5 seniors from Delaware high school win national competition for new invention

By Alicia Vitarelli

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    WILMINGTON, Delaware (WPVI) — Five seniors at Brandywine High School in Wilmington received quite the celebration when they arrived at school on Wednesday.

The members of the school’s STEM team just won a national competition for something they created.

On Wednesday, the team returned home victorious from Washington D.C.

They arrived in a limo to the school band playing and screaming and squeals from fellow students.

After a live pitch, the team is now the national winner for the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow STEM competition.

They came out on top, with more than 1,000 entries from around the country.

They say their STEM-based solution creates an affordable alternative to a common device that helps people with disabilities.

“Our project is a replacement for an interface box that people who have independent living disabilities can use to allow them to better operate appliances in the workplace or the household,” says Gabriel Pust, a senior at Brandywine High School.

“We can manufacture it for under $10, which is a 97% price reduction from the market standard,” Pust added.

The team uses discarded PVC to create the devices, helping keep PVC waste from landfills.

They say they can also be mass-produced, making it easy for thousands of people with independent living disabilities to operate common, everyday appliances.

The team was also honored as an Employee Choice Winner by Samsung employees, earning an added $10,000 prize on top of their $100,000 National Winner earnings.

That money goes right back to their school for new technology.

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