Dublin High School InvenTeam Visits MIT for Eurekafest 2018

CAMBRIDGE, MA–Dublin High School InvenTeam students recently spent four days of their summer break in Cambridge at Lemelson-MIT Eurekafest 2018 demonstrating their SpORT (Special Olympics Robotic Thrower) prototype. The SpORT machine has been developed to help handicapped students across the Tri-Valley participate in modified basketball and soccer. The Lemelson-MIT Program celebrates outstanding inventors and inspires young people to pursue creative lives and careers through invention. Dublin High School was selected last year to participate in Eurekafest, and raised thousands of dollars to develop their prototype machine and make the trip to MIT.

Dublin High School InvenTeam in Cambridge, MA

The trip to Cambridge not only included presenting the SpORT prototype along with fifteen InvenTeams from around the country, but also touring the MIT Museum, meeting with engineers and scientists, sightseeing in Boston and even visiting Google’s Cambridge office. The InventTeam students from across the country, brought together by Eurekafest 2018, shared their passion for invention and discovery by showcasing their projects.

Dublin High School InvenTeam starting their SpORT Presentation

Dublin High School InvenTeam member Janice Liu, “EurekaFest was an unforgettable four-day experience for me that I felt ended a bit too soon. From non-stop walking on the enormous campus to watching adorable rabbits popping out of nowhere to exploring the MIT Museum, the experience of staying at MIT gave me insight into what to expect as a prospective student and the importance of being inventive at MIT.

“Overall, I enjoyed the long-awaited Invention Showcase displaying all fifteen InvenTeams and Lemelson-MIT Student Prize Winners at EurekaFest. The showcase gave me the valuable opportunity to speak with other inventive students all over the U.S. about their extraordinarily innovative projects. It was very inspiring for me to see how engineering has the possibility to change lives in so many different and unbelievable ways from environmental to health, especially when these inventions were created by students my age. Most importantly, I was honored to present SpORT and represent Dublin High School as one of the fifteen teams at EurekaFest from the incredible community support the team received this past year.”

Dublin High School students unpack their SpORT prototype

All photos credit Eugene Chou from her Bulletin story documenting the trip.