green pomegranate tree in the background.
From Hausner’s STEM Fair to National Recognition: Isaac Romanoff Named a Top 300 Junior Innovator


Last spring, we celebrated Hausner Upper School students as they advanced from our school STEM fair to the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science & Technology Championship and then to the California State Science & Engineering Fair. Now, we are excited to share the next chapter in that journey.

Recent Hausner graduate Isaac Romanoff has been named one of the Top 300 Junior Innovators in the 2026 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, a program of the Society for Science. Isaac, who graduated from Hausner last spring and is now in high school, was selected from 1,997 entrants across the United States.

From an Idea to the National Stage

Isaac’s recognition grew out of a project he developed while at Hausner called “Fridge Firefly: Lighting the Way to Less Food Waste.” The project explored how technology could help address an everyday problem: food being forgotten in the refrigerator and ultimately going to waste. Isaac designed and built a system using lights inside a model refrigerator, bringing together physical design, electronics, programming, testing, and iteration.

A young man in a blue blazer stands in the foreground next to a science fair project board and a small wooden model in a room.


The project first took Isaac through Hausner’s STEM fair and then to the Synopsys Silicon Valley Science & Technology Championship, where he earned 1st Place in Physical Science and Engineering as well as a sponsored award. He advanced to the California State Science & Engineering Fair, where he received an Honorable Mention in his category.

That journey also made Isaac eligible to apply for the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge, extending work that began in a Hausner classroom all the way to national recognition.

As a Top 300 Junior Innovator, Isaac was invited to join other young scientists and engineers from around the country for a special virtual celebration recognizing their accomplishments.

We are proud to see Isaac’s work continue to be recognized as he begins his next chapter in high school. His journey from identifying a real-world problem to designing, testing, and refining a possible solution reflects the kind of curiosity, perseverance, and creative problem-solving we strive to cultivate at Hausner.

Kol hakavod, Isaac!