Grade 7 student Siddharth Patel from Clara Brenton Public School is being celebrated nationally after earning one of the top honours at the Canada-Wide Science Fair (CWSF).

Siddharth received the Platinum Award for Discovery (Junior Division) at the 2026 CWSF in Edmonton, AB, for his project Automating Asteroid Detection Criteria to Strengthen Citizen Science for Planetary Defense.

Siddharth developed a custom computer algorithm that helps streamline the process of detecting asteroids in telescope images, improving the accuracy and reliability of citizen science efforts in planetary defence.

His national win builds on earlier success this year, when he earned gold and other special awards at the Thames Valley Science and Engineering Fair and advanced to represent the region at the CWSF. The event is Canada’s largest annual youth STEM competition, bringing together top young innovators from across the country.

Siddharth’s passion for space science is well established. In 2025, he discovered two provisional asteroids through a NASA-affiliated citizen science initiative and has since been featured on CTV News and CBC Radio for his work and insights.

For a complete list of CWSF winners from TVDSB, please see below.

Media

For interview requests and media opportunities, please contact: communications@tvdsb.ca

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List of CWSF winners from TVDSB

The Actuarial Foundation of Canada Award

• Sponsor: The Actuarial Foundation of Canada
• $500 cash and certificate
• Junior
• Automating Asteroid Detection Criteria to Strengthen Citizen Science for Planetary Defense
• Siddharth Patel– Thames Valley – ON

Excellence in Astronomy Award

• Sponsor: Royal Astronomical Society of Canada
• Telescope and certificate plus a one year RASC membership
• Junior
• Automating Asteroid Detection Criteria to Strengthen Citizen Science for Planetary Defense
• Siddharth Patel – Thames Valley – ON

Excellence Award – Bronze

• Junior
• Sponsor: Youth Science Canada
• Medal and certificate
• Musa Salman – Thames Valley – ON
• DERMAGUARD: Novel Wearable For Cutaneous Monitoring With Bio-printable Solutions

Excellence Award - Bronze

• Sponsor: Youth Science Canada
• Medal and certificate
• Intermediate
• Harsh Patel – Thames Valley – ON
• An Efficient AI-Driven Tool for Pediatric Pneumonia Detection
• Inaaya Zia – Thames Valley – ON
• CellScope: Optimising Papillary Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis

Excellence Award – Silver

• Intermediate
• Sponsor: Youth Science Canada
• Medal and certificate
• Gaurav Chopra – Thames Valley – ON
• OcuScan: A Novel Deep Learning-Based Ocular Disease Detection System
• Tridib Das – Thames Valley – ON
• PlaqueGuard: Investigating the Effects of Polyphenols on Dental Plaque Formation

Excellence Award – Silver

• Senior
• Sponsor: Youth Science Canada
• Medal and certificate
• Kavin Rithwik – Thames Valley – ON
• Computational Drug Discovery Targeting a Rare Cystic Fibrosis-linked CFTR Mutant

Excellence Award – Gold

• Junior
• Sponsor: Youth Science Canada
• Medal and certificate
• Apple AK – Thames Valley – ON
• Computer Vision For Bacterial Gram Stain Classification
• Siddharth Patel – Thames Valley – ON
• Automating Asteroid Detection Criteria to Strengthen Citizen Science for Planetary Defense

Challenge Award - Aerospace

• Sponsor: Youth Science Canada
• $500 cash and certificate
• Junior
• Automating Asteroid Detection Criteria to Strengthen Citizen Science for Planetary Defense
• Siddharth Patel – Thames Valley – ON

Platinum Award - Discovery

• Sponsor: Youth Science Canada
• Crystal award
• Junior
• Automating Asteroid Detection Criteria to Strengthen Citizen Science for Planetary Defense
• Siddharth Patel – Thames Valley – ON