Three High School Students Win IEEE Scholarships for Assistive Technology Projects

Three high school students received IEEE Presidents' Scholarships at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair held in Phoenix in May 2026. The awards recognize projects in electrical engineering, computer science, and related IEEE fields of interest. IEEE President Mary Ellen Randall presented the scholarships, which include complimentary IEEE student memberships.

Hollie Tang, a sophomore at Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights, California, won the first-place award of $10,000 payable over four years of undergraduate study. Her project, Tonguage, is a noninvasive, computer-vision-based human-machine interface that uses a standard laptop camera to track tongue movements and eye blinks. The system translates these motions into commands for controlling a computer, wheelchair, robotic arm, or video games. A face-tracking feature verifies the intended user for safety. Tang designed the system to run on affordable hardware to ensure accessibility across income levels.

Partap Sidhu, a junior at Bethpage High School in New York, received the second-place award of $600 for NeuroGait, a mind-controlled lower-limb exoskeleton. The system reads the Bereitschaftspotential, a faint brain signal that precedes conscious movement, using a custom EEG headset and a convolutional neural network. Pneumatic artificial muscles designed by Sidhu actuate the 3D-printed exoskeleton. In 500 trials, the neural network achieved 99.9 percent accuracy in detecting intended movement, and the full system operated at 95.2 percent accuracy. The prototype cost approximately $276 to build, compared to commercial exoskeletons priced between $40,000 and $100,000.

Calvin Shang Hung, a sophomore at El Cerrito High School in California, received the third-place award of $400 for a six-legged robot designed for hazardous environments. Inspired by space rovers and adapted for disaster response after the 2023 Türkiye earthquake, the hexapod uses a stable tripod gait to navigate unstable terrain. Hung taught himself printed circuit board design, 3D modeling, coding, and soldering during the seven-month development process. After a critical circuit board failure in the third version, he simplified the design and rebuilt it; the fourth version successfully walked across a floor.

The IEEE Presidents' Scholarship is established by the IEEE Foundation and administered by IEEE Educational Activities. All three students emphasized empathy and human welfare as central motivations for their work. Tang cited a visit to a rehabilitation center, Sidhu referenced volunteer work at a community center without elevators, and Hung pointed to humanitarian applications in disaster zones and conflict areas.

The projects address mobility limitations affecting more than 1 billion people globally, according to the World Health Organization. Each system aims to restore independence through low-cost, accessible engineering solutions rather than specialized medical devices.

Tang plans to pursue biomedical engineering, Sidhu aims to deploy NeuroGait at the community center that inspired it, and Hung advises that passion for a project sustains engineers through technical failures. The IEEE Foundation stated that the scholarship showcases students poised to shape the next era of assistive technology and robotics.