SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Akhull Guthala is an eighth grader at Iles School, whose science fair project from last year was entered in the 2025 Thermo Fisher Scientific Junior Innovators Challenge. Only 10% of science fair projects in the country are eligible to enter the challenge.

Guthala's seventh grade science fair project went from the school level all the way up to the state competition in Champaign.

"My presentation was about how I used caffeine to grow plants," Guthala said. "I used the chemical caffeine and I used coffee powder to help grow the plants."

Guthala got the idea after watching his parents use food waste to spur plant growth. He hypothesized that caffeine, which gives humans energy, would help the plants grow.

While his hypothesis was incorrect, he learned a lot abo

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