Sixteen students from West Hartford’s Hall High School received the award for their ‘Hydra Revolution’ device.
Submitted by Jenny Bronson, Hall High School Student Activities/Career Center Coordinator
Hall students capture first prize in the Independent Science Challenge at the Student Innovation Expo. Submitted photo
A group of 16 ninth and tenth graders from Hall High placed first in the Independent Science Challenge at the Student Innovation Expo June 6 at the XL Center in Hartford.
Under the guidance of Anthony Wasley, an earth science teacher, the Hall Science Technology Innovation Club (STIC) works after school from September to June to design, research and display with technology and social media a device that in some way makes the world better a better place.
This year’s STIC club members designed a device they call the Hydra Revolution, used to battle hypoxia in small ponds. The device uses a pump to move water from the bottom of a pond, bringing it to the top in six directions and creating convection to oxygenate the water. It is solar powered and uses an Arduino, so the user can communicate with and control the Hydra wirelessly from the shore.
Students 3D-printed many parts of their prototype using a MakerBot at Hall.
At the Expo, the students set up a booth to display their project; they also gave a three-minute presentation before a panel of judges from universities, community colleges, and the science and engineering industries. Throughout the school year, the STIC group created a company name (Radial Revolutions), a mission, a website, digital media, and a marketing plan. They can be found at the following website and social media:
https://instagram.com/radialrevolutions
Now in its 13th year, the Student Innovation Expo presents an opportunity for High Schools to showcase science research projects, entrepreneurship and digital media innovations. More than 1,200 students from nearly 40 schools across the state of Connecticut participated this year. Some of the individual contest categories included E-Commerce Entrepreneurship Challenge, Documentary Film Challenge, Independent Science Challenge, and Health Science Challenge, among others.
The 16 Hall students who collaboratively took first place for the Independent Science Challenge are: Chloe Amaya, Talha Bhatti, Akash Binoj, Ellen Fuller, Jake Gilden, Coleman Glagovich, Joseph Hochman, Jacob Lessne, Daisy Li, Yahya Lodi, Jacob Martin, Hannah Maynard, Andrew Oh, Grace Olson, Elizabeth Skuba and Yiwei Zhan.
