As part of its effort to promote science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the U.S. Army announces the four national winning teams in grades six through nine in the ninth annual eCYBERMISSION Competition.
Winning Teams:
Sixth Grade
“Team Genius” from West Woods Elementary; Hamden, Conn. Led by Team Advisor Kavita Saxena, students Allison Barone, Vivake Kumar, Alok Murthy and Thomas Peters studied phantom leaks in electricity, which occur when an electronic device is left plugged in when not in use. They created a cell phone charger that emits a buzzing noise when left plugged in and not connected to a cell phone.
Seventh Grade
“Surf City Smartbikes” from Mesa View Middle School; Huntington Beach, Calif. Led by Team Advisor Kathy Pirkle, students Zachary Goodale, Grant Gochman, Huongly Do and Bijan Afghani constructed a safety feature for bicycles called “Smartbikes,” in which a device produces visual and audible aids until the rider buckles their helmet.
Eighth Grade
“ The POD People” from Fern Ridge Middle School; Veneta, Ore. Led by Team Advisor Scottie Barnes, students Tucker Barnes, Tristan Cornelius and Connor Magid researched the use of Stirling engines as an alternate source of fuel, studying how a design built around its premise can be used to power homes.
Ninth Grade
“Team HUGE” from Roslyn High School; Roslyn Heights, N.Y. Led by Team Advisor Allyson Weseley, students Anvit Kalra-Lall, Ross Kaplan and Andrew Penner researched how to capture kinetic energy generated by walking, and created wearable devices that could be fastened to a shoe to capture and store energy.
These students were chosen out of thousands nationwide for their creative application of STEM to help solve a problem in their community. Each winning team member was awarded $5,000 in U.S. EE Savings Bonds at an awards banquet June 24.
