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Clear Lake Students Awarded $9,925 Grant
10/24/2011
Clear Creek Independent School District
Office of Public Information
2425 East Main Street
League City, Texas 77573
October 21, 2011
Contact: Janice Scott, Assistant Director
Office of Communications
(281) 284-0020 or jwscott@ccisd.net
CLEAR LAKE STUDENTS AWARDED $9,925 GRANT
To Bring Inspirational Invention Idea to Life
PHOTO: Clear Lake HS MIT InvenTeam
Front row – left to right: Nick Motamedi, Lina Zhao, Anne Zhou, Ashwin Varma, Andrew Spicer
Back from left to right: Kushal Kadakia, Rahim Noorani, Kishan Agravat, Janaid Maknojai, Perry Alagappan, DeArron Prince, Ms Lillian Wilson
League City -- The Lemelson-MIT Program announced Clear High School is home to one of the 16 teams of students, teachers and mentors selected to participate in the 2011–2012 InvenTeam initiative. The Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam initiative inspires a new generation of inventors by engaging students in creative thinking, problem-solving and hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Teacher Lillian Wilson and her students will use the $9,925 grant to design a portable medical support system. They will use ultrasound to sterilize water for medical use. The mobile unit can be powered by solar energy or mechanical power (bike driven generator). “I am so proud of Mrs. Wilson and our students,” said Clear Lake High School Principal Debra Dixon. “Congratulations to this amazing team as they set out on such an exciting adventure.”
Each InvenTeam is charged with addressing a real-world problem. The diverse group of teams selected around the country will leverage their distinct experiences and skills to develop their invention prototypes over the next eight months.
In addition to developing creativity and teamwork skills, InvenTeams are encouraged to engage with professionals from industry and academia in their communities. Clear Lake High School’s InvenTeam is working with more than a dozen mentors including the University of Texas Medical Branch, Indus instruments, NASA Johnson Space Center, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Industrial Tech and Jacobs Engineering. Through such real-world learning opportunities, students gain the skills needed to be competitive, not only in education but in business. Motivated by these experiences, InvenTeam members will have the ability to contribute to the global economy through their continued desire to innovate.
According to a recent independent survey conducted by the Lemelson-MIT Program, 45 percent of InvenTeam alumni are currently studying engineering in higher education versus 15 percent of the comparison group of young adults 17-25 years of age.1 InvenTeam alumni also showed greater involvement in academic extracurricular activities in high school (57 percent compared to 44 percent of young adults), and were more likely to hold a leadership role in an academic extracurricular activity (46 percent). Ninety-one percent of InvenTeam alumni were influenced to pursue STEM-interests by their high school activities, specifically, invention, robotics and engineering clubs.
“Providing students with multi-disciplinary experiences through invention has always been a critical aspect of the InvenTeam initiative,” said Leigh Estabrooks, the Lemelson-MIT Program’s invention education officer. “The impact of InvenTeams goes far beyond each team’s project and school year experience. It can be life changing for some, as peer-reviewed studies have shown leadership in high school extracurricular activities leads to higher wages for young adults.”
In June 2012, the teams will showcase their projects at EurekaFest, the Lemelson-MIT Program’s public, multi-day celebration of the inventive spirit, at MIT in Cambridge, Mass. In addition to the new teams, grants of up to $2,000 are awarded to select InvenTeams from last year to continue their projects and establish sustainable invention programs in their communities.
