Over the weekend, 15 teams of high school students competed at the NASA-Ames Research Center, representing the finalists in the Conrad Foundation's Spirit of Innovation Challenge. Their projects competed in one of three different categories: aerospace exploration, clean energy, and health and nutrition. With its focus on science, technology, engineering and math, it challenges students to go further with their education and explore solutions and careers in STEM fields.
The teams spent the weekend in break out sessions with industry leaders such as Vint Cerf, VP and Chief Internet Evangelist at Google, and Rusty Schweickart, Apollo astronaut, along with other private entrepreneurs in various industries.
The winners, including two teams winning in the aerospace exploration category, and their projects are outlined in the Conrad Foundation's press release:
Aerospace Exploration
- Moonwalking Manakins, Cinco Ranch High School, Katy, Texas, for its SPacemaker device that stimulates an astronaut's heart contractions at a healthy pace in order to reduce heart atrophy and atrophy of other organs incurred during space travel.
- Infinity, West Salem High School, West Salem, Oregon, for its Infinity Suit which utilizes a newly developed fabric constructed of phase-changing crystals to provide a better alternative to Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment (LCVG) used in astronaut spacesuits.
Clean Energy
- Operation Gulliver International, Gulliver Preparatory, Miami, Florida, for its Operation Gulliver International water filtration device that removes bacteria, pathogens and viruses from disease-spreading water in developing countries or those hit by natural disasters.
Health and Nutrition
- Team H20, St. Francis Academy, Conroe, Texas, for its H20 water purification system which utilizes an affordable retrofit/replacement wheel for bicycles that purifies dirty water as the user rides their bicycle to and from work in developing countries that lack potable water.
Discover more about the Spirit of Innovation Challenge and information from the 2012 summit at the Conrad Award's website. Congratulations to all the finalists and winners!
Image: conradawards.org
