A hospital incubator is designed to give premature and vulnerable newborns a controlled environment where they can receive the care they need. But maintaining a clean environment around vulnerable newborns can be challenging, particularly in places where medical resources are limited. Vedika Devarajan, a freshman at Redmond High School in Washington, approached the problem from an unexpected direction: a banana leaf. Her project, called BananaBaby, uses the structure of Musa species leaves as inspiration for a biomimetic neonatal incubator liner designed to help prevent hospital-acquired infections. The project went on to compete at the 2026 Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), where Devarajan received a third-place award of $1,200 in Materials Science. According to the International Science and Engineering Fair, her project explores a low-cost approach to improving neonatal incubator design, particularly for developing countries.
The problem she wanted to solve
Hospital-acquired infections, or HAIs, are infections that patients can develop while receiving medical care. For newborns, particularly premature babies, infections can be especially dangerous because their immune systems are still developing. Neonatal incubators help regulate conditions around vulnerable babies, but their internal surfaces can also become exposed to moisture. Condensation can create moisture on incubator surfaces, which may contribute to conditions that support microbial contamination.Devarajan’s project focuses on the incubator liner rather than attempting to redesign the entire incubator. Her idea was to create a surface that could manage condensation more effectively and potentially reduce opportunities for contamination.
Why a banana leaf?
The inspiration came from the structure of banana leaves. Banana leaves have distinctive veins that run through their surfaces. Their distinctive vein patterns influence how water moves across the leaf, inspiring Devarajan’s design. Devarajan looked at this natural pattern and asked whether it could be recreated artificially for use inside a neonatal incubator.Her project is described as “Musa spp. anisotropic and parallel venation biomimetic neonatal incubator liner”. In simpler terms, she created a material inspired by the directional vein patterns found in banana leaves and investigated whether that structure could help redirect condensation. This approach exemplifies biomimicry, where scientists and engineers study structures found in nature and use them as inspiration for solving human problems.
How BananaBaby works
The project involved creating a mold based on the venation pattern of a Musa species leaf. According to the ISEF project description, Devarajan used a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) mold to reproduce the leaf-inspired structure. The resulting liner is designed around the idea of directing condensation rather than simply allowing moisture to remain on a surface. That distinction is important. In a conventional flat surface, water can form droplets and remain in place. Devarajan’s structured surface is intended to encourage condensation to move along specific pathways. By taking inspiration from the parallel veins of banana leaves, Devarajan’s design attempts to give condensation a more controlled route.The goal is not simply to change the appearance of an incubator. Instead, the project aims to address condensation and explore whether a relatively low-cost liner could help reduce conditions associated with contamination.
Designed with developing countries in mind
Another important part of the project is its intended application. The full project title specifically refers to preventing hospital-acquired infections in developing countries. This makes affordability and practicality particularly relevant.Advanced medical equipment can be expensive, and hospitals with limited resources may not always have access to the newest technologies. A liner that could be manufactured using relatively accessible materials and production techniques could potentially offer a more practical way to improve existing equipment.However, BananaBaby remains a student research project rather than a clinically approved medical product. Further testing would be needed before such a liner could be used routinely in hospitals, including studies involving real clinical environments and microorganisms.
From Washington fair to global competition
Devarajan’s project first gained recognition at the Washington State Science & Engineering Fair, where she earned first place and qualified for the international competition. She was listed as a ninth-grade student from Redmond High School.She then took BananaBaby to the 2026 Regeneron ISEF in Phoenix, Arizona. More than 1,700 high-school researchers from more than 65 countries participated in the competition, according to Lake Washington School District.At ISEF, Devarajan earned a Third Award of $1,200 in Materials Science for project MATS063. She also received recognition through a Non-Trivial Fellowship Scholarship. The award recognised her project among the student research entries in the Materials Science category.
A small idea inspired by nature
What makes BananaBaby interesting is the simplicity of its starting point. Devarajan did not begin by trying to redesign an entire neonatal care system. Instead, she looked closely at something found in nature, a banana leaf, and considered whether its structure could offer an answer to a medical problem. Her project demonstrates how biomimicry can connect natural structures with practical engineering challenges. The banana leaf’s veins became the inspiration for a liner designed to manage condensation inside neonatal incubators.For a high-school freshman, taking that idea from observation to an engineered prototype and then presenting it at one of the world’s largest pre-college science competitions is a notable achievement. More importantly, BananaBaby shows how even a familiar object from everyday life can inspire a scientific question with potential relevance to healthcare.
