Arizona 7th Graders Compete for National STEM Title

Update – July 5, 2022

We just learned that each of the boys will be returning home with a medal, a college-savings bond, and a week of memories to last a lifetime—but not the trophy.  That went to a Christian academy in Texas, whose team studied plastic-eating algae as a solution to water-borne pollutants.

The competition was stiff, the teams addressed many important topics, and all of them were world class.  It’s too bad only one could win, but the boys gave national visibility to an under-appreciated issue, and hope their idea will be implemented to offer a better quality of life to the mobility-challenged.

They’re already looking forward to next year’s competition, using their invaluable experience from this year’s to guide them in choosing—and championing—another important problem that STEM can tackle for our community.

Project focused on helping the mobility challenged

PHOENIX (June 22, 2022) — A local team of boys is preparing to participate in the National Finals for the 7th grade division of the eCYBERMISSION contest. The competition, run by the U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program, encourages students to use STEM skills to solve real community problems. The team, the Concrete Captains, decided to focus on the issue of cracked and broken concrete. The team spoke to the Vice President of Community Integration at Ability360, Darrel Christenson, to learn more about the real problems posed by damaged concrete. They learned that even damage that seems relatively minor can keep people from fully participating in and accessing their community.

The team is proposing an app to crowdsource information on damaged concrete and help identify alternate, safe routes to avoid damage. The team interviewed the General Manager of the ASU Cloud Innovation Center, Ryan Hendrix, to learn more about the development process. Their initial design was reviewed via anonymous survey and respondents showed significant interest in having an app to identify safe sidewalk routes.

The competition is June 30th and the boys will also present in a project showcase to compete for the People’s Choice Award. The public can watch the showcase live and vote for their favorite project that day. The team is hoping their presentation will draw attention to the issue of cracked and broken concrete and drive interest in completing the application to benefit the mobility-challenged and everyone in the local community.

The team members are all 7th graders. Ira Parsons, Eric Wang and Adi Vashistha attend Sunrise Middle School (PVUSD) and Charles Skidmore attends Cocopah Middle School (SUSD). They are the only Arizona team in the National Finals and are hoping for significant support from their community in the People’s Choice Award competition.

Link to the press release:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220509005872/en/U.S.-Army-Educational-Outreach-Program-Announces-National-Finalists-Regional-Finalists-and-State-Winners-in-20th-Annual-eCYBERMISSION-Competition

Link to the National Showcase (June 30 at 10:00 AM Arizona Time):
https://youtu.be/H1jvCxiPU3o

Link to People’s Choice Voting (opens June 30 at 10:30 AM Arizona Time and closes on June 30 at 1:30 PM Arizona Time):
https://forms.gle/Y6rsijjr7EQ9ugj5A

Link to the National Awards Ceremony (July 1 at 6:30 AM Arizona Time):
https://youtu.be/OFgdGKKarVA