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Seven students from George H. Moody Middle School in Lakeside were among the 13 national winners of the Ignite Innovation Student Challenge.
Ignite My Future in School is an initiative started by Discovery Education and TCS to expand computer science education in schools. Each year, the groups challenge middle school students to design solutions to improve the world in three categories – health, education and the planet.
This year’s grand prize winner and the winners of two of the three top honors were from Moody.
Camellia S. won the challenge’s grand prize for her design of an automated electromechanical eye dropper to treat patients with glaucoma and other eye conditions, by using artificial intelligence and compressed air to dispense the precise amount of medication the patient needs and notifying them whenever they need to take it. (The companies chose not to reveal the students’ last names, for privacy reasons.)
“My family members have glaucoma and they have unstable hands,” Camellia said. Glaucoma patients must take their medication every day and are only given the exact amount they will need until their next refill, so precision is critical when administering their eye drops.
As part of the grand prize, Camellia will receive a $10,000 scholarship and an opportunity to work with TCS to transform her CAD model into a working prototype. Camellia says she plans on continuing in the field of medical technology.
“I have a lot of elderly family members, and they have a lot of different diseases,” said Camellia. “And there’s always a need for new medical technology.”
The top prize in the education category was shared by four Moody students – Risshi N., Aryan M., Pooshan C. and Alan J. – for their Meet a Mentor app. Inspired by a need for improved virtual education due to COVID-19, they wanted to create a platform that would foster more engaging online learning for students who currently cannot physically attend school. Students who download the app would be paired up with a mentor to tutor them in a given subject, for a more personalized and interactive experience.
Aashka S. of Moody won the health category for her app designed to assist patients who have recently undergone surgery with post-operative care. Inspired by her grandfather’s experience having heart bypass surgery, Aashka wanted to create an app that would prevent complications and reduce the anxieties associated with having a surgical procedure by helping to manage the medication and physical therapy required afterwards.
The last Moody student to receive honors in the challenge was Parth T. for his submersible drone designed to scan bodies of water for pollutants, and collect them to be disposed of. Parth was visiting the James River and was inspired to design a machine that could reduce some of its pollution. The design is based on a standard submersible drone, with an added tank to store waste.
“Most submersible drones already have claws or grabbers, like you would see on most subs,” Parth said. “So what I would do is simply add a tank or container for them to put the waste particles in.”
In addition to picking up debris such as cardboard and plastic bags, the drone would also filter harmful particles from the water and sensors could trace those particles back to their origins.
“At a molecular level, you can actually identify where certain things have come from, or sediment that they picked up along the way.” Parth said. Parth says he wants to pursue aeronautical engineering and also make his design into a working model.
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