Meet Sea Saviors, the winning team of the Fall 2021 Junior Academy Challenge “Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems.”
Published December 15, 2021
By Roger Torda
In the fall of 2021, six budding scientists entered the Junior Academy Challenge and teamed up online to address eutrophication in the Black Sea area and the Dnieper River that runs across Ukraine. Team members were Anzhelika-Mariia H. (Team Lead) (Ukraine), Kusum S. (Nepal), Aman Kumar F. (India), Manan P. (India), Ksheerja S. (India), and Viktoriia L. (Ukraine); the team worked under the mentorship ofPratibha Gupta (India).
Eutrophication is a naturally-occurring process that affects the chemical composition of water bodies. When this process is accelerated by human factors like industrial waste, sewage and fertilizers from farms, it causes excessive growth of algae and phytoplankton, oxygen deficiency, and dead zones – thus threatening ecosystems, biodiversity, and public health.
As a first step, the Challenge participants conducted research to better understand the root causes of the problem in the Dnieper River basin.
“I got tons of insights on eutrophication and how it is destroying our planet’s life,” explains Aman Kumar.
Encouraged by their mentor Pratibha (a.k.a. “Power Girl”), the students also looked at existing solutions before brainstorming new approaches that could improve the aquatic environment.
“Our mentor’s enlightening advice and expertise showed me just how vital the role of mentor is,” says Manan. “Hopefully, some day, I can become a Junior Academy mentor!”
Focusing Ecological Ditches
The team eventually opted to focus on ecological ditches, a traditional drainage system that developed in Ukraine in the 1960s, when the country was still part of the Soviet Union. Located at the edge of fields, eco-ditches allow excess rainwater to be carried away. In their conventional form, the drainage channels are inefficient at filtering unwanted fertilizer or nutrients and the team sought ways to improve them with better engineering.
“The diversity of our group, not only geographical, but also the unique personality that each of us carried added immense value to our work,” says Kusum.
The students identified a potential solution of adding plants with strong filtration capacity to eco-ditches, and looked at hydraulic flow rate control.
“I met hardworking individuals who helped me improve my own skills and taught me many valuable lessons in teamwork and analytical thinking,” says Ksheerja.
Eco-ditches require regular maintenance to remove sediments. While polluting industries can be easily identified, farms are harder to locate – yet farms release nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers that affect the delicate chemical balance of water bodies. The students saw a potential path to a sustainable solution: by mapping agricultural farms and existing canals, they could be linked into common drainage systems that could be monitored.
Raising Awareness Through Gaming
Raising awareness of the threats posed by eutrophication is also crucial. The Sea Saviors designed a web-based computer game aimed at children aged 8-13 to sensitize them to environmental issues.
“My role was to be a game designer and developer. Because of the Junior Academy, I found out about different ways of creating the video game and practiced one more game developing engine,” says Viktoriia.
In the two-level game, a friendly sea monster tries to make the aquatic environment more habitable for his fish buddies. In the process, Bob the Monster introduces young players to ecological ditches and the cultivation of oyster shells as ways of regulating the aquatic ecosystem.
“My team was tenacious and industrious from the beginning,” says Pratibha, thrilled with her mentees’ achievements. “Each member had faith in the other one to work diligently.”
For the winning team members, the project has been a stimulating learning experience that allowed them to form strong bonds.
“Working on this project boosted my motivation to continue my studies in the hope of becoming a scientist one day,” said Anzhelika-Mariia.
Teams, made up of 28 students from 11 countries, win international challenges in Space Exploration, Smart Technology for Home and Health, Cybersecurity, Sustainable Transportation, and the battle against COVID-19.
Published August 12, 2020
By Roger Torda
Five international teams made up of 28 students from 11 countries have demonstrated they can solve challenges that vex the most experienced scientists and engineers. The students are among more than a thousand that competed in 2020 Challenges run by teams, made up of 28 students from 11 countries, won international challenges in various fields of science as part of The New York Academy of Sciences’ Global STEM Alliance. The teams collaborated across borders to develop solutions related to the coronavirus pandemic, routine healthcare monitoring, cybersecurity, lunar exploration, and sustainable transportation.
The Combating COVID-19 Challenge
“I didn’t want to stand by and passively wait for the pandemic to be over,” said Young Chen, explaining why he assembled a team to enter the Combating COVID-19 Challenge. “It was a combination of curiosity, risk-taking, and desire to help my community.” Chen, from Ashburn, Virginia, four other students from the United States, and another from New Delhi, India, won first place among 200 entries in the global competition. Their winning project, called GOvid-19, was a chatbot to provide users with information about government responses, emergency resources, and statistics on COVID-19, and ways they can help fight the pandemic.
The Academy’s goal with the competitions is to help students develop capabilities necessary for effective work and leadership in STEM fields. “Providing opportunities for students to build 21st-century skills like problem solving, collaboration and communication are core goals of our challenge programs,” said Hank Nourse, Senior Vice President & Chief Learning Officer for the Academy, in announcing the winners of the Challenges. This year, several of the Challenges were especially valuable as non-classroom projects for students whose schools had closed because of COVID-19. “Several of these teams completed their work during shutdowns due to the pandemic,” Nourse explained. “We are happy to know that our digital tools allowed students to continue working and learning without interruption.”
The Intelligent Homes & Health Challenge
Zoe Piccirillo, leader for the team that won the Intelligent Homes & Health Challenge, described some of what she learned: “I have become a more open-minded, collaborative and creative individual from working with the motivated and bright members of our team… My team members also helped make our final solution more inclusive. The diversity of the group provided new perspectives regarding what values and concerns are prevalent across the world.” Zoe’s Health Sync team designed a secure, in-home health monitoring system connecting patients, doctors, and pharmacists. Zoe, from New York City, worked with another student from the United States, two from Sweden, and one each from the Philippines and Australia.
I have become a more open-minded, collaborative and creative individual from working with the motivated and bright members of our team.
Zoe Piccirillo
After assembling their teams, the students use the Academy’s Launchpad platform to connect with a volunteer mentor and then to reach out to other experts as they conduct research. “Mentors are often early career scientists, from academia and industry, who volunteer their time to help guide the students with their projects,” explained Kaari Casey, GSA program manager.
“I’m incredibly proud of my teams,” said Jessica Black, the mentor for Health Sync and a veteran of nine previous Challenges. “Often, the topics that are presented for these challenges are varied and out of the scope of what most students are studying in school,” Black continued. “They have to integrate their knowledge base with newly acquired information that must be obtained through research. It’s a new process for many of them. To see the resolutions and presentations they formulate by the end of the challenge is incredible.”
Black is a fellow in pediatric oncology at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City. “As a female in STEM I feel it’s really important to act as a role model not just for my female students, but for all of my students,” she added. The Intelligent Homes and Health Challenge was sponsored by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, AstraZeneca, and Chalmers University of Technology.
The Cybersecurity in the Age of IoT Challenge
A team calling itself Cybercastle won the Cybersecurity in the Age of IoT Challenge, with a system that uses blockchain technology to encrypt medical records. Team lead Rasmus Häggkvist, from Norrbotten, Sweden, described his criteria for forming a team using Launchpad, saying he “was looking for kind, organized, diligent, and prudent perfectionists.” He found them in all corners of the world, including India, Morocco, Canada and the Philippines. The Cybersecurity Challenge was sponsored by the S&P Global Foundation, with 25 employees from S&P Global serving as mentors to student teams.
The Space Challenge
The LunarX team won the Space Challenge for its plan to colonize the Moon, including designs for shelters, sustainable food and water systems, and artificial intelligence tools for energy and mobile transport. Sachee Kachchakaduge, the team’s leader from Vancouver, Canada, pointed to the importance of using digital communications in a global project: “We used asynchronous collaboration to work on our own time. Distance and time zones did not prove to be issues, and we were able to work as if we were school friends or classmates.”
Sachee also pointed to opportunities to expand skills in sometimes unexpected ways: “At the surface, challenges seem like they only teach you about the topic at hand. However, in reality, you learn many other things. The team provides a safe space for everyone to try new software, and to learn from others and to test out your ideas.” Sachee’s teammates were from the United Arab Emirates, the Republic of Moldova, India, and the United States.
LunarX team mentor Garret Schneider, a retired aeronautical and astronautical engineer who worked in the Air Force and in industry, said the team worked hard to avoid becoming overwhelmed: “I think their biggest obstacles were digesting all the information and possibilities, and also deciding where to focus their energies…. [This] contributed to their success, as well as their dedication to tie all the elements of their solution together in a thorough, coherent manner.” Garret, who has volunteered with the Academy for close to 20 years, said he benefits as well as the students: “I have a renewed respect for the intelligence and capability and spirit of our youth – I feel pride to have been associated with them.”
The Chain of Transportation Challenge
A team calling itself LiFe won the Sustainable Chain of Transportation Challenge. The team designed a battery, a vehicle and an app to match specific transportation needs with the most efficient transportation solutions. Team member Abby Liang, from Troy, Michigan, said: “My new knowledge about the scientific research and design process, as well as both technical and creative skills from coding to policy frameworks to project management, will stay with me as I continue in my studies… I am so proud of our final comprehensive design.”
Members of the team were from Mexico, New Zealand, Egypt and the United States. The Sustainable Chain of Transportation Challenge was sponsored by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences and the Volvo Group.
Winning teams will receive a trip to New York City for next year’s annual GSA Summit, as this year’s Summit was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In lieu of the in-person event this year, a virtual summit was held last month. Nicholas B. Dirks, the Academy’s President and CEO, addressed almost a thousand students and mentors, with a message about the importance of cross-discipline curiosity.
Laura Helmuth, Editor-In-Chief of Scientific American, delivered a keynote address, describing career pathways to science journalism and explaining the importance of good communication in the practice of science.
One of S&P Global’s 25 Challenge mentors echoed the belief that the exchange of ideas is a two-way process. “I wanted the chance… [to] get some exposure to what the next generation thinks about the problems the world is facing,” said Ryan Duve, a senior data scientist. Ryan worked with several teams and mentored a team called Symblot, which competed in the Cybersecurity Challenge. “I think the most important part of mentoring is just being a positive example of what you can be when you grow up,” he continued. “Too many young people only hear about different professions in articles and never really get a chance to do Q&A with a practitioner, which is a role I thought I could help fill.”
Winning Teams for the 2020 Global STEM Alliance Challenges
Combatting COVID-19
Abhay Sheshadri, Monroe Township, NJ, US; Anshul Mahajan, New Delhi, India; Regan Razon, Morrisville, NC, US; Tanush Swaminathan, Monroe Township, NJ, US; Young Chen, Asburn, VA, US.
Sachee Kachchakaduge, Vancouver, Canada; Sreenidhi Vijayaraghavan, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Andreea Bujor, Ungheni, Republic of Moldova; Abhinav Agarwal, Jaipur, India; Arnav Hazra, San Francisco, CA, US; Naveen HV, Mysore, India.
Intelligent Homes & Health
Sara Rydell, Stockholm, Sweden; Jana Montanez, Parañaque City, Philippines; Ansh Gadodia, Princeton Junction, NJ, US; Sophia Li, Melbourne, Australia; Alice Forslund, Göteborg, Sweden; Zoe Piccirillo, New York, NY, US.
Sustainable Chain of Transportation
Cynthia Ramirez Meneses, Texcoco, Mexico; Izabela Zmirska, St. Augustine, FL, US; Evie Rose Grace, Dunedin, New Zealand; Ishita Bhimavarapu, Princeton, NJ, US; Abby Liang, Troy, MI, US.
Meet the winning team of the 2019 Junior Academy Genomics Challenge.
Published October 18, 2019
By Marie Gentile, Richard Birchard, and Mandy Carr
According to the World Health Organization, there are 5,000 to 8,000 rare diseases, most of them with a genetic basis. But errors in diagnosis can delay the implementation of proper treatments, especially for those in poor areas of the world where access to healthcare is limited.
Now, six high school students who participated in the Junior Academy’s Genomics Challenge, sponsored by Regeneron and Medidata, have developed a prototype for a better way to test the genetic code and thereby improve the diagnosis of rare diseases.
The students (Evangelos Kassos, 18, from Karditsa Greece; Ana Stratan, 18, from Bucharest, Romania; Aditi Gupta, 18, from Delhi, India; Monish Singhal, 14, from Bengaluru, India; Athena Yao, 17, from Wantagh, New York, USA; and Ana Bonavides-Aguilar, 17, from Cuernavaca, Morelos, México) impressed the Challenge judges with their comprehensive four-step approach, which addressed rare disease diagnosis, access to consultation, patient privacy, and knowledge distribution.
An Innovative Approach
Their innovative “iDNA Protocol” utilizes blockchain technology to ensure patient privacy, while increasing data sharing across research entities through their Doc2Doc platform model. Better data sharing facilitates collaboration between researchers, doctors, and patients, leading to more efficient and personalized diagnosis and treatment.
A “Prion Detection Kit” will help patients identify neurodegenerative disorders through at-home urine tests. This early detection kit complements the “GenePack” testing and treatment protocol, which tests newborns for genetic diseases and connects people living in isolated areas with research centers.
For their solution, the team received an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City to attend the 2019 Global STEM Alliance Summit.
Here, the students share their thoughts on the project and why they’re excited about its potential impact on medically underserved communities:
“Most of all, we thought about who we could help. We fashioned our project to cater to the needs of underserved communities.”
Ana Stratan
Diverse Perspectives
“I had no idea what was waiting for me when I posted ‘Wanna be the next Watson?’ on Launchpad. Five amazing people from around the world joined me in taking on the Genomics Challenge,” explains Evangelos Kassos. “Along with our mentor, we created a fantastic space full of creativity, where we could all thrive.”
Multidisciplinary Focus
“All of us had a focus—biology, technology, informatics—and we thought about the Challenge through these different lenses. Most of all, we thought about who we could help. We fashioned our project to cater to the needs of underserved communities,” says Ana Stratan. “Periodically we asked for input from people outside of the project to better understand our target audience.”
People Aren’t Numbers
“Our mentor explained to us how dire situations could get. We realized that while everyone was looking at the numbers, no one was realizing that these numbers are people,” laments Aditi Gupta. “I have lived in both a first world country and a third world country. I’m thankful for having access to the American healthcare system because India is still developing theirs.”
A Diagnosis-Focused Solution
”We realized that treatment is a different problem. The mere diagnosis of the disease can be troublesome,” says Monish Singhal. “We spoke with Prasanna Shirol, the co-founder and board director of the Organization for Rare Diseases India (ORDI), whose daughter suffers from Pompe disease. His daughter was diagnosed inaccurately several times. This example led to our diagnosis-focused solution, which emphasizes early identification of a disease.”
“We realized that while everyone was looking at the numbers, no one was realizing that these numbers are people.”
A Unified Approach
“Our solution has the potential to improve lives and be implemented effectively in existing communities globally, in a cost-effective manner,” says Athena Yao. “Our approach involves changes in the rare disease diagnosis and treatment process, addressing the different aspects of the problem. We employed our knowledge, resources, and understanding of global perspectives to create a solution that is viable for various areas.”
Achievable Impact
”The ideas we are proposing are groundbreaking, innovative, and achievable,” concludes Ana Bonavides-Aguilar. “Even though some are more challenging to attain (like creating the iDNA Protocol) there are others that if research begins, they could change the way genetic diseases are being detected, like the Antibody Testing Kit. Therefore, people suffering from rare diseases could—and will—have a chance at a high quality of life.”
Want to tackle global problems like this one? Learn more about the Junior Academy.
Imagine an “Intellicity,” where neural networks ensure everything works together.
Published May 1, 2018
By Lori Greene
Today’s students will be the inhabitants of tomorrow’s cities, so they want more sustainable ways of living and working in urban ecosystems.
That was the premise behind United Technologies’ Future of Buildings Innovation Challenge. This event was created by The New York Academy of Sciences and launched in September 2017.
Fifty-two teams of students 13 to 18 years old from across the globe competed. Their goal: to conceive the most inventive green building solution.
Imagining an “Intellicity,” was the creation of one team. Here, neural networks run a building’s systems to ensure people, machines and the environment work in concert to adroitly use and conserve resources.
Reducing Waste
In the “Intellicity” paradigm, little is wasted. Solar panels and wind turbines create an on-going source of clean, abundant, renewable energy. Rainwater collected from the roofs of buildings provide water for indoor plumbing and hydroponic systems. Once inside, hydroponic walls can repurpose rainwater for food growth. Intellicity’s student founders want to ensure that people are harnessing energy generated by city activity and putting it to use.
Floor tiles in larger structures convert footsteps into electrical energy, and waste is turned into fertilizer. Solar panels on windows maximize sunlight and capture the energy to help run a building’s lighting and temperature systems. Revolving doors connected to electric generators can be used to capture energy as people walk in and out. This creates another source to power the structure’s electricity, heating and cooling needs.
The Applications of Artificial Intelligence
Using artificial intelligence (AI), energy is redistributed to increase the comfort and productivity of building occupants. The AI system that would run the integrated interior and exterior building networks “learns” from several inputs and the resulting outputs. For example, during high usage times, the power could go towards controlling lighting as well as heating and cooling rooms. Over time, the network records occupant preferences and automatically adjusts the room, heat and light depending on who enters and leaves.
Similarly, the team sought to give people an opportunity to interact with their building using a “neural network.” This computer system was developed around the human nervous system. It aims to allow the building to communicate back through an app detailing the energy being collected, used and wasted in the structure.
Retrofitting Existing Infrastructure
With the flexibility of AI, the team theorizes that this can also be implemented in a variety of structures. This includes transportation hubs such as airports as well as offices and apartment buildings. According to the plan, each section of the building could provide sustainable energy with minimal impact to the environment around it. Rather than redesigning structures, the team suggests using sensors in every room. They also suggested monitoring software that can help devise a customized solution to precisely redistribute energy.
Integrating neural networks into buildings to create an energy efficient sustainable future is Intellicity’s ultimate goal.
Check: nyas.org/challenges for information about the UTC Future Buildings and Cities Challenge winners.
