Into The Woods

What an incredible few months! We’re thrilled and proud to be representing Amherst Regional High School as one of eight teams selected for the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam program, and we’re already hard at work developing our ideas and diving deep into our problem. Between our meetings several days per week and interviews with our stakeholders, we’ve certainly been busy!

After initially applying to the grant with two potential projects, we’ve settled on one to go full steam ahead with: a vital sign monitoring system that’s able to track various vital signs of Search and Rescuers, record the locations of Rescuers, transmit the data back to a command center, and integrate them seamlessly into the already existing CalTopo mapping program developed specifically for Search and Rescue. We have several challenges to overcome in this project, mainly how to keep the system lightweight and compact, as well as affordable, and overcome the abundant challenges of communications.

Meanwhile, our communications team has been hard at work contacting various experts both in our region and around the country. We’re honored to have had the opportunity to talk with many people within the field of Search and Rescue (SAR). We’ve already had quite a few eye-opening meetings with Mark Stec, a Rescuer in Ventura County, California. Recently, we’ve also had several meetings with the command personnel of the Amherst Fire Department. Fire Chief Tim Nelson and Assistant Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgen have delighted us with their knowledge of SAR working terrains, the ways various technologies are used during SAR operations, and how instant communication is a vital part of being in the field. In addition to these interviews, our communications team has been working on distributing the fantastic news of our acceptance into the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam program to various news agencies in our area, with the help of our district Director of Communications & Operations, Debbie Westmoreland, as well as our Town Manager, Paul Bockelman. 

Over the next month, we’re looking forward to several more meetings with experts and starting the design and prototyping of our invention! We are excited to have our first Internal Tech Review meeting with Doug Scott in the coming weeks. The financial team has begun ordering items to be used in our project, and we’re excited to start using them. You can follow our progress by watching for updates to our blog, or following our Instagram at this link. team!

ARHS InvenTeam