Alumni Guidance Pays Off for Young Inventors

After receiving advice and guidance from alumni affiliated with the MIT Clubs of South Florida and Palm Beach, students from Northeast High School in Oakland Park, FL, recently received some good news—they are among 16 teams of students, teachers, and mentors selected to participate in the 2011–2012 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams initiative.

Each group receives up to $10,000 in grant funding to create and pursue a yearlong invention project addressing a real-world problem. The Northeast High team will work on a natural disaster emergency relief filtration station. See the list of participating schools below.

The InvenTeam initiative aims to inspire a new generation of inventors through hands-on, practical learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Teams are encouraged to consider the needs of the world's poorest people (those earning $2/day) when brainstorming invention ideas. MIT alumni volunteers from the Florida clubs helped the local students form a realistic and beneficial project.

Over the course of eight months, InvenTeams students will work with mentors to create a prototype to exhibit at June's EurekaFest, the Lemelson-MIT Program’s public, multi-day celebration of the inventive spirit held on the MIT campus. Since the program's inception in 2002, nearly a hundred InvenTeams have worked to better the world.

InvenTeams are encouraged to engage with professionals from industry and academia in their communities. To that end, the Alumni Association and alumni volunteers with the K-12 STEM education working group are currently helping match local MIT clubs with area teams. Contact your local club if you are interested in helping out. Even if you don't live near a current 2011-12 InvenTeam, you can still assist a local school or group with the application for 2012-13, which is due in early spring.

The 2011–2012 InvenTeams & Proposed Inventions

East

• Bergen County Academies (Hackensack, N.J.): E-waste power generator
• Boy Scout Troop 703 (Brevard, N.C.): Ergonomic bariatric rescue system
• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County/4–H Club (Westport, N.Y.): Bio-sand water filter
• Eastern Regional High School (Voorhees, N.J.): Ultraviolet water filtration and storage device
• Landmark School (Prides Crossing, Mass.): Desalination drip irrigation system
• Sidwell Friends School (Washington, D.C.): Gray water electricity generator
• S.S. Seward Institute (Florida, N.Y.): Portable solar-powered autoclave for sterility

Central

• Troy High School (Troy, Mich.): Mechanically assist stair climber
• Williamston High School (Williamston, Mich.): Offshore rip current alert system

South

• Clear Lake High School (Houston, Texas): Portable medical support system
• East Central High School (Hurley, Miss.): Solar dry heat sterilizer
• KIPP Houston High School (Houston, Texas): Air pollution absorbing paint
• Northeast High School (Oakland Park, Fla.): Natural disaster emergency relief filtration station

West

• Bishop Kelly High School (Boise, Idaho): Portable assistive writing device with magnetic damping
• The Harker School (San Jose, Calif.): Aquatic thermoelectric generator
• Lynden High School (Lynden, Wash.): Self-balancing recumbent trike

Working with a local InvenTeam isn't the only K-12 STEM education initiative the MIT Clubs of South Florida and Palm Beach support. On Saturday, Oct. 22, they are jointly hosting a program called "My Life in Robotics" to help interest kids in science and engineering and the FIRST Robotics competition.