(May 30, 2014) - A team of five Maryland teens (Patterson High School, Baltimore City) harnessed the power of the sun to create a working mini "hovercraft" that they displayed at the White House during the 2014 White House Science Fair on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. They attended with their teacher, Sharon Ball, a PLTW Engineering Teacher at Patterson High School. The team developed a 3-D model of their design and then built the physical prototype from recyclable, environmental friendly material. The hovercraft includes three 6V motors, a 180-degree servo motor, and two 5v solar panels. The resulting device, the Green Tech Solar Hovercraft, helped the team win first place at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Baltimore STEM business Plan Competition. The team of five students includes three students who are enrolled in Patterson High School's PLTW Engineering Program: Ekeagwu Onyekachi Deonte Green -
PLTW Engineering Iragena Serge Bangamwabo -
PLTW Engineering Abhishek Yonghang-Subba -
PLTW Engineering Jevaughn Taylor All students are studying a range of engineering- and computer science-related subjects in high school and college. The project was also sponsored and supported by Maryland MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) and another PLTW Engineering teacher at Patterson, Nick Yates. Read more on the students' trip to the White House from the
Baltimore Sun.