Bergen Community College
Paramus, New Jersey

Team Members: Shantanu Chand, Jay Desai, Steven Korvin, Robert Roller (Mentor)

According to a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) report, vehicles release about 1.7 billion tons of greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the atmosphere each year, making up one-fifth of the total United States global warming pollution. Pickup trucks with internal combustion engines release even greater amounts of greenhouse gases than automobiles. These trucks can be revived, which can save a substantial amount of energy and resources. The main objective of the Electric Vehicle Conversion (EVC) project is to reduce the great amount of GHGs being emitted by these vehicles on a daily basis. The solution provided by the EVC team is based on converting the power plant of a 1998 Chevrolet pickup truck from its original internal combustion (gasoline) engine to a fully electric motor and battery configuration. By understanding this conversion process, the EVC team aims to reapply such concepts to pickup trucks all over the U.S. and reduce carbon emissions. Come visit us to learn more about our innovation, its benefits, and why Every Vehicle Counts.

Borough of Manhattan Community College
New York, New York

Team Members: Mohammad Azhar (Mentor), Ryan Brandt, Sharna Hossain, Jadgesh Inderjeet

Parents who are raising autistic children often lack resources and time to support their child’s learning in an affordable and accessible way. According to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics (JAMA), the total lifetime cost of supporting a child with autism amounts to at least $1.4 million in the United States. Annually, parents can expect to pay upwards of $90,000 to provide treatment.

The time factor exacerbates the financial costs, as parents of autistic children often must reduce their work hours or quit their jobs to help their child full-time. COVID-19 posed a dilemma for many parents, specifically low-income and underrepresented minorities, who finally had the time to support their children full-time but struggled to assist them with their education and therapy during quarantine.
We propose utilizing Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) applications to serve as an interactive learning platform for autistic children accessible from the comfort of their own homes. The app will include modules that will teach essential life skills. We want our proposed app to be a fun, affordable, and effective way for autistic children to learn at their own pace.

Columbus State Community College
Columbus, Ohio

Team Members: Alan Cruz Lopez, Colin Malone, Kaylor Ramey (Mentor), Katie Schantz

American colleges and universities have a serious waste problem. The average college student produces 640 pounds of trash annually. The state of Ohio ranks in the top five states for the most trash in landfills per capita and is home to 137 colleges and universities; making it the perfect test market for our SMART Recycling System, Greenago.

Greengo seeks to create a sustainable, realistic, and rewarding way for college students to help save the planet! Greenago places SMART, self-compacting recycling bins on college campuses that reward students for recycling through the use of the Greenago App. Greenago bins contain weighted scales and barcode scanners that track deposited materials and give students points that can be cashed out for gift cards, college books, or planting trees on campus. Use of SMART technology allows data to be collected on the local and state levels to track what and how much is being recycled. Ultimately decreasing the 745,282,249 tons of potential recyclable goods that are filling up landfills in Ohio. Selling of app data generates funds to help state and local governments make better tax and waste management decisions, better policy around waste and recyclable materials, and track which counties best utilize sustainable options.

Henry Ford College
Dearborn, Michigan

Team Members: Warren Harrison, Gillian John (Mentor), Hasan Yahfoufi

The Maskkito is an emerging enterprise on wearable technology. Specifically, our wearable headset mask uses a two-stage process to clean the air the consumer breathes. The mask uses nanofiltration capable of removing debris and contaminants, which is coupled with UV-C energy to eliminate even smaller harmful microbes and viruses. The Maskkito is a step into the future in its use of human integrated machines (HMIs); and allows for safer day-to-day interactions for professionals and civilians alike, and a satisfying ease of mind.

Itawamaba Community College
Tupelo, Mississippi

Team Members: Emma Atkinson, Haley Dean, Bradley Howard (Mentor), Abby Rinehart, Diana Salinas

As stated by the U.S. Water Alliance, two million Americans live without running water, and millions more have drinking water cycled through lead pipes which can cause neurological problems in both adults and children. How can we effectively solve this issue and take advantage of natural resources? On average, the United States receives more than 30 inches of rain per year which could be effectively resourced for additional access to clean water in areas affected by natural disasters and Americans who lack a source of running water in their homes. Achelous is designed to effectively purify rainwater collected through gutters and stored in an IBC Tote tank for easy distribution or drinking purposes. To learn more about our project, visit us as we demonstrate more about our prototype, the production, and the innovative solution that we can provide for others.

Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana
South Bend, Indiana

Team Members: Pamela Arenas, Rena Doss, Josef Martin, Sarah Alfadhi, George Twaddle (Mentor)

The United States’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic has illuminated many shortcomings in our country’s public health preparedness and left many Americans in a state of concern about their health and the health and wellness of their communities. A number of significant liabilities in our current testing schemes have interfered with our response such as delays in the reporting of results, high costs, and distribution systems vulnerable to supply side shortages. These liabilities have been compounded with potential “false-negatives” results, complicating the decision of Americans to quarantine. Our proposed solution is “ViruScan,” a fast, accurate hand-held test-strip device with which any concerned person can screen themselves for the presence of a pandemic virus. Our device is designed to be low-cost and to reliably detect virus infections in minutes. ViruScan will also report test results over a HIPAA compliant network to public health authorities enabling a real-time response to a spreading pandemic. Our test promises a revolutionary new approach to testing in that we have designed it to be reconfigured to detect our next pandemic threat. To learn more about how ViruScan works and how we propose to confront the next pandemic, visit our team: the “Indiana Pandemic Hunters.”

Johnson County Community College
Overland Park, Kansas

Team Members: Kate Boyer, Jacqueline Contreras, Ashley Hooley-Lickteig, Tara Karaim (Mentor), Jacquelyn White

The World Health Organization estimates that 75 million people worldwide use a mobility device, such as a wheelchair or motorized scooter. Many of these people have limited independence when going out in public because their device is often stored in the bed or trunk of their vehicle; and they must have a second person with them at all times to retrieve their chair or scooter. This can prevent a person with a disability from leaving their house. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, mobility device users may be heavily discouraged to have a second person with them at places such as doctor’s offices or other businesses, and without a second person, many locations are inaccessible. This negatively impacts their quality of life. Our project seeks to solve this issue through conceptualization of a mechanical bench that enables mobility device users to efficiently and freely move from their driver’s seat to the back of their vehicle to independently access their device. This eliminates the need for a second person. Positive effects include increased independence, accessibility, participation in society, and earning potential, and a decrease in negative health effects that result from isolation.

Nashua Community College
Nashua, New Hampshire

Team Members: Natalie Brown, Betsy Gamrat (Mentor), Anthony Gravell, Nathan Post, Lucas Scovil

Billions of masks are discarded every day during the COVID-19 pandemic. With each single-use mask taking hundreds of years to deteriorate, this creates problems for marine life and land dwellers alike. With hospitals around the world still using single-use masks, the need for a biodegradable solution will remain. EnviroMask is a simple solution to a complex problem that combats global pollution by providing an alternative to the common single-use mask. To learn more about how our mask provides an environmentally-conscious solution, connect with the EnviroMask team today.

Pasadena City College
Pasadena, California

Team Members: Jared Ashcroft (Mentor), Kit Cheung, Kirk Dolar, Sophia Ibarguen, Richard Lu

Cancer is one of the leading causes of death all over the world, with nearly ten million children and adults worldwide dying every year. By 2040, the number of new cancer cases per year is expected to rise to 29.5 million and the number of cancer-related deaths is expected to rise to 16.4 million. Antibody conjugated nanoparticles have a multitude of uses in cancer and infectious disease identification and treatment at the cellular level. Gold nanoparticles are commonly used in photothermal nano therapies due to their stable, non-toxic, and non-immunogenic nature. Silver nanoparticles have antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal properties, and anticancer properties. The NanoBio mAB is a gold@silver nanoparticle hybrid that capitalizes on the ideal properties of both the gold and silver nanoparticles so that together they maximize efficacy in treating cancer. Conjugation to cell specific monoclonal antibodies (mABs) will provide an effective means for targeted photo immunotherapy to specific cancer cells while also combating the symbiotic relationship between cancer and bacteria that promotes cancer proliferation. Overall, the NanoBio mAB will revolutionize cancer therapies, providing a multifaceted approach in the treatment of cancer.

Tarrant County College
Fort Worth, Texas

Team Members: Rachel Grace Farver, James Hobbs (Mentor), Logan Vincent

Honey bee populations have declined at a rate of 33% per year since 2006 due to Colony Collapse Disorder. Given that these bees pollinate over 90% of food produced globally, without them, the United States could see a loss in crop production estimated at $17 billion, $30 billion worldwide. Improving the survival rate of our honey bee colonies is essential to agricultural security. What if a simple redesign of the modern honey bee hive could solve the pressing issue using something probably already growing in your backyard? The Coriolus mushroom, Trametes versicolor, is one of the most common mushrooms and can be found growing anywhere there are decomposing trees. Known for its homeopathic and medicinal properties, this mushroom has the ability to improve the survival rate of bees. It has been shown to aid in colony viral resistance to pathogens linked to the transmission by the parasitic Varroa destructor mites. Our innovative solution is an autonomous mushroom cultivation system that grows the vegetative parts of the fungus, or mycelia, on a honeycomb frame within the beehive. Having unlimited access to the mycelia, which otherwise might not be available, bee colonies would increase their viral resistance preventing further population decline.

Virginia Western Community College
Roanoke, VA

Team Members: Kristian Cusimano (Mentor), Alif Hill, Marla Moock

In recent years, the population of coral has dropped dramatically from overfishing, blast fishing, habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change that leads to coral bleaching. Coral plays a vital role in ocean ecosystems—as well as the overall health of our planet—so it is imperative that we make sure it is healthy and strong. Coral is also essential in oxygen production and carbon dioxide absorption from burning fossil fuels. The Community Coral Project uses 3D printed porous structures primarily made of PLA to help coral grow and support ocean life. PLA is made from fermented plant starch and will temporarily support coral growth while they reestablish themselves—and thus provide a habitat for the millions of species of fish that need coral for their habitats. By getting our community involved in this project, we can help raise awareness about coral bleaching and gain their support. Coral is essential for the health of our planet and humankind.