Ten Strawberry Crest High School students won the national Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM Competition with their design for a device to monitor athlete’s temperatures. With the national recognition, the Chargers’ STEM program will receive $100,000.
The STEM students came up with the idea for the Human Health Band in the fall during football season. Every year, high school students hear about heat-related injuries and death. However, this topic is more personal for Strawberry Crest’s students, as one of their classmates died from heat illness in 2019.
The device is a temperature sensor that can connect with a band to the athlete’s uniform. The data from the sensor will be transmitted to an app on the coach’s phone to alert the coaches that an athlete is overheating.
“They learned project management, teamwork, presenting, speaking, networking and professionalism skills. This was a major project that required students to delegate tasks and come together for the finished project. It really was a special experience as a teacher to watch my students grow in these other capacities,” said their IB Biology teacher, Christina Rutledge.
To enter the competition, the team submitted a short, written explanation for their idea. They then put together a prototype, including a working sensor and app, and made a video pitching their device ahead of the national competition.
“All 10 team members played an important role in the success of the project, even though only three students were allowed to go and do the actual presentation,” said Rutledge.
The three students that went to the national competition were Patrick Cseh, Anna Steed and Mehar Chhabra. The announcement was streamed live for the rest of their team and classmates to watch. Rutledge said the watch parties and the congratulatory text messages made the team feel encouraged and supported.
“One of the best things that came from that part of the experience was that in the days since we have returned home, multiple students have come to ask how THEY can be on the Samsung Solve For Tomorrow team next year,” said Rutledge. “This contest has inspired so many other young minds to want to be in STEM and to do something really cool.”
For more information on Samsung’s Solve for Tomorrow competition or to see Strawberry Crest’s pitch video, visit www.samsung.com/us/solvefortomorrow.
