SourceAmerica Design Challenge Announces High School Finalists for National Engineering Competition

Students use STEM skills to design assistive workplace technology for people with disabilities

VIENNA, Va., February 19, 2016 – SourceAmerica announced today the finalists for its annual high school Design Challenge, a national engineering competition where students create assistive workplace technology for people with disabilities employed in their local communities.

During a semester, student teams partner with a nonprofit agency to solve a barrier to workplace productivity for its employees with disabilities. To accomplish this task, they apply creativity and STEM skills while working closely with employees with disabilities to ensure their solution is usable and meets business needs. A panel of Design Challenge judges composed of rehabilitation engineers, members of the disability community and others with relevant backgrounds selected the following teams to compete in the finals to be held April 13 in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the college Design Challenge event.

The high school finalists are:

Concord High School (Wilmington, Delaware)
Nonprofit partner: Christiana Care Hospital (Wilmington, Delaware)
Project: The Scan 'n Sort is a barcode scanning device that alphabetically categorizes recycled medicine making sorting in pharmacies easy for employees with disabilities.

Copley High School (Copley, Ohio)
Nonprofit partner: Weaver Industries ProPak (Akron, Ohio)
Project: The Fomo Nozzle Production and Packaging System increased the production of employees with disabilities by 500 percent and streamlined the packaging system.

Gardner Edgerton High School (Gardner, Kansas)
Nonprofit partner: Johnson County Developmental Supports (Lenexa, Kansas)
Project: CAPS is a device that helps employees with disabilities more efficiently count drywall anchors and screws.

Indianapolis Metropolitan High School (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Nonprofit partner: Goodwill Commercial Services (Indianapolis, Indiana)
Project: K.I.T. eliminated 100 percent of the pain associated with the repetitive task of loading and closing microscope slides into a container and decreased errors by 67 percent.

Poolesville High School (Poolesville, Maryland)
Nonprofit partner: Sunflower Bakery (Gaithersburg, Maryland)
Project: The Change Maker assists employees with disabilities in making change by calculating the quantities of each coin and bill for them.

For more information on the Design Challenge, contact Charissa Garcia at cgarcia@sourceamerica.org or 703-584-3940. Visit http://www.sourceamerica.org/design-challenge and follow SourceAmerica on Facebook and Twitter.