From left, ExploraVision Regional Winning Coach and Academy for Science and Design teacher Bridget Phillips, Toshiba representative Casey Potvin, sixth-grade students Amelia Delsesto, Kristina Baglio, Irene Rubesh, Ava Suarez and mentor Christine Rohr, celebrate the accomplishments of the four sixth-graders who were recognized as regional winners in Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) ExploraVision competition for their Epi-Patch project.

NASHUA – Four Nashua sixth-graders are regional finalists in the world’s largest K-12 science competition.

Academy for Science and Design students Amelia Delsesto, Kristina Baglio, Ava Suarez and Irene Rubesh were recognized this month in the Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) ExploraVision competition for their Epi-Patch project. Their team is one of 24 teams winning teams across the country.

As part of the competition, students are challenged to envision technology of the future and bring their ideas to life. They do this through research of current science and technology, and then develop a presentation and an 11-page paper outlining their ideas with an abstract, history, and other key components.

The academy students chose to look into the Epi-Patch because two of the girls in the group have peanut allergies. As noted in the team’s abstract, many suffer from severe allergic reactions each day. Those with allergies also sometimes forget or lose their EpiPens, so the team decided to create the Epi-Patch that would be secured to the thigh.

During a recent ceremony, Rubesh said the Epi-Patch they designed can monitor heart rate, blood pressure and adrenaline levels to recognize when someone is having an allergic reaction. The plan is for the device to then automatically inject medication into the thigh.

Academy students have participated in this contest for the last three years. In addition to the Epi-Patch project, two other teams from the academy received honorable mentions. Honorable mentions are in the top 10 percent of the teams for their age bracket across the country.

One academy team was recognized for creating a mattress with heating and cooling pads after learning that memory foam actually bunches up and emits heat. The other team created a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) that was designed as a portable small pad with a needle for those with diabetes.

After the ceremony, academy Director Jennifer Cava said, “The Toshiba/NSTA Exploravision competition is a wonderful addition to our sixth-grade program, as it encourages our students to solve real-world problems in collaborative and creative ways. It is an honor to celebrate our students’ accomplishments with their peers, parents, teachers, and a representative from Toshiba.”

The four students will now be competing against the six teams in their age bracket for a national finalist spot.

As part of the competition, students are grouped by grade: kindergarten through third grade, fourth grade through sixth grade, seventh grade through ninth, and 10th-12th. There are six regional contest winners per age group.

The group from Nashua is up against several other teams with projects, such as a Biomimicry Algae Cleanup System (B.A.C.S.), an ADHD medicine watch, and a lung cancer preventative treatment that uses a specialized nanobot placed directly in the lung for detection and destruction of cancer forming cells.

Now, regional winners will be working to create a website and a prototype for their future technology. To assist with this, the students received a Toshiba notebook computer and a guide on how to design a step-by-step website. The team also needs to incorporate a brief video. Their websites are due in April for judgments from the national judging committee, who will pick eight finalist teams in May.

Of the eight finalists, four will be awarded first-place prizes, while four will be awarded second place distinctions.

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