Introducing the 2021-2022 eCYBERMISSION National Finalists

 After months of research, experimentation, and analysis, twenty teams from all over the United States can proudly call themselves the 2021-2022 eCYBERMISSION National Finalists! From fighting bacterial pollution in rivers to improving reforestation after wildfires, each of these teams took a look at the world around them, identified a problem, and had the courage to say “I can make a change”. And make a change, they did! Get to know this year’s National Finalists below, and be sure to tune in to the National Showcase livestream on June 30^th at 1:00pm ET and vote for your favorites to win this year’s People’s Choice Award! Then, join us on July 1^st at 9:30am ET as we crown the winner at our Awards Ceremony!

6th Grade

Cloudy with a chance of Robotics

Team members Kashvi Bansal and Rishi Gajera, led by Team Advisor Raj Bansal, hail from Bananas Robotics, Inc. in Eagle, Idaho. Their project focuses on addressing the shortage of volunteers at their local food bank, as well as helping those receiving food from the bank make healthy choices.

 

TEEM

Members of Bay Village, Ohio’s Bay Sea Scouts, Inc., team members Becket Tumney, Orion Riddell, and Addison Graham, along with Team Advisor Richard Gash, focused their investigation on the health of their local creek. Extensive analysis found that it was healthier than they thought!

Oh, Deer!

Safety and conservation are at the heart of team members Benjamin Manhein, Neel Boteler, Maley Thornhill, and Lily Garner and Team Advisor Ashley Klein from St. Richard Catholic School in Jackson, Mississippi. Their mission? Finding a way to decrease deer vehicle crashes.

Myco-Risers

Team members Yuvaan Yellepeddy, Graham Naughton, and Aditya Nandimandalam, led by Team Advisor Murali Yellepeddy, took the issue of soil health and made it their mission to improve it. The Navy Elementary School team from Herndon, Virginia is sure to wow at NJ&EE!

River Revivers

Bacterial pollution in rivers is no match for the Providence Day School Team from Charlotte, North Carolina. Team members Milan Mishra, Margaret Hoffman, Rishab Mishra, and Ramya Puttagunta, led by Team Advisor Katy Zavesky, are on a mission to succeed!

7th Grade

Concrete Captains

Scottsdale, Arizona’s William Parsons, Eric Wang, Aditya Vashistha, and Charles Skidmore, along with Team Advisor Audrey Skidmore, are using STEM to make their community safer for disabled people. Their crowdsourced app could save countless people from injury.

Patton-Ervin

Spring is here, and this Canterbury School team from Fort Wayne, Indiana is here to make it bloom brightly! Team members Nadia Patton and Casey Ervin, along with Team Advisor Joseph Caldwell, are using STEM to help ensure that your tulip garden is the talk of the town!

Plastic Patrol

Do microplastics have you worried about the health of our planet? Lubbock, Texas locals Jett Hurst and Annerson Dooley, led by Team Advisor Laura Stary, from Southcrest Christian School are studying ways that algae can bioaccumulate, and hopefully remove, these dangerous pollutants.

StopFire Brigade

Team members Matthew Wang and Sean Conner, along with Team Advisor Kelly McDonald, took the matter of wildfires into their own hands. The Andover West Middle School team from Andover, Massachusetts have created an early detection device that could save lives.

Team AstroSTEM

Access to fresh food is a hugely important issue, and Leyla Unerli and Briana Stephens, led by Team Advisor Denise Wright, are here to help. The Ocean Bay Middle School team from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina are engineering their way to food security for all!

8th Grade

Vision

If you wear contact lenses, say a big thank you to this Mountain Heights Academy team from Tooele, Utah. Team members Weston Bruderer, Makaela Gibbons, and Rockland Stout, along with Team Advisor Lora Gibbons, are studying bacterial keratitis-causing bacteria to help put these infections to rest.

OMg

Are multivitamins the only way you’re getting your essential nutrients? Team members Nidhi Sagaram, Samil Sharma, and Viraj Vyas, led by Team Advisor Aruna Rao, are trying to make staying healthy a little easier. The Francis Granger Middle School from Aurora, Illinois are fighting magnesium deficiency with better produce production methods!

Counterfeit Catchers

Team members Noah Bueermann, Emily Forbes, Matthew Nall, and William Oswald, along with Team Advisor Laura Stary, are on a mission to help protect Navajo art and culture. The Southcrest Christian School team from Lubbock, Texas have developed a system to tell what’s real and what’s counterfeit.

AO Hydro Heroes

Hailing from Carson Middle School in Herndon, Virginia, this team is making ocean health their priority. Team members Aashritha Penumudi, Zoha Siddiqi, Ria Goel, and Riya Sri Nagella, led by Team Advisor Saritha Ventrapragada, investigated ways to reverse ocean acidification and clean up oil spills.

Supernovas

Team members Amy Yu, Pragna Rajashekar, Daniel Lam, and Garrett Chaudron, along with Team Advisor Rebecca Reed, are here to find out if digital media really helps us de-stress. The Memphis, Tennessee students studied how time scrolling social media and playing video games affected stress levels in students at their own White Station Middle School.

9th Grade

H2O

Here to up your compost game are Jeriko Jezza Freirez, Kyla Yoshizawa, Jennifer Chung, Brennen Carreira, and Team Advisor Nicole Nakasuji. The Moanalua High School students from Honolulu, Hawaii are making waves to help decrease food waste in landfills.

Pads for the Planet

Team Advisor Jyotsna Malineni and her students Moth Matthews, Mercy Felt, Redd Lain, and Zaina Zaki from Isthmus Montessori Academy Public School in Madison, Wisconsin are tackling the issue of feminine product waste with a reusable alternative.

Biochange

Team members Caleb Cole-Smith and Caitlyn Cole-Smith, led by Team Advisor Kimberly Cole, are on a mission to fight deforestation. The Science Rocks U students from Levelland, Texas are studying the best ways to promote germination of trees after wildfires.

Busy Bee Tech

Smart beehives are getting smarter thanks to High Tech High School students Ambika Rao and Romayssae Saidi. The Secaucus, New Jersey locals, along with Team Advisor Shelly Witham, identified the most important sensors for a smart beehive to ensure that beekeepers’ colonies thrive.

Challengers

Drones meet seeds in this Greenbrier Middle School’s fight to reforest. Team members Peyton Phillips, Noah Brown, Damien Bush, and Nolan Toney, led by Team Advisor David Phillips, from Evans, Georgia are using high flying techniques to promote afforestation.

Each of these teams has shown incredible passion and aptitude for improving their communities, and even the world, with STEM. We can’t wait to see them in-person for the 2022 National Judging & Educational Event in Washington, D.C. from June 27 – July 1. Good luck!

For more information about eCYBERMISSION, please visit www.ecybermission.com or email us at missioncontrol@ecybermission.com.

 

Faith Benner
Senior Communications and Marketing Specialist