Rolling Robots InvenTeam Attends EurekaFest at MIT
A team of 14 Rolling Robots students recently attended the EurekaFest at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. EurekaFest is a multi-day celebration designed to empower a legacy of inventors through activities that inspire youth, honor role models, and encourage creativity and problem solving. The team had been selected last September as one of 15 InvenTeams funded by the Lemelson-MIT Program to develop an invention of their own design from inception to working prototype.
Introducing Delta Sleep
For over 2 years the team has been learning the invention process and developing their idea. They chose a topic that was a serious problem for their peer group of high school students: Sleep Deprivation. For students, sleep deprivation is a common ailment that might cause them to fall asleep in class in the short term, but also pave the way towards serious future health problems as well. After seeking expert help on how to best measure and influence sleeping patterns they set out to develop a personal device and app that will monitor sleep and alertness throughout the day and use this data attempt to help the user sleep more efficiently.
Traveling to Cambridge
Thanks to our sponsors Simple Human the team had their airfare to Boston fully covered and enjoyed an uneventful flight. The Lemelson-MIT program provided for their transportation and the dormitory rooms which would be their home for the next 5 nights.
The team toured the MIT campus and even ventured across town to visit that other school in Cambridge.
EurekaFest Showcase
EurekaFest is the year-end celebration of invention at MIT where the High School InvenTeams get to present their working prototypes. Students showcase their inventions alongside the top collegiate inventors that have won the coveted 2019 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize.
While in Cambridge, the team was invited to tour the laboratory of Alexandria LaunchLabs, an organization which provides a premier startup platform and seed capital for early stage life science and ag-tech companies. Through this visit students got to see what life is like in a startup company and gained some inspiration for their future endeavors.
Awards Ceremony
The final day closed with an award ceremony. All 15 teams received a nice recognition trophy and a few were given special awards. A team from the MIT Beaver Works had reviewed all of the teams at the showcase and awarded the top technical award to the team from Rolling Robots.
This “Golden Beaver” award really capped off the year, the students were elated that their work was recognized. They went home energized and ready to proceed further down the path to invention.
There was an interview with the Invention Officer at MIT and our team gets some great recognition. Listen to the pod cast:
Interview with Leigh Estabrooks of Lemellson-MIT program
if you want to jump ahead to where our project is described start at 5:15 Or read the summary
