Atkins High School Sophomore Rachit Chandrakul made a big splash in the future of sustainability when his science project on purifying wastewater earned him the 2024 North Carolina Stockholm Junior Water Prize.
The US Stockholm Junior Water Prize has been awarded to students researching water quality since 1997 and bills itself as the most prestigious water research award in the world for high schoolers. Chandrakul’s project won out among all other submissions in North Carolina and earned him a spot in the nationwide competition last year, where he was the youngest of all 50 finalists. His entry was sponsored by NC One Water, an organization dedicated to protecting water quality through education, training, and service.
NC One Water also invited Chandrakul to speak about his project for guests at the 2024 NC One Water Conference in November. While there, he competed with college undergraduate students and won third place in the organization’s annual poster contest. It was a remarkable string of successes for a high school science project, particularly from an underclassman.
Chandrakul is no stranger to presenting scientific research. His parents both work at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine, and watching them work instilled an appreciation in him for the scientific method and how research can make the world a better place. He started competing in science fairs when he was a first grader at Jefferson Elementary School, and as he continued making projects at Jefferson Middle School and Atkins, he developed a focus on researching environmental sustainability.
“I want to focus on the environmental issues that impact us on a daily basis, that impact people around the world, and finding the solutions that can help them,” Chandrakul said. “I really want us to have a place, a society, a planet, a community where everybody gets to live in the best conditions possible. We all deserve to live the best lives that we can.”
Chandrakul has an acute awareness of how lack of access to clean water creates major problems for large populations all over the world, so he’s done multiple projects concerned with preserving water. The project that won him the state SJWP was titled "Carbon Quantum Dots: Green Nanotechnology for Detection and Removal of Methylene Blue from Textile Industry Wastewater".
Methylene Blue (MB) is a non-biodegradable, toxic dye that commonly pollutes water as a byproduct of textile manufacturing. Chandrakul’s organic Carbon Quantum Dots (CQDs) are able to detect and remove these harmful particles. During his research, he found that CQDs treatment of wastewater cleared 90% of MB in half a day and almost 99% within a week. This research offers hope of a cheaper and more efficient solution to test and treat wastewater worldwide, including in developing countries.
As a STEM magnet school, Atkins offers its students the chance to take classes in accordance with majors like they would in college, and Chandrakul is majoring in biotechnology. He feels that his time at Atkins has been highly beneficial to his development as a scientist, especially because of the rigorous and focused coursework that his STEM teachers have been able to curate specifically for their school.
“My school has definitely helped foster my understanding of STEM and my appreciation of science more,” Chandrakul said. “We have some really great teachers at Atkins. They’re very qualified and very good at teaching.”
Looking ahead to the 2025 science fair, Chandrakul believes that he can continue developing his magnetic nanoparticle research and repurpose it for diagnosing cancer. He also intends to compete for the SJWP again this year.
Chandrakul emphasizes the importance of the district science fair as a proving ground for the district’s aspiring scientists, but he hopes it will become more accessible over time. He’s noticed that the same handful of schools tend to be overrepresented each year, and he suspects that students at other schools aren’t hearing enough about the opportunity. Regardless of what students care about and how they want to change the world, it’s essential that their teachers, families, and school district give them the chance.
“Even though some students may feel like they don’t have any interests in school, they probably do,” Chandrakul said. “It’s just a question of if they have the support and the essentials they need to pursue their interests.”