Founder18
Tina Jin
14 Y/O•San Jose, CA, USA•Other

Tina Jin

Won the Thermo Fisher Scientific ASCEND Award (top prize) at the Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge for her animal-bone water filtration research — awarded at age 13–14 (Oct 2024, Washington, D.C.).

What they built

Invented a water filtration system using animal bone powder — specifically trabecular (spongy) bone ground into fine powder — that reduces bacteria counts by 99% and brings contaminated water to potable standards at near-zero cost. Inspired at age 13 by noticing that the porous structure of cow bones in her dinner soup resembles the polymer membranes used in commercial water filters, Tina independently developed and tested her method using bones from cows, pigs, and sheep. Third-party testing by the San Jose Water Company confirmed her filtered water met drinkable standards. The system directly addresses the global water crisis: nearly 2 billion people lack access to clean water, and existing commercial filters are expensive and resource-intensive. Tina is pursuing intellectual property rights for her system with plans to bring it to market.

View Project

The F18 Thesis

Verified track record

  • Society for Science / Thermo Fisher JIC ASCEND Award ($25,000 top prize, Oct 2024) (source)
  • Society for Science 5 Questions interview (May 2025) (source)
  • PR Newswire / Thermo Fisher press release (source)
  • CBS San Francisco (Nov 2024) (source)
  • Thermo Fisher Scientific feature story (source)
  • The Harker School news (source)
  • Gloria Barron Prize Runner-Up 2025 (source)
  • Kelly Clarkson Show appearance (confirmed via Thermo Fisher Facebook post)
Updated April 27, 2026