WINSTON-SALEM, N.C-- A team of investors from Mr. Schnably's 8th-grade science class at Jefferson Middle School in Winston-Salem has made it to the finals of the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow Contest.
It is a nationwide competition that challenges students in grades 6-12 to creatively use STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) skills to address real-world issues and inspire change in their local communities, according to the company's website.
The 10 national finalists will receive a minimum of $50,000 in Samsung technology for their school and a trip to the final pitch event in New York City for the grand prize of $150,000 in grants for the top 3.
Using smart technology from the electronics giant, the students invented a self-deploying road closure system, which if they have their wish, could potentially to save lives during flash floods. To the ordinary eyes, the Flood Alert Samsung Street Technology (F.A.S.S.T) is a contraption made of orange painted PVC pipes which have been joined together to create a gate, affixed to a wood mounted into a sand-filled bucket.
There are two buckets, one empty and the other filled with water for the demonstration and a small fluorescent green styrofoam pyramid and a white box on a table nearby. However, upon closer observation, a sensor is located in the pyramid. The F.A.S.S.T system is the students' attempt at creating a prototype for floodgates which would close roadways which flood levels become too dangerous for motorists to navigate.
"This is the Samsung Smart Things device which is made for home users," said Mark Gonzalez of the white box which is used to control and operate home appliances, devices and security systems wirelessly or from a remote location. Gonzalez demonstrated how the system is activated by transferring water between the two buckets, with the sensor in the empty bucket.
"When the read switch hits the sensor it triggers the relays and the relays are attached to this actuator and the actuator will open the gate," said team member Jake Gruver as he explained how the self-deploying gate worked. Rylan Little and Jay Klein completed the quartet as they joined the ranks of the Triad's young inventors.
"We have used this to make a water sensor that we put in the invention to signal your phone to say hey look there's water rising here please deploy the gates," added Gonzalez. He further explained that the information will be relayed to authorities and the public through navigational apps such as Waze and Google Maps.
"This gate system was designed to prevent people from getting trapped in their cars during a flooding event, that way first responders can focus on helping other people rather than those trapped on the roads," said Mark Schnably, the students' science teacher.
Schnably said he was inspired to challenge his students after seeing all the devastation from hurricanes last year. He hoped They hoped government agencies would adopt their invention.
"We did some research and we found out that on average 85 people die from flooding events and approximately two-thirds of those people are killed while they are in their cars and this does not include deaths from floods during hurricanes," he added.
"I was thinking, what do we do with the lessons we teach on the hydrosphere to make it come to life? So I proposed this challenge to the students to see how we could save lives during these traumatic events."
The students took their teacher up on the challenge and together, they came up with the gate system.
"Once the gate is deployed, it will stay deployed until the water levels go down and when the water goes back down, the read switch will let off the sensor and the gate will open again," Gruver said as the team concluded with the demonstration.
Local emergency management officials have called the system a very innovative approach to the problem of urban flooding.
"Lives of the general public and emergency responders (fire, law enforcement, and EMS) could be saved. Swift water rescues are the most dangerous type of technical rescue for emergency responders," said Tad Byrum the city's Assistant Fire Chief who featured in a YouTube video created by the students to explain their project and solicit for votes from the public.
"Historically, the Winston-Salem Fire Department has engaged our community with fire prevention.We are now including other risks such as urban flooding in our community outreach programs," Byrum tells WFMY News 2.
"When I met with Mr. Schnably's class, I noticed that the students were very engaged with the project's development," said Michelle Brock, the Emergency Management Coordinator and Planning officer for Winston-Salem/Forsyth-County.
"Every step of the project's development requires critical thinking and innovative ideas. I have been involved with floodplain management in Forsyth County for over 10 years. This is the first time that I have encountered such an idea from anyone so young in age," praised Brock.
Byrum was also full of encomium for the 8th graders, for tackling safety issues in their community.
"Their idea could easily be applied to communities all across the United States," he concluded in his statement.
The students beat out more than 3000 submissions to get to the final round and hoped the public can vote for their project. To vote for the Thomas Jefferson Middle School students visit the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow website and cast a vote. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, April 2, 2018.