A team of young inventors from Berlin High School is the recipient of a prestigious grant from the Lemelson-MIT Program. On October 14, Lemelson-MIT announced Berlin was one of only fourteen schools nationwide that would receive up to $10,000 each in grant funding as part of its 2015–2016 InvenTeam™ initiative to inspire young people to solve real-world problems through invention.
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“InvenTeams were selected across the nation from technology schools, magnet schools and an all-girls school,” said Leigh Estabrooks, invention education officer for the Lemelson-MIT Program. “Invention can happen anywhere, by anyone. We’re excited to see the teams’ inventions come to life throughout the year.”
The InvenTeam initiative aims to inspire a new generation of inventors by engaging students in creative thinking, problem-solving and hands-on learning opportunities in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Berlin’s InvenTeam consists of 9th graders Greta Herman and Melanie DeLaurentis; 10th graders Amanda Despart, Domnika Popov, and Giannah French; 11th graders Samantha Hebert and Christina Shupe; and 12th graders Emma Woolley and Laura Ryder. They are headed up by their high school’s technology teacher, Dawn Wetmore.
All of the InvenTeams chosen for 2015-16 are working on inventions that address problems they’ve recognized in their local communities and those with global impact. Berlin High School’s team will use their grant to develop a prototype they designed to give individuals with limited mobility the ability to toss and retrieve an item. Their device is comprised of three components; a control console that can be easily attached to the arms of a wheel chair, a robotic rolling chassis, and a mechanical arm. The control console contains a joystick control for the robot chassis, a separate joystick control for the mechanical arm, and a lever launch mechanism that, when struck, will launch a bean bag or a small ball in a forward trajectory and will automatically reset for subsequent launches. The mechanical arm is mounted onto the robot chassis, which together will allow the user to pilot the arm over to the launched item, pick it up, and retrieve it using the joystick controls.
“High school students are proving that they can identify problems worth solving and develop impactful inventions,” said Joshua Schuler, executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program. “This year’s InvenTeams are addressing pressing societal needs and striving to solve problems they see in their communities and the world.”
Under Wetmore’s tutelage, students from Berlin have made quite a splash on the regional and national stage when it comes to ingenuity. In 2010-11, Berlin won a similar Lemelson-MIT grant to develop an alert device for hearing impaired athletes. Last school year, a device her students developed to warn parents when their children approach a roadway was selected as the NY State winner of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest, earning their school a $20,000 technology grant.
A respected panel of invention and academic leaders from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Lemelson-MIT Program, industry and InvenTeam student alumni selected this year’s InvenTeams from a national pool of applicants.
Berlin High School will showcase their completed prototype alongside those of the other 2015-2016 InvenTeams at EurekaFest™, the Lemelson-MIT Program’s multi-day celebration of the inventive spirit held at MIT in June 2016.
A complete list of 2015-2016 InvenTeam grant awardees is available athttp://lemelson.mit.edu/news/high-school-teams-awarded-lemelson-mit-inventeam™-grant-invention-projects
About The Lemelson-Mit Program
The Lemelson-MIT Program celebrates outstanding inventors and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention.
Jerome H. Lemelson, one of U.S. history’s most prolific inventors, and his wife Dorothy founded the Lemelson-MIT Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1994. It is funded by The Lemelson Foundation and administered by the School of Engineering at MIT, an institution with a strong ongoing commitment to creating meaningful opportunities for K-12 STEM education.
About The Lemelson Foundation
Based in Portland, The Lemelson Foundation uses the power of invention to improve lives. Inspired by the belief that invention can solve many of the biggest economic and social challenges of our time, the Foundation helps the next generation of inventors and invention-based businesses to flourish. The Lemelson Foundation was established in the early 1990s by prolific inventor Jerome Lemelson and his wife Dorothy. To date, the Foundation has made grants totaling more than $185 million in support of its mission. For more information, visit http://www.lemelson.org[/private]