Collinsville High School students Dominque Bacchetti and Erika Hick earned a top award during the international Conrad Challenge “Innovation Summit” held at Kennedy Space Center April 23-26, 2019.
The Conrad Challenge is a multi-phase STEM & entrepreneurship competition inspired by the legacy of Apollo 12 astronaut Pete Conrad.
Bacchetti and Hick were named Power Pitch winners for their project, Protective Eyez, in the Cyber-Technology & Security category. Protective Eyez is a safety device that prevents sexual assault by sounding an alarm and alerting authorities.
Power Pitch awards were earned by the teams who best presented their pitch on-stage in front of the live judges, their peers and industry professionals at the Innovation Summit. The Innovation Summit was the final round of the 2018-19 Conrad Challenge multi-phase STEM & entrepreneurship competition.
CHS Engineering teacher and Project Lead the Way advisor Cynthia Bednara is their coach.
According to a press release from The Conrad Foundation:
“Since November, student-led teams have submitted three rounds, including an original product design to find scalable solutions to six global challenges, the development of a feasible business plan, and delivering a power pitch to a live panels of judges at the Innovation Summit. The Power Pitch Winners were recognized for delivering the strongest presentation at the Summit.”
For more information about the Innovation Summit and the list of top winners from around the world, read the related article from edCircuit: Student Innovators Earn Top Honors at 2019 Conrad Challenge Innovation Summit.