iSchool High STEM Senior Projects Solve Real World Problems

Seniors at ResponsiveEd’s iSchool High STEM campus in Lewisville gain real-world experience. Placed into groups where they have to work together, students elect team leaders and put the skills and knowledge gained over the past three years into practice. Each team tackles a particular challenge. Some seniors worked with the NASA CRUNCH program to help assist astronauts in space with dilemmas they face, while other groups helped local businesses develop creative ideas.

These are a collection of the solutions our seniors worked through this school year.

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Edible Water Bottle – With two million tons of plastic water bottle garbage in U.S. landfills, this group decided to fix the problem of the creation of a biodegradable water bottle. They made a bottle out of all-natural bee wax that is healthy, durable, and environmentally friendly.

Members in the group include: Michael Davis, Anthony Martin, Samuel Porter, Ryder Prickett, Elissia Rios

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NASA Culinary Challenge – Current astronauts’ food lacks vital nutrients. NASA asked students around the U.S. to make a vegetable-based soup for astronauts to eat while in space. This group of seniors cooked a vegetable-based butternut squash soup with added flax seed and chia seed to increase the omega-3 in the soup.

Members in the group include: Daniel Cervantez, Kat Joshua, Olivia Sweet, Samuel Whitney

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NASA Exercise Vest – NASA’s astronauts face the inability to exercise in zero and microgravity.  This group created a workout system based on resistance training that allows astronauts the ability to exercise by hooking themselves into the vest (displayed below) created by the students.

Members in the group include: Niki Giacomello, Caleb Hubby, Tiffany Moreno, Nico Prulhiere

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NASA CO2 Scrubber – NASA’s astronauts are developing headaches due to the high levels of carbon dioxide in the facilities, especially at night. To solve this problem, our students created brackets of zeolite that can be attached directly to existing air vents. Zeolite naturally scrubs carbon dioxide from the air.

Members in the group include: Mikayla Carpus, Jacob Dierschke, Julianne Harris, Jacob Pitcock

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iCore –  This group of students saw an opportunity to impact their school through a mentoring program. These four seniors worked together with ResponsiveEd’s Quest Middle School in Lewisville to coordinate a mentoring program that allows younger students to see the 7 Habits of a Highly Successful People (taught at both campuses) lived out in the lives of their high school mentors. This group worked with the administration to coordinate time schedules and create materials to benefit each member.

Members of the group include: Peerawas Chinarakbamrung, Jacob Ford, Dana Harrington, Erin Kerns

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NASA Fresh Fruit – NASA gave students a problem they need solved. Fresh fruits and vegetables are ripening and going bad too quickly while in space mainly due to the ethanol gas produced. One group of seniors worked to preserve the fruits and vegetables for a longer amount of time. The group proposed wrapping the item in an ethanol-absorptive material and then vacuum sealing the items.

Members in the group include: Michael Mahl, Jacob Mendez, Alexander Middleton, Merrick Smith

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Robots-4-U Battle Bots – Robots-4-U CEO asked students to help him with his summer camp for students. Students were asked to create robots that would battle against one another at the camp. Three groups assisted Robots-4-U in this task. Each group had to create several robots, with instructions that would allow campers to build the same robot on their own.  Each robot had to meet a specific level of difficulty.

Group 1 members include: William Cardell, Noah Geer, Tobi Owoeye- Wise, Jared Uhrlaub, Jade Windom

Group 2 members include: Jonathan Baadsgaard, Conner O’Connell, Matthieu Rogers, Emanuele Salvato, Carissa Simpson

Group 3 members include: Stephanie Bartusov, Miles Deskin, Byron Jimmerson, Caleb McNeil

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Strain A Cane – This senior group found a problem with an item that they commonly use. One group sought to resolve the issue of clumps in protein shakes due to the lack of straining in blender bottles. They created a two-straining system (as displayed above) that can be inserted into the blender bottles.

Members in the group include: Hunter Bersani, Parker Chagoya, Chloe Davis, Creighton McLain

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NASA Sports and Parlor Games – NASA’s astronauts are bored in space. While astronauts receive time off, they have little to keep themselves preoccupied during this time. One senior group created a game based on the ancient game Pok-A-Tok that can be played in zero gravity. This allows astronauts to stay active and have something to do during their free time while in space.

Members in the group include: Evan Braaten, Natalie Brown, Robert Hay, Justin Pool

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IDI Bri –The company Entertainment and Lighting asked the students to find a more effective way to decipher survey data. The company requires all of their employees to take a strengths finder survey, which allows them to see the individual strengths of each employee. Using the website and survey database the seniors created, the company can view the compiled data with easy-to-read graphics.

Members in the group include: Nhi Do, Riley Giacumakis, Suad Hawit, Jonathan Roberts

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NASA Space Slipper – NASA asked students to develop a product to help relieve astronauts’ foot pain while in space. Astronauts often experience foot pain because they use the tops of their feet to hook onto railings around the spacecraft. One group of seniors created a sock that utilizes memory foam and Crocs to help minimize the pain of bruising feet.

Members in the group include: Taylor De Boef, Wes Geer, Bryce Harrison, Megan Poe