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NBC students earn trip to nationals

Engineering by Design club to represent state in STEM event

Northern Bedford County middle-high school students in the Engineering by Design club have been named state winners of the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest.

Teacher Craig Curfman’s team of students on Thursday was chosen over four other state finalists to represent Pennsylvania in a national competition that tests students’ abilities to solve real problems using science, technology, engineering and math or STEM.

As a result of their win, the team will receive $20,000 worth of technology and a chance of winning a $100,000 grant. The national champion will be announced in April.

The Northern Bedford team is developing a way that a radio-frequency identification transponder can activate solar-powered warning lights to alert motorists a school bus is stopped ahead.

“As a rural school district, our students travel to and from our campus on district-contracted transportation,” a statement from Curfman read. “Most of our roadways are narrow, twisting township roads, and there are many stops where visibility of the oncoming traffic is reduced. … We have determined that signage is not enough, as drivers become accustomed to the signs.”

The team is troubleshooting and testing an RFID transmitter for warning lights placed before to school bus stops where the upcoming location may be unexpected or obscured by roadway geometry and terrain, such as a curve or a hill.

In time for the national competition, the team will have designed, constructed and implemented a functional prototype and collect data on its effectiveness, Curfman stated.

The Northern Bedford team entered the contest by submitting an application in the fall. Then in December, 250 state finalists were selected to submit an activity plan.

Currently the team is in the third round of the competition in which 50 state winners are selected to submit project videos by Feb. 15.

Ten national finalists will be selected to participate in a video voting contest on social media in March.

Three national winners will emerge when the 10 finalists attend a pitch event to demonstrate a prototype of their invention before a panel of judges in April.

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