Meet the 2023 eCYBERMISSION National Finalists!

Over 1,800 teams submitted Mission Folders for this year's eCYBERMISSION competition, but only 20 can call themselves National Finalists! Ahead of our National Judging & Educational Event (NJ&EE), taking place from June 26-29 in Hunt Valley, MD, get to know this year's top scoring teams. You can get in on the fun by watching the National Showcase livestream on June 28 at 1PM ET, where teams will present their community-changing projects and you get to vote on your favorite to win the People's Choice Award. Then, join us on June 29 for our Awards Ceremony livestream at 10 AM ET as we crown this year's National Winners!

6th Grade

Aqua Pups

Team members Clara DuPlessie and Elliana Shahan, along with Team Advisor Beth DuPlessie, hail from Foxboro, Massachusetts. Together, they engineered a device that allows whelping and nursing dogs to safely drink water from a bowl without the risk of their puppies falling in.

Gladiators 1

When White Station Middle School's Brooklynn Smith, Daelyn Griffin, Malyia Boone, and Natalie Sanchez Ortega, led by Team Advisor Chaka Picha, became aware of the danger of potholes, they got to work on a solution. The result was a remote-controlled robot designed to move along roads and fill in potholes in their local community of Memphis, Tennessee.

MISSing Monarchs

Members of Bay Sea Scouts in Bay Village, Ohio, Annie Wei, April Yao, Elizabeth Moody, Olivia Kim, and Team Advisor Richard Gash used STEM to increase awareness and activism on the issue of North America's declining monarch population. 

1 Peter 5:7

Mental health is the focus of 6th graders' Ava-Grace Sadler, Olivia Roach, Rylee McReynolds, and Sydney Kubala, led by Team Advisor Laura Stary, eCYBERMISSION project. Together, the team tested a variety of methods to help students fight anxiety in the classroom.  

HP Team 8

Las Vegas' Daniel Chang, Dylan Kim, Francisco Ramirez, Xuanzhe Wang, and Team Advisor May Lualhati tackled overflowing landfills for their eCYBERMISSION project, which sought to ascertain the optimal decomposition conditions for backyard composting. 

7th Grade

The Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect is making waves at this year's NJ&EE with their project on harnessing power from lake waves. The team is made of students Bailey Rider, Caitlin Holmes, Jacqueline Warner, Mika Kunigonis, and Team Advisor Patricia Killian and comes to us from The Alternative School for Math and Science in Corning, New York.

Mad Scientists

Memphis, Tennessee team, Mad Scientists, developed a low-cost, portable device that detects gunshots in schools and reports it to the authorities. Students doing this noble work include White Station Middle School's Arush Sajja, Ghanishth Awashthi, Jagreet Choudhury, Navaneeth Roshan, and Team Advisor Tachina Jones.

Toxic CHLORO Fighters

Bay Sea Scout's 7th-grade team is comprised of Addison Graham, Becket Tumney, Orion Riddell, Riley Campbell, and NJ&EE alumnus Richard Gash. The team studied what plants could help mitigate the creation of toxic algal blooms in their local Lake Erie. 

H2O Bros

Seeking a way to reuse hydraulic fracking wastewater for agriculture is team H2O Bros led by Team Advisor Laura Stary. The team comes from Lubbock, Texas' Southcrest Christian School and includes team members Brex Stephens, Lucas Higgins, Lincoln Dooley, and Jaxson Ferran.

Trailblazers 2.0

After record-breaking visitation to National Parks highlighted outdated systems for handling outdoor emergencies, West Jordan, Utah team, Trailblazers 2.0, decided to engineer a solution. The Mountain Heights Academy team is led by Team Advisor Lora Gibbons and includes Kimberly Watson, Malachi Chaya, and Natalia Rowe.

8th Grade

Cardio for Chemo

Team members Elizabeth Vetzev and Rebecca John, led by Team Advisor Kelly McDonald, created an app to help patients undergoing chemotherapy by providing exercise guidance. The team hails from West Middle School in Andover, Massachusetts. 

Disarmed Arms

Also seeking to tackle the issue of guns in schools is Raleigh, North Carolina's Disarmed Arms, who developed a remote-locking mechanism when guns are taken places they shouldn't be. The team is made of Carnage Middle School students Eoin Samuel, Naren Pai, Saicharan Karthikeyan, Sajith Gogineni, and Team Advisor Thenmozhi Kandasamy.

Remote Reality!

Seeking a solution for improving remote learning is Still Middle School's Kartika Palani, Khanak Parikh, Saanvi Thammineni, and Team Advisor Venugopal Thammineni. The Aurora, Illinois team used scientific analysis to gain an understanding of the issue and develop a solution.

HydroAid

Southcrest Christian School's 8th-grade team is composed of Annerson Dooley, Denver Jewell, Jett Hurst, and Team Advisor Laura Stary. Their research focused on the removal and containment of PFAS in the water supply of their local Lubbock, Texas.

Water Warriors

Water scarcity is at the heart of the Scottsdale, Arizona team from Sunrise and Cocopah Middle Schools. With the help of Team Advisor Audrey Skidmore, students Aditya Vashistha, Charles Skidmore, Eric Wang, and William Parsons engineered a moisture-harvester that collects water from air. 

9th Grade

Soundsations

Poolesville and Clarksburg High Schools' Akshay Jilla, Armaan Jain, Shrey Agarwal, Zaheen Ahmed, and Team Advisor Ravi Sesetty developed the VibeSafe helmet to enhance safety for hearing-impaired cyclists in their hometown of Clarksburg, Maryland. 

Little MAAKs

Led be Team Advisor, David Phillips, the Evans, Georgia team invented the Bunny Box, which is used to help athletes stay cool in the summer heat. The team includes Greenbrier Middle School students Ava Call, Avery Jones, Kherington Phillips, and Mia Riley.

Urica

NJ&EE alumni Nidhi Sagaram, Samil Sharma, Viraj Vyas, and Team Advisor Bhavna Sharma focused their project on prevention of hyperuricemia. The Naperville, Illinois locals attend Metea Valley and Neuqua Valley High Schools.

Invincible Inventors

Kansas City, Missouri students from St. Teresa's Academy, Harper Beck, Gabby Harlow, Julia Harbert, Vivian Lawhead, and Team Advisor Renee Blake are empowering women, and everyone, to feel and be safer with their family safety app.  

Apollo2

Our final team is Lora Gibbons-led 9th graders Makaela Gibbons, Malia Chaya, Rockland Stout, and Weston Bruderer. The STEM team from Stansbury Park, Utah developed a warning system to alert those at risk of hypoxemia of declining oxygen levels. 

We are so excited to see these 20 National Finalist teams shine at this year's National Judging & Educational Event! If you haven't already, be sure to follow us on social media so you don't miss a single moment of the action!

Faith Benner

Sr. Communications and Marketing Specialist