A traumatic amputation could be curable in 20 years if Lake Braddock students' "auto-generating osteoprosthetic" were to become a reality.
The osteoprosthetic idea was this year's ExploraVision project for the Lake Braddock team, consisting of juniors Michael Shukis, Chen-Hang Yen and Ha-Yeong Choi. They are now one of six teams in the regional competition for students in grades 10-12. Their vision is the notion of growing a new limb if one is lost.
"It's a biological compound, so it can regenerate itself," Shukis said. "It's as close as we could be to being natural."
The students worked on their project after school, wrote a 10-page paper describing the process, and qualified for the finals with five other teams from all over the United States and Canada. The competition is sponsored by the National Science Teachers Foundation and Toshiba.
"This is a student competition where the students can imagine a technology that could exist in 20 years," said Linda Heller, director of corporate recognition programs for NSTA.
ExploraVision is a competition for all students in grades K-12. It is designed to encourage students to combine their imagination with their knowledge of science and technology to explore visions of the future, according to the ExploraVision Web site. Teams of students select a technology, research how it works and why it was invented, and then project how that technology may change in the future. They must then identify what breakthroughs are required for their vision to become a reality and describe the positive and negative consequences of their technology on society. Members of the Lake Braddock team studied the history of prosthetics, the current breakthroughs in that technology, and where they thought it could go.
COMING UP with the idea, Shukis saw an article about a child who lost a limb.
"We looked at it and found there were major downfalls in the prosthetic," Shukis said.
In the past, winning ideas have focused on things as simple as ball-point pens and as complex as satellite communications. The student teams write a paper and draw a series of Web page graphics to describe their idea. Regional winners make a Web site and a prototype of their future vision.
The Lake Braddock team needs to complete its Web site by April 13. Yen has done some Web site work in the past, so he will handle the technical side of that. "It just takes time," he said.
Ann Marie Flick is the science teacher at Lake Braddock who monitored the team's project. It's her third year working with students on ExploraVision projects. Flick credited the students for being picked as one of the six regional winners.
"They spent lots of outside hours on this," Flick said. "I kind of guide them. They did this fabulous 10-page paper." Winning this stage and becoming one of the finalists are a real accomplishment for the students. Each received a digital camera, and Lake Braddock Secondary received a laptop computer, which the students will use to create their Web site. It is the school's to keep after that.
EXPLORAVISION is intended to act as a spark to ignite a student's enthusiasm for science. The result is to give each student the experience of participating in a science forum, gaining valuable scientific experience, and developing his or her verbal presentation skills.
This is the sixth year in 12 ExploraVision competitions that Lake Braddock has had a team that went on to the finals.
"Lake Braddock has a rich history with ExploraVision," Heller said.
"It's folks like you that help us grow," said Bill Goodwin, Toshiba spokesperson.
The winning team of the final competition wins a $10,000 savings bond, and second place gets a $5,000 bond. A trip to Washington, D.C., is also part of the first-place prize, but Heller realized that might not be such a prize for the Lake Braddock team.
"For our local teams, we supply a limo," she said.