Prakhar Purohit wins 2026 North Carolina 3 million Young Scientist merit
Prakhar Purohit, a student from North Carolina, just took home the 2026 North Carolina State Merit Winner title in the 3 million Young Scientist Challenge.
His project, "Tiny Batteries from Dirty Water," explores whether dirty water can play a role in producing useful electrical power on a very small scale, tackling two big problems at once.
The competition, run by Young Scientist Lab, is all about students using science and technology to solve real-world issues.
Prakhar Purohit explores dirty water power
Purohit's idea stands out for using contaminated water as a resource instead of just seeing it as waste.
While details are still under wraps, his approach mixes environmental science with engineering smarts to address pollution and useful electrical power on a very small scale.
Other winners this year are working on things like lead detection and robotic therapy, showing how creative thinking can help solve global challenges, even before you graduate.