NORTHEAST HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO CREATE COLLAPSIBLE EMERGENCY WATER FILTRATION STATION FOR DISASTER RELIEF IN TROPICAL AREAS
Northeast High School (Oakland Park) was recently awarded a Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant in the amount of $9,570 to create an emergency water filtration station for disaster relief in tropical areas. The school is one of only 16 schools in the nation to have a team selected to participate. InvenTeams are teams of high school students, teachers and mentors that receive grants up to $10,000 each to invent technological solutions to real-world problems. Entering its ninth year, this initiative of the Lemelson-MIT Program aims to inspire a new generation of inventors.
"The InvenTeams program represents the future," said Leigh Estabrooks, invention education officer, Lemelson-MIT Program. "We place an emphasis on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) -focused projects to develop interest in these fields among youth. With InvenTeams, our primary goal is to foster high school students' passion for invention and innovation, in turn inspiring them to consider careers in science, technology, engineering or math."
Northeast's team is designing an emergency water filtration system for disaster relief in tropical regions, using natural materials such as sand, bamboo, cotton, coconut husk and palm bark. The station will provide clean water for an affected population and aide workers, by providing access to portable water and an outdoor shower, thus reducing the risk of water borne bacteria, such as Vibrio cholera and E.coli. The invention can be used where water contamination is possible, such as Haiti's tent cities. It can be utilized by relief organizations such as the Red Cross and Food For the Poor, because it is collapsible and transportable.
The Northeast High School InvenTeam will work with Randy McLaughlin, physics teacher and Lloyd Rice of Palm Beach Aquasoft who will provide filtration guidance. Jack Downs of John P. Downs Metal Fabricators; Paul Kane of Food for the Poor; Melissa Spitzmiller, an environmental engineer and Ph.D candidate at UCLA; David Kolesky, a materials engineer and Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois and Carlos Yi of CNC-MD. LLC, will guide the students through the development stages of their invention.
Randa Flinn, science & research teacher at Northeast, initiated the InvenTeam application process last spring and attended training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in June to help prepare the final proposal. A prestigious panel of judges composed of educators, researchers, staff and alumni from MIT, as well as representatives from the industry and former Lemelson-MIT Award winners assembled this fall and selected Northeast to receive one of this year's InvenTeam grants.
Over the next nine months, the Northeast High InvenTeam will develop its natural emergency relief filtration station. In June the students will showcase a prototype of their invention at EurekaFest at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. EurekaFest, presented by the Lemelson-MIT Program, is a multi-day celebration designed to empower a legacy of inventors through activities that inspire youth, honor role models, and encourage creativity and problem solving.
"The idea [for the filtration station] was born from one student's experience on a mission trip to Haiti. The group as a whole has been innovative with insight, design, problem solving, research, and tireless work to get the proposal done. The students are super enthusiastic about applying their science and math creatively to meet a need in the world in a meaningful way. And, of course, they are completely excited about showing it at MIT!" said Flinn.
The Lemelson-MIT Program celebrates outstanding innovators and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. For more information on the Lemelson Foundation and its mission, visit (http://web.mit.edu/invent).
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