At HackDFW 2016, a group of friends and I went to participate in one of the largest hackathons in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. This was a eye-opener for how large hackathons could be and what creative ideas could happen within a few days. My group created a device that recorded data to help doctors diagnose sleep apnea without requiring the patient to do expensive tests. AT&T happened to be a sponsor for HackDFW, and they asked us to present our project at the AT&T Foundry to their employees during lunch.
My local high school and AT&T partnered to host the AT&T PISD hackathon at the AT&T Foundry to use their M2X Internet of Things servers in a high school hackathon project. I joined a group of friends to participate and presented an idea for what our project should be about - ensuring our school was safe by making sure only certified students could use dangerous power tools. We created a prototype called FLO (Fab Lab ordinance) that prevented tools from being powered without a student card. This lead to my group becoming the winning team in the hackathon after being judged by AT&T employees.
At Rice Middle School, I was qualified to compete at the local qualification rounds for the Intel Science Fair. I developed a prototype of a door that would give power when it was opened in an effort to save energy in large businesses where doors are opened/closed every day. I also tried to create a solar-powered electric scooter. This qualified as well although it wasn’t as successful as the door (there wasn’t enough room for panels). This opened me up to science fairs and engineering early on in middle school.
I was part of one of the two science fair teams that competed at the District and Regional levels to represent PISD Academy High School. I grouped with two friends to further the “Slumber” product we had created at HackDFW 2016 and had revised/refined over half a year. This project earned Honorary Mention both at the District and Regional qualifiers, barely failing to qualify for State
Eric Van Gemeren, the Vice-President of Flowserve’s R&D department (as of March 2017), and a mentor of my robotics team invited the 5 members of the team to the PTC LiveWorx Convention including me. At the convention, we were introduced to PTC’s new technology Vuforia and worked with PTC employees to get our robot showing data in augmented reality using Vuforia on a phone. This helped me learn how a professional convention works and the etiquettes required at a convention. This also gave me exposure to the professional world and the responsibilities that come with it.
PISD Academy High School and Barnes & Nobles hosted a Mini Maker Faire at a local Barnes & Nobles store. There I presented my Kinect-controlled RC car and drove it around the children’s book section. Some children were even able to control it themselves!