Were inventing something completely new
FLORIDA S. S. Seward Institute was awarded a $7,615 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant at the beginning of the school year. On Wednesday, April 18, faculty advisor and science teacher Ernest VanderKruik and some of the team of students will be at Florida Public Library to discuss the grant and what they have done with it.
The students developed a portable, solar powered autoclave to be used by medical professionals to sterilize medical instruments where no electricity is available.
An autoclave is an apparatus in which special conditions (as high or low pressure or temperature) can be established for a variety of applications; especially an apparatus (as for sterilizing) using steam under high pressure, according to its definition in the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
The teams goal is to have this device used to introduce a higher level of medical care and health than is currently available for many people in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Central and South America.
The InvenTeam can be compared to a revamped version of science and math class for the 21st Century, said team member and senior Jacob Weber. Members have to go out and do their own research, testing, design, everything. Mr. VanderKruik basically leaves it up to us, and as a whole, we arent just doing worksheets and assignments that have been used for years.
We are inventing something completely new, that has never been made before, Weber added, making InvenTeams and organizations like ours necessary for the educational future of the our country.
The panel discussion begins at 6:30 p.m. Call the library at 845-651-7659 to reserve a seat. The library is located at 4 Cohen Circle behind Village Hall in Florida.