January Update for Ridgewood High School InvenTeam

January was a month of progress for the Ridgewood High School Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam. In all facets of our project we overcame considerable obstacles and made strides toward our goals.

The first aspect of our project that progressed was in the realm of water testing. While most of our team’s monthly updates have centered around technological advances, (and we have had those too,) this month we have taken considerable strides in testing and planning for future tests of our water purification. In January we leveraged a vital connection with Mr. Furrrey of Ridgewood Water. Carina of the User Experience Team, worked with Mr. Furrey this week to secure different types of water to test our chemical process on. In collecting samples of water from wells and even aquariums, we have been able to test the efficacy of our reaction beyond simple tap water. In doing this, we hit one of our largest milestones to date. Using aquarium water with Coliform bacteria, after fifteen minutes of our catalyst treatment, the water was bacteria-free! This is as a strong affirmation of our chemical reaction’s design and effectiveness.

With the good news on the testing front, our team also continued work on the development of our bottle prototype. The first aspect of our bottle that we improved was the electron holder. For months we have worked to determine the right makeup, size, and shape of this piece. Now, both Hailey and Elliot are bringing together their designs to make the best-functioning piece. It is a true example of collaboration.

Furthermore, Teddy has begun work on a filter for our bottle. While in the initial stages, they want to begin looking at configurations, materials, and efficacy of potential filters. “I am going to take distilled water and water from a local natural source to filter. After that, I’m going to find the conductivity of all the different sources in order to determine whether the filtering would reduce the conductivity and ion concentration to that of distilled water.” This is a project the whole team is excited about for the coming weeks and months.

Lastly, Elliot has been finalizing the cap for our bottle. After months of working, 3D printing, and analyzing, he is in the final stages of development. By the end of this month, the cap is mostly done: “I assembled a full cap model that's ready for electronic integration. With this done, I am planning on making small changes to our design in terms of functionality, like altering the stirring shape a little bit to accommodate the slender nature of the bottle.” This has really been Elliot’s baby, and we are so proud of what he has been able to accomplish.

Beyond the technological advances, the communication side has also made progress. Our survey has been developed and sent out. This will help us immensely in understanding what our target consumer is looking for to determine how our final product should be built. Using the connections of our team members, we have been able to send the survey to members of DECA, Community Outreach Club, Spanish Club, Applied Engineering Club, and many others. While we have over 200 responses in general, we also are aware that many of these respondents are not the avid hikers of our target market. As a result, we are working to connect with more hikers to get even better data.

Finally, we have also continued to expand our outreach through Twitter. An important aspect of our team’s communication strategy is community outreach. As a result, we are continuing to develop both on our Instagram and Twitter. On Instagram we focus on visuals like images from our meetings and work sessions, and we see Twitter as a way to interact with the community. These allow us to use our creativity and spread the word about our product.

All in all, this was another month of progress. Next month we hope to continue work on the design of our electrode holder, cap, and filter. Moreover, we will keep distributing our survey. And lastly, we will continue to meet and interact with members of our community. We hope everyone stays safe and keeps on dreaming!