Gulliver engineering students to attend United Nations conference in Brazil

June 15, 2012 - PRLog -- Gulliver Preparatory School’s graduating seniors Shayanth Sinnarajah (‘12) and Lucia Herrmann (‘12), along with their engineering coach, Claude Charron, will represent the five-member team Operation Gulliver International in the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) taking place June 16-17, 2012, in Rio de Janeiro.

Sinnarajah and Herrmann will present the team’s award winning invention, a portable water filtration system called LiTReS that removes bacteria, pathogens and viruses, and its relevance to a global audience at the U.S. Department of State’s U.S. Center at 9:30 a.m. EDT, Sunday, June 17.

The presentation will be available for live viewing on Ustream at http://ustream.tv/conx with live updates on Twitter at @UN_Rioplus20 and #Rioplus20.

“We are proud to have such outstanding representatives in Rio de Janeiro this weekend, and the entire team should be commended for their dedication and contribution to this global challenge of providing access to potable water in remote or devastated regions,” said Head of Schools John Krutulis. “These students embody the spirit of Gulliver Schools.”

As finalists in the 2011-2012 Spirit of Innovation Challenge, sponsored by the Conrad Foundation, the team earned the opportunity to present at Rio+20 after submitting a project summary video that describes their water filtration device, their passion for sustainable development and why they would make good ambassadors.

Click here to view Team Gulliver’s winning video.

In March, the Gulliver team of Andrew Ramos (‘12), David Mills (‘12), Lucia Herrmann(‘12), Mike Scopetta (‘12) and Shayanth Sinnarajah (‘12) swept the competition at the Spirit of Innovation Challenge in California. They were named Pete Conrad Scholars and selected as winners in the clean energy category.  The Conrad Foundation invites high school students from across the country and around the world to create innovative products using science, technology and entrepreneurship to solve real-world, 21st century problems.

The liquid treatment system uses a hand operated air pump to process and clean contaminated water without the use of an external energy source or chemicals. Users take the device to a local fresh water source where the water is taken up in a collection hose. The water is filtered through a quad-filtered purification system consisting of a semi-permeable carbon based filter and three sediment filters. The clean water is deposited into a 15-gallon container positioned in a small wagon, allowing the unit to be portable. Ultimately, the water is distributed through a non-contact pressurized siphoning system.

“Presenting in Rio de Janeiro is an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Claude Charron, engineering department coordinator. “This is a creative, lo-tech, affordable solution we are looking to patent.”

The team is working closely with investors and Friends of the Orphans, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of orphaned, abandoned and disadvantaged children to deliver and install a device at a children’s hospital in Haiti by the end of June.

About Gulliver Schools
Gulliver Schools is a 501 (c)(3) private, not-for-profit, independent, coeducational, nonsectarian day school with the mission of providing a superior, personalized college preparatory education fostering well-rounded, successful, lifelong learners which is committed to developing the unique gifts and talents of each student in a nurturing environment that promotes academic excellence, innovation, global understanding and character. For more information about Gulliver Schools, visit www.gulliverschools.org.

About The Conrad Foundation

The Conrad Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to 21st century, immersive learning, where students use their imagination and innovation to enrich their classroom studies by adding context to content. The Foundation is the only organization of its kind whose programs combine education, innovation and entrepreneurship to inspire solutions for achieving global sustainability. For more information, visit www.conradfoundation.org.

Each year, the Spirit of Innovation Challenge (Conrad Challenge) gives high school students around the world the opportunity to adapt their science and technology studies to design products of the future to address real-world challenges and promote global sustainability. Students design products in one of four categories: aerospace and aviation; energy and environment; health and nutrition; and the newest category, cyber security and technology. Now in its sixth year, registration is currently open for the 2012-2013 Conrad Challenge. For more information, visit, www.conradawards.org.