Semifinalists FOHI Steelers in the ITEEA’s STEM REACH Challenge
Matthew Barrera, Vice President, Staff Writer
From March 6th through the 9th of this year, a select few of FOHI’s Bio-Animatronic and Neuro-Prosthetic students traveled to Memphis Tennessee to compete in the International Technology and Engineering Educators’ (ITEEA) 86th Annual REACH Conference. FOHI brought along three teams to compete in this conference.
What is ITEAA?
ITEAA is a national organization dedicated to advancing technology/STEM literacy within students through education. They offer programs and classes throughout the country for all students alike. Their REACH Conference is a nationwide design competition that tasks every team to create a technological solution to one of their community’s problems. These students must think out of the box and provide creative solutions involving technology to achieve their goals.
Our Finalists
Two of our three teams that went to compete made it to the semi-finalist rounds. One of these teams, Team SpongeBob Alert System, created a device that would allow parents to leave their children for a few moments if need be. This device would alert the parents if any “strange” sound was heard such as choking or screaming. The other team, Drift Stand, created a clipboard that allowed for paper to be held down magnetically so that the user could write without holding on to it. This device was specially created for people without an arm who cannot hold the papers in place.
In the end, our FOHI Steelers were awarded banners and Harbor Freight gift cards for their accomplishment of making it all the way to a national competition that saw students from all over the country compete. With two of our teams being able to reach the semi-finalist in this conference, it is safe to say that our Bio-Animatronic and Neuro-Prosthetic pathways are some of the bests in the country!