The Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam™ initiative inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Inventeams are granted up to $10,000 each to conceptualize, design and build technological solutions to real-world problems. Working prototypes of the solutions are showcased at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology each June at the Lemelson-MIT Program’s EurekaFest event. Learn more about Lemelson-MIT on their website.
Who we are:
We are Design & Visual Communications students from Newton North High School who have been given the opportunity by the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam program to apply our design, science, technology, engineering and math skills to solve a real-world problem.
Our invention statement:
Newton North High School’s InvenTeam is producing a pedestrian alert system to be used in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with the hope that it will also be implemented in other areas of the world. The system will warn drivers of crossing pedestrians and help pedestrians in developing countries safely cross dangerous roads. The invention will incorporate a dual-sensor method with a processing platform to calculate the arrival time of an oncoming vehicle.
To minimize environmental impact, we will build part of the system with used automotive parts, and its entire power source will be solar energy. To implement the invention in a nonintrusive way, we will incorporate aesthetics of Ethiopian art and architecture.
B-Team opening our Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam banner.
The A-Team and the B-Team:
Our group of 24 students has an A-Team and a B-Team. The A-Team oversees the design and building of the invention while the B-Team is in charge of the educational component, which includes creating an effective brand for the invention and developing ways to raise Ethiopian awareness about road traffic safety. Both teams meet for at least an hour during the school day. The A-Team has additional engineering meetings every Wednesday and Friday after school for at least two hours to experiment with the technical components of the invention.
Both teams are collaborating on the project with Career & Vocational Technical Education programs at Newton North, such as drafting and engineering.
As design students, we plan to concentrate on the design and the technical aspects of our project in order to create an invention that is practical and aesthetically pleasing.
Our goal:
Our goal is to protect the pedestrians in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia by implementing pedestrian alert systems near our sister school, Saint Joseph School.
An illustration of the Pedestrian Alert System in an Ethiopian street.
Found this project truly inspiring and thoughtful as well.
If act I am working for the moment in Bahir Dar which is north west of Addis Abeba, even though there are only few traffic flow, the accident rate relative to the vehicle number is rather high not because poor traffic system but because poor pedistrian line usage and behavior. I really appreciate this work greatly.
Sounds like a really cool ide and beneficial by keeping people safe. Better than anything I ever worked on in high school; let your creativity flow!
Neat project that will have great impact throughout the world! Forward-looking design strategy too! Sounds like a lot of fun engineering 🙂