These 8 N.J. schools are finalists in national technology awards competition
Eight New Jersey schools are among 300 finalists for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition in the STEM fields — science, technology, engineering, and math. They were chosen from a field of 1,000 entrants.
Each has won $2,500 in technology and school supplies. State winners, to be announced in mid-February, will receive $20,000, and three schools will be named national winners in May, receiving $100,000. Samsung sponsors the contest to encourage innovative thinking, creative problem-solving, and teamwork, and asks schools to propose projects using STEM skills to solve the biggest issues in their local communities.
Here are the state’s finalists:
Bayonne High School, robot to help maintain pipes and sort sewage waste, to reduce bursting pipes and water main breaks. According to the school’s application, “Technology will be important when it comes down to how the world could be changing and improving for the better, which would prove to be a fixer for all problems in life.”
Belleville High School students are planning to do research and interview athletic trainers and neurologists to develop a product that could monitor athletes at risk of concussions, and measure the severity and type of force causing such injuries.
J.L. Costley Middle School in East Orange is working on creating a wearable wireless band, small enough to fit on a shoestring, that can share a signal with parents and guardians so they can monitor their student’s location between home and school.
Howell Township Middle School students will be using satellite imagery to find concentrations of the invasive and harmful spotted lanternfly. They will experiment with planting native milkweed to deter the flies, which are attracted to milkweed, but it is toxic to them. The students will use data from their experiments to create a protocol for commercial and local gardeners.
At Paterson Pathways in Technology Early College High School (P-TECH), students will be monitoring water quality in the Passaic River and exploring algae as an alternative energy source, as it can be burned, and used to create hydrogen gas and electricity. They will explore using it to power lights at the Great Falls National Historic Park, public charging station, or electrical bikes.
“The students came up with ideas,” said Joyce Waweru, who teaches environmental science and chemistry. They wanted to address high levels of nitrates and phosphates in the water, from the overuse of fertilizer, and advise the community about reducing pollutants. Her 11th grade students plan to use some of the funds to buy water testing devices. “They are very, very excited,” she said. Over the holiday break, they are planning what tests will best gauge the project’s impact.
At the Howard M. Phifer Middle School in Pennsauken, students hope to develop unisex jewelry with tiny buttons children can hit twice, to reach police or other contacts in emergencies. Using Bluetooth technology, the rings and earrings can alert authorities to the child’s location and is designed for kids who do not have cellphones or smart watches.
Princeton High School students are exploring generating biomass and geothermal heating systems, using an aquatic environment. They will build it with repurposed materials and low-cost electronics, ideally wind- or solar-powered, and they plan to monitor energy generated, battery wattage, evaporation, and the salt and ammonia levels in the water.
Woodcliff Middle School students in Woodcliff Lake will tackle automating the process of picking up students, scanning tags from family cars, using radio frequencies to notify students when to come to the arrival zone, and using CAD technology and 3D printing to create an outdoor shelter for the components. They will use solar technology and programmable microcontrollers.
“Too often, students feel that their school subjects are isolated both from each other and from their day to day lives,” according to the application. “However, through completion of this project it will become evident the true interdisciplinary nature of STEM fields and how crucial they are to current societal progress.”
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Tina Kelley may be reached at tkelley@njadvancemedia.com.
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