St. Michaels University School Grade 7 student Isaiah Pereira brought home gold after an impressive showing at the 2025 Canada-Wide Science Fair, held May 31 to June 7 at the University of New Brunswick. Competing against more than 500 students from across the country, Isaiah won a gold medal in the Junior Category and was a recipient of the prestigious Youth Can Innovate Award for his invention, The SmartSleeper.
Isaiah’s project focused on improving one of the most important elements of human health: sleep. While many devices on the market track sleep quality, Isaiah wanted to go a step further by building something that actively helps improve it. Using an Arduino microcontroller, he created a star-shaped device that monitors six key environmental factors in a bedroom—temperature, humidity, air quality, ambient sound, ambient light, and blue light. The SmartSleeper displays easy-to-read colour-coded feedback and provides practical tips to optimize the sleeping environment.
“I wasn’t sleeping well, and I realized there was nothing out there that told you why,” Isaiah said. “I wanted to make something that could actually improve your sleep, not just report on it.”
The win caps off a months-long journey that started at the SMUS science fair, continued through the regional fair in Victoria, and led to the national stage in Fredericton. In addition to his medal and innovation award, Isaiah was offered a $4,000 scholarship to Western University.
“I met so many cool people, including scientists with multiple PhDs,” he said. “It was nerve-wracking but also really inspiring.”
Isaiah credits his past science fair experiences at SMUS with building his skills and confidence. He hopes to keep improving The SmartSleeper, with plans to integrate WiFi functionality for smart home integration, and is already looking ahead to a future in engineering or computer science.
"Isaiah is the embodiment of innovation and creativity," said Pereira's science teacher, Zyoji Jackson. "For the second year in a row, he has been recognized as a young inventor beyond his years, this time on the national level. His sleep quality innovation demonstrated his tenacious commitment to the design process, making strategic improvements with each prototype. His independence and drive are evident throughout, and he was one of the youngest students who lived in the building independently during the week long event. All of us at SMUS are so proud of his hard work and commitment to science and innovation. We can’t wait to see what he dreams up next."
