Kazakh school students to compete at global engineering fair in U.S.

Around 1,700 school students from more than 60 countries, selected through national competitions, are expected to participate in the global event.

The competition, scheduled for May 9–15, 2026, features a prize fund of $7 million.

Kazakhstan’s team includes the following students:

• Sayan Kerimbay, a ninth-grade student at Specialized Gymnasium No. 8 in Shymkent, will present a biology project focused on modeling and optimizing microbial fuel cells using artificial intelligence to improve energy generation efficiency.
• Nurkeldi Bolysbay and Aslan Basharov, both tenth-grade students at the Bilim-Innovation boarding lyceum in Taldykorgan, developed the “KazLib” educational platform, which will compete in the computer science category.
• Arnur Artykbay, an 11th-grade student at Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Taraz, will present a computer science project focused on an automated system for detecting malignant tumors using machine learning.
• Mikhail Isakov and Rakhim Nurmukhanbetov, both tenth-grade students at Specialized School-Lyceum No. 54 in Almaty, created “Neuralese,” a child-friendly neural systems constructor that will compete in the computer science category.
• Altynai Otetileu, an 11th-grade student at Nazarbayev Intellectual School in Turkistan, created “AtmosNano,” a nanosatellite project aimed at gathering atmospheric data in the field of Earth and space science.

For the first time this year, winners of Regeneron ISEF will be eligible to study abroad under the new bachelor’s degree track of the Bolashak international scholarship program, introduced under instructions from President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

In addition to winners of prestigious international academic Olympiads, winners of international science competitions will now also receive state monetary awards: up to 1,500 monthly calculation indices (MCI) for gold medals, 1,000 MCI for silver, and 500 MCI for bronze.

Regeneron ISEF is regarded as the world’s leading platform for school-level science. Supported by international organizations and major technology companies, the competition is widely viewed as a model for global research contests. Kazakhstan has been an official participant since 1999. This year, the country’s participation quota was expanded, increasing the number of projects from three to five.

Noteworthy, Team Kazakhstan bags 12 awards at World Robotics Championship in Houston.