On Monday, February 12th, 2024, finalists for the national STEM Challenge were announced, with Centaurus’ very own Jack Albenberg among them. The National STEM Challenge, co-presented by the U.S. Department of Education, is open to any U.S. student in grades 6th-12th. Students are expected to design, test, and submit individual STEM projects to be viewed and be judged by top STEM experts in the country. If chosen to be selected as a National STEM challenge champion, students will win trips to the National STEM Festival located in Washington D.C., on April 12, 2024, where they are able to present their projects to some of America’s most influential leaders. We interviewed Sophomore, Jack Albenberg about his project, and how other students at CHS can get involved in other engineering/STEM opportunities, challenges, and awards around Centaurus. Albenberg also mentioned that the Engineering Club has won multiple awards before.,
Vanessa Diaz: Congrats on the award! Would you mind explaining what exactly the award was and the prize?
Jack Aldenberg: The award was through the National STEM Challenge where we had to build a project related to a STEM field and then submit it to be viewed by important STEM leaders. The prize was being able to go to Washington D.C. for 2 or 3 days with my dad to present my project if (the project was) chosen.
VD: What was your project?
JA: My project used NFC technology, Near-Field Communication technology, similar to what you use when you tap your phone against a credit card reader. With that technology I made a system where the elderly or people who need to get or do things more easily can tap a small table with 3D printed symbols/circles on it and then it would, when tapped, call someone or turn on your lights.
VD: What do you hope to do with this award in the future?
JA: Hopefully put it on my resume for future applications. I’d love to use it to open doors in the future to more opportunities.
VD: Do you know how students at Centaurus can apply for awards like these?
JA: Yeah, I actually created an Engineering Club with my friend at Centaurus and all we do is apply for challenges and then we try to make STEM related projects and submit them.
VD: When is the Engineering Club?
JA: It’s on Wednesdays in the morning from 8:30-9:30, and it’s really fun!
VD: What were those awards/prizes won in previous years?
JA: Last year and this year two of the teams in the Engineering Club won $2,500 worth of prizes from Samsung each, $5000 in total. Last year that consisted of a chromebook and 3 tablets that we split among each other.
VD: What was made for those competitions?
JA: So that was the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow project and you’re able to do pretty much whatever you want for that. Last year we made a robot that puts salt on ice to help people not slip. And this year, another team I was not a part of made a fire-fighting drone, and we made an airbag for the outside of a car. So if a car was going to hit a pedestrian or deer or something, it could help lessen the impact.
Congratulations Jack! Don’t be afraid to get out there Warriors! Who knows, you could be the next Centaurus student winning an award for a fire fighting robot!
If you’re interested in the Engineering Club, check out the club directory to learn more. P.S awards look extra impressive on college applications or resumes.
