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A proposal offered by five students from Indianapolis' International School of Indiana to design a portable device that would assist asthma patients and medical caregivers has won first place honors in a high school project design competition conducted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology's Engenius Solutions student enterprise.
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Silver Award Winners: Students from Fort Wayne's Canterbury High School received second place honors for a proposal to harness the typical methane gas generated in landfills. Receiving the award from Daniel J. Moore (center), associate dean of faculty at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, were team members Gus Steigmeyer, Scott Nill, Kenlyn Peters and Taryn Willis. |
Students from six high school teams made presentations about their product proposals at Rose-Hulman on Saturday. More than $5,500 in prizes were awarded to teams to continue study on their creative ideas, and possibly produce prototype models for testing and marketing.
Earning the Gold Award and $2,000 was a proposed device would allow a person to “teach” the device how they respond under normal and routine activities. At the onset of an asthma attack, the device could be used to help guide others or medical staff on how to best respond to the patient's condition –- through use of an inhaler, providing medication or doctor visit. The device could also provide doctors a medical history of a patient, including recent treatment schedules.
The first-place team included sophomores Deidre Henderson, Nicki Inman and Polina Loeffler, and freshmen Ava Dickerson and Hannah Klion. The faculty sponsor was Kelley Cook.
Sharing Silver awards and each receiving $1,000 were ideas offered by students from Victory Christian Academy of Valparaiso and the Canterbury High School of Fort Wayne.
Victory Christian Academy's design idea was a “bio-chip” that could be implanted under the skin that would automatically monitor body temperature and blood chemistry, such as glucose levels. The device would also provide valuable information about a patient's blood type that could assist medical personnel during emergency situations. Members of the team were seniors Hilary Jordan, Megan Moore and Nathan Mosco. The faculty sponsor was Lynne Jordan.
The Canterbury team proposed a system that could harness the typical methane gas generated in landfills. The proposal included research into the amount of gas potentially available from a landfill. Team members were seniors Gus Steigmeyer, Scott Nill, Josh Pan, Kenlyn Peters and Taryn Willis. The faculty sponsor was Allen King.
Bronze awards, worth $500, were presented to teams from Homestead High School of Fort Wayne, Victory Christian and the International School.
Homestead's team proposed a design that would harness the energy from lighting sticks to break water into hydrogen and oxygen. Team members also presented how they might be able to “trigger” strikes and potential locations for the plants in areas that typically have a high number of lightning strikes. Students that worked on the project included senior Broqsten Bunt, junior Shaheer Siffiqui, and sophomores Drew Forbes and Cody Harris. The faculty sponsor was Randy Pursley.
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Bronze Award Winner: A member of Victory Christian Academy's Tire Tube team receives the Bronze Award from Daniel J. Moore, associate dean of faculty at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. |
Victory Christian Academy's Bronze winning team proposed design of an “inner tube” that would address rapid deflation of tires due to a puncture or general outer tire failure. The design concept would not contact with the outer tire and would provide enough time for the driver to safely control the vehicle to a rolling stop. Team members were senior Isaac Tipton, junior Dane Stewart and sophomore Philip Rodriguez.
The International School of Indiana's second prize-winning team proposed design of an “expirometer” device that would help alert persons that refrigerated materials are nearing the end of their safe shelf life. The proposed design included a USB-type device that could be used at the store to read the UPC codes and then, using a stored table, provide the shopper with the recommended shelf life once opened or after purchase. A video screen on the refrigerator would provide a regular listing of the items in the refrigerator. Team members were juniors Alison Burger, Mary Clark, Katie Inman and Joe Zinn.
Supported by the Lilly Endowment Inc., Engenius Solutions is a non-profit division of Rose-Hulman that strives to provide an environment for entrepreneurial and project experiences that enable students to learn about the facets of technical innovation. The student-operated educational venture allocates financial, intellectual and technological resources in an effort to cultivate entrepreneurial activity throughout Indiana. Student teams and faculty develop inventor's ideas with market and consumer needs in mind.
More information about Engenius Solutions can be found at www.engenius.org or contacting Benjamin.Cook@rose-hulman.edu. |
