Meet the 2024 eCYBERMISSION National Finalists!

Over 2,000 teams participated in this year's eCYBERMISSION competition, but only 20 will join us as National Finalists at this year's National Judging & Educational Event (NJ&EE)! NJ&EE takes place this summer, from June 24 - 28, in Chantilly, Virginia, and there are ample opportunities to participate from home. Join us on June 27 from 1-4PM ET for the National Showcase livestream, where this year's National Finalists will present their nationally-ranked projects. You can even vote for your favorite team to win the People's Choice Award during the livestream! Then, join us on June 28 from 10AM-12PM ET for the National Awards Ceremony livestream, where we'll announce the winners of this year's eCYBERMISSION competition, including the People's Choice Award winner. We have an exciting few weeks ahead of us, and there's no better way to prepare than getting to know this year's National Finalist teams!

6th Grade

Aquafour

Aquafour hails from Herndon, Virginia and is composed of students Mahika Mamidi, Tanmaya Muthuswamy, Aditya Risbud, and Rishav Thakkar and led by Team Advisor Kavitha Thiyaghu. Together, the team engineered a device, the ShowerSiren, which measures and alerts users of the amount of water used during a shower to encourage more responsible water use.

Shock Wave

Bay Sea Scouts, Inc's Shock Wave, led by Team Advisor Richard Gash, includes students Benjamin Brogan, Joseph Karim, Benjamin Kaschube, and Henry Moody. The Bay Village, Ohio locals engineered a lightweight, wind-driven cell phone charger using a tubercle-lined propeller in the shape of an Archimedes Screw to ensure boaters always have access to a charged cell phone in the case of emergencies. 

Backoff Brigade

Memphis, Tennessee team, Backoff Brigade, from White Station Middle School includes students Muaz Abid, Aniketh Roshan, Evander Rodrigues, and Neev Sharma, and is led by Team Advisor Chaka Carter Picha. The team sought to find an actionable solution for tailgating accidents in their community, and, using cutting-edge Lidar technology and warning signals, created the ATLAS device (Anti-Tailgating Lifesaving Automated System) to do just that!

Momentum Charge

Momentum Charge is making wind-powered vehicles a thing of the present! The Southcrest Christian School team from Lubbock, Texas, is led by Team Advisor Laura Stary and includes students Cooper Daniel, Xander Gonzalez, Knox Stary, and Krue Stary. The team developed three different wind turbine blade models and found that their Archimedes Spiral-inspired blade performed better than more modern designs for creating energy from wind!

Ka'ohao Team # 6

Hailing from Kailua, Hawaii, meet Ka'ohao Team # 6! This Ka'ohao School team is led by Team Advisor John Sawyer and includes students Dana Kang, Genevieve Sendrey, and Olivia Todaro. Wanting to help improve the cultivation capabilities of soil near their school, the team conducted a series of tests to deduce nutrient levels in soil samples around their campus, and followed up by cultivating actual crops to understand ideal growing conditions.

7th Grade

The Water Project

Homeschool team, The Water Project, comes to eCYBERMISSION from Foxboro, Massachusetts and is composed of students Clara DuPlessie and Elliana Shahan with Team Advisor Beth DuPlessie. The Water Project engineered a cholera-removing filter using just cobs of maize, fabric, and a plastic bottle in hopes of helping provide clean water for the people of Malawi. 

Stream Squad

Bay Village, Ohio team, Stream Squad, is also led by Team Advisor Richard Gash out of Bay Sea Scouts, Inc. Students Olivia Kim, Elizabeth Moody, Annie Wei, and April Yao were worried about the health of their local Willey Creek and decided to do something about it. The team collected data on the health of the creek, then launched an educational campaign, even writing letters to state representatives. 

50674_A

From Coral Springs, Florida, team 50674_A is led by Team Advisor Jennifer Roberts and includes students Angela Ata, Hannah Hu, Kayla Jorge, and Rahee Patel. The Coral Springs Middle School team created an alert system for school employees to know when a fight amongst students has broken out in hopes of enhancing safety and security at school. 

Code M&M

Team Advisor Laura Stary's Code M&M team, also from Southcrest Christian School in Lubbock, Texas, includes students Jay Allen, Joaquin Armstrong, Brody Lauderdale, and Courtland Murphy. Together, the team studied the efficacy of different natural additives to promote wound healing, even developing a smart bandage with the ointment they developed.

Team Greenify

From Santa Clara, California, Team Greenify includes Team Advisor Jessica Schroeder and students Nakshathra Jakkula, Solynn Jeon, and Mrunmayee Kulkarni from Cabrillo Middle School. For their eCYBERMISSION project tackled the issue of deforestation by developing a more sustainable alternative to using wood in construction. 

8th Grade

Psycho Cyclists

 

Island Trees Middle School students Lucas Cifarelli, Cooper Dyckman, Gavin Lucatorto, and Jaiden Mejer, led by Team Advisor Allison Goldstein, made helmetless bike riding their mission to solve. The Levittown, New York team developed a modified helmet and vest combination to make riding bicycles safer.

Geriatric Robots

Team Geriatric Robots from Park Ridge, Illinois, developed a state-of-the-art fall detector device that measures fall severity in an attempt to mitigate the risks of falling in elderly people. The team comes from St. Paul of the Cross School and includes students Lily de Tagyos, Margaret Fornelli, and Abigail Seurynck and Team Advisor Karl Ochsner.

Genome Genies

Providence Day School team, Genome Genies, includes Team Advisor Kelly Gordon and students Atlas Long, Luke Longin, Rishi Mishra, and Jack Sadowski. Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, the Genome Genies designed an integrated DNA solution to provide people with access to DNA data as part of routine health checks at the doctor's office.

The Scientists

Aptly named, The Scientists join us from Lawrence Virtual School in Robinson, Kansas. The team is composed of students Daniel Dao, Lawrence Dao, and Eian Pracht and led by Team Advisor Nancy Jackson. Together, they studied the interest and potential for AI educational initiatives in schools and assessed the accuracy of ChatGPT's mathematical reasonings.

Slow Patrol

From Stansbury Park, Utah, comes the Slow Patrol, made up of students Calvin Bruderer, Malachi Chaya, Natalia Rowe, and Kimmy Watson and led by Team Advisor Lora Gibbons. The Making STEM Grow team developed a device, the Cross Alert, which incorporates auditory and visual warnings to drivers of pedestrians crossing the street. 

9th Grade

Team BioTech

From Fairfield, Pennsylvania, homeschooled Team BioTech includes students Emma Simmons and Sarah Simmons and is led by Team Advisor Lisa McLeod-Simmons. Their invention, Respitronics, is a wearable biomedical sensor that increases access to remote healthcare for patients with chronic lower respiratory disease. 

BasilLab

John Marshall High School's BasilLab, from Rochester, Minnesota, includes students Rick Ivan Mamaril and Aidan Steele and Team Advisor Debra Las. The team studied the impact of hydrogel usage on water conservation and plant growth in gardening. 

Prescription Protectors

Hailing from Raleigh, North Carolina, Prescription Protectors is comprised of students Sajith Gogineni, Saicharan Karthikeyan, Naren Pai, and Eoin Samuel and led by Team Advisor Thenmozhi Kandasamy. The Enloe Magnet High School team wanted to help people who need assistance taking their medication and developed the Prescription Protector, which integrates medication reminders, dispensers, and biometric locks to ensure the right people take the right medications at the right time, every time. 

ThermoGuardians

From OSIEL (Oklahoma School of Innovation & Experiential Learning) in Bixby, Oklahoma comes the ThermoGuardians. The team includes students John Alcott, Austin Bacher, and Natalya Balandran and is led by Team Advisor Steven Arant. Together, they developed an automated roof panel for buildings that flips from dark to light colors to aid in heat absorption in cold months and reflection in warm months, saving energy and keeping those inside comfortable. 

E-bike Safety Patrol

San Diego, California team, E-bike Safety Patrol, join us from Pacific Trails Middle School and Canyon Crest Academy High School. Comprised of students Naomi Mehl and Ahaan Pandey and Team Advisor Preetanshu Pandey, the team developed the Smart Helmet, which connects to an e-bike and verifies rider usage before the bike will start, making dangerous helmetless riding a thing of the past. 

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