Student prototype improves sports accessibility
A student team from Bloomington High School South was named 1 of 3 National Winners of the 15th annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition, earning a $100,000 prize package of technology and classroom supplies for their schools. In addition, students were awarded the Rising Entrepreneurship Award, an additional $25,000 prize to develop a sustainable venture extending beyond the competition.
The competition challenges students to design innovative solutions incorporating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) to address critical issues in their communities.
The student team created a prototype called Storm Shield, a lightweight, eco-friendly headband that protects hearing aids from damage during physical activity and senses potential dangers, increasing sports accessibility for students who wear hearing aids. Learn about the prototype at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlQEmMA2O9w
The prototype was inspired by the personal experience of one of the team members and student athlete, Danielle Yang. In the team’s promotional video for Storm Shield, Yang says “I often couldn’t wear my hearing aid [when competing in lacrosse and track] because it could be damaged by weather and sweat.”
Storm Shield protects hearing aids from wind, rain, and impact using hydrophobic mesh and a wireless motion sensor for safety. To create Storm Shield, students utilized many technologies, including material science, programming, Internet of Things, machine learning, and 3D printing. Storm Shield offers an affordable, sustainable, and innovative solution for athletes’ hearing aid protection.
In their research for Storm Shield, the students interviewed many experts, including retired WNBA player and Olympic Gold Medalist Tamika Catchings. The students were guided in their project by Kirstin Milks, Ph.D., science teacher and Kara Parker, math and physics teacher.
“The Storm Shield team has leveraged problem-solving skills and the engineering design cycle – both of which we teach in our STEM classes – to build an incredible invention,” said Milks. “Technologies are ever-changing, but student-centered classrooms and project-based learning provide students with the experiences they need to not just navigate our future, but innovate.”
Bloomington South has a winning track record in the Samsung competition. In 2023, the school’s team won the top-tier $100,000 prize and Sustainability Innovation Award for their innovative Temp Mural that minimizes the impact of global warming through highly-reflective, climate-positive barium sulfate paint. The mural can be seen from the B-Line trail on the garden shed at WonderLab.
