TOWSON, Md. — A team of Baltimore County high schoolers finished second-overall at the MESA USA National Engineering Design Competition.
The Math, Engineering and Science Achievement team from Eastern Technical High School competed in the contest held June 19-21 at the University of Arizona in Tucson. The team consisted of rising seniors Aneisa Jangbahadur and Christopher Tang, as well as recent 2019 graduates AJ Saquilayan and Hana Harwood, who had to miss the even due to a conflict as an incoming member of the United States Naval Academy. Angela Waldrop, an engineering teacher at the school, was the team’s sponsor.
At the competition, students had to use technology provided to them to solve a challenge in their community, affecting either a specific group of people or the community as a whole, a release from Baltimore County Public Schools said. The Eastern Tech team made a device to aid people who struggle with vision challenges.
“The proposed device is a pod attached to the bottom of the mobility aid that would allow the user to obtain a better sense of their surroundings through audio and vibrating output,” according to the team’s description of their device at the contest. “It would help the client to detect his or her proximity from obstacles and should eliminate the fear that exploring unfamiliar environments induces.”
The team advanced to the national competition in Arizona after placing first in regional MESA BCPS Day in March, then doing the same at the Maryland MESA Day in May.
