PHS Students Compete In Expo Fest '17

From PHS: 68 Pomperaug High School (PHS) Digital Academy students competed at Expo Fest ’17 held at the Xfinity Theater on May 20 th in Wallingford, CT. Expo Fest is a competition held annually in Connecticut, in which high school students work as individuals or in teams to design, develop, and implement an innovative product or solution to the 2017 Innovation Challenge, “Fresh Perspectives.”

Throughout the year the students in the Digital Academy at PHS use 21 st Century Skills to design and develop an Expo Fest project. Students work to design, develop, and implement an innovative product or solution to a given challenge. Expo Fest then provides students with an opportunity to showcase their innovative, cross-curricular products, services, community actions, digital media and film programs.

Over 2000 Connecticut students participated in ExpoFest across ten Challenge Categories. Depending on the project, teams were judged by a volunteer panel of over 75 scientists, filmmakers, designers, hardware and software engineers, business professionals, and university and college faculty.

The following individuals and teams from Pomperaug High School were recognized for their outstanding work and innovation at Expo Fest ‘17.

Mason Fitzpatrick won Most Outstanding Project for his Senior Capstone project, Safevest, a reflective running vest that is equipped with GPS tracking and cellular capabilities that allows a runner to transmit his/her coordinates to emergency authorities at the push of a button. https://mfitzy1001.wixsite.com...

Kevin Knowles won Outstanding Application of Research for his Senior Capstone project, Telehome, a home system for collecting data through remote sensors connected to a central hub, http://graviculture.weebly.com...

The Digital Academy Capstone Project is the peak innovation project for High School seniors embracing 21 st century learning, in which students design solutions in response to community challenges.

In addition, the 9 th Grade team won first place in the Category STEM 1 for their project, Vortex NRG’s Porch Power, a Vertical Wind Axis Turbine (VAWT) designed to incorporate into your porch railing to collect renewable wind energy, http://vortexnrg.x10host.com/

The PHS 10 th grade team won the Directors Challenge award for best connection with a scientific mentor for their project, Geotropic Graviculture, a cost-effective design to grow food based crops more efficiently and at a higher success rate on the International Space Station, http://graviculture.weebly.com...

The 11 th Grade team won first place in the Category STEM 2 for their project, The Safe Cook, that uses the chemical reaction of a slimy, doughy substance to put out grease fires and is less expensive and more effective than fire extinguishers. https://safecookblog.wordpress...

The PHS Ecommerce class won first place in the Business Challenge category for their project, Illuminexit, a state of the art exit sign using LED lights and patent pending laser technology. www.illuminexit.com

Image Courtesy of PHS