Two Gulliver Prep teams advance to finals at international Spirit of Innovation Challenge

CORAL GABLES, Fla. - March 22, 2013 - PRLog -- CORAL GABLES, Fla.  – Two Gulliver Preparatory School teams are among 20 high school teams from across the United States, Singapore and China who will compete in the final round of the 2012-2013 Spirit of Innovation Challenge in April.

The annual competition, presented by Lockheed Martin and Battelle, challenges teams of students ages 13-18 from around the world to combine innovation and entrepreneurship along with science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills to create commercially viable products that benefit humanity.

“That there are two Gulliver teams in an international pool of 20 finalists is a great honor for our school. It’s wonderful to see our students using their knowledge and skills to make the world a better place,” said John Krutulis, Gulliver’s director and head of schools.

Finalist teams will present their product concepts at the Innovation Summit, April 10 - 13, 2013, to a panel of industry experts, leading entrepreneurs, government officials and world-renowned scientists at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston. Products will be evaluated for technical content and marketplace viability.

Before the Summit, from March 18 - 29, the public will have the opportunity to select the People's Choice Award winner by viewing finalist team videos and voting on their favorite innovative product. To review each team and their projects, visit www.conradawards.org/groups.

This year’s competition challenged students to develop new ideas in the areas of Aerospace & Aviation, Cybertechnology & Security, Energy & Environment, and Health & Nutrition. The winning team selected in each category will be recognized as “Pete Conrad Scholars” and receive a “Next Step Grant” of $10,000 to continue product development.

The Gulliver engineering team advanced to the finals in the Energy & Environment category with its Eco-Cooker. The project was inspired by Garandia, a poor village outside of Yola, Nigeria, where cooking involves burning a lot of wood, leading to deforestation. Garandians have no access to alternative sources for cooking, such as gas and electricity. The Eco-Cooker allows for safe and effective cooking without the need for firewood. It uses cattle dung, which is rich in methane, to produce biogas as a clean fuel source for heating and cooking. As most Garandians make a living as cattle herders, there’s plenty of animal waste around the village. The portable cook stove is easy to use and maintain, will help manage the animal waste and contains an expandable biogas production system.

The Gulliver biomedical team, MedEasy, advanced in the Health & Nutrition category with the Pill-Minder, an automatic pill dispenser with an alarm system designed to remind people to take their medicine on time and at the right dosage. The Pill-Minder is equipped with Wi-Fi technology and a barcode scanner to make it easier to fill a prescription into the container. The team created the Pill-Minder to assist individuals who have trouble remembering and sorting their medications. At the commercial level, the Pill-Minder would be beneficial for clients living at extended care facilities.

ABOUT GULLIVER SCHOOLS

Gulliver Schools is a 501(c)(3) private, non-profit, independent, coeducational, nonsectarian day school with the mission of providing a superior, personalized college-preparatory education fostering well-rounded, successful, lifelong learners. Gulliver 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 transforming the current methods of teaching science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in high schools. Its Spirit of Innovation Challenge is free to all who wish to participate and reaches all socio-economic levels. The Foundation is the only organization of its kind to combine education, innovation and entrepreneurship to inspire solutions for achieving global sustainability.