Bishop-Wisecarver, a trusted industrial automation company offering proven mechatronic solutions that are expertly designed and delivered to perform, today announced that Ramzi Latreche from Ygnacio Valley High School has won its first-ever Wisecarver Innovation Award. Through this student design contest, Bishop-Wisecarver challenged students in primary or secondary accredited educational facilities in their community to develop a design that could make their virtual learning experience due to COVID-19 easier. Latreche’s winning design proposed an innovative way of using vibrations in a pillow to consistently get a good night’s sleep in order to perform better in an online learning environment.
Kicked off as part of Bishop-Wisecarver’s Virtual 2020 MFG Day event, this award is yet another example of Bishop-Wisecarver’s corporate commitment to support and promote programs that provide real-world learning experiences to help students succeed today, and well into their futures. The company is also a long-time supporter of FIRST, a program that inspires young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators with well-rounded life capabilities including self-reliance, communication and leadership. Ygnacio Valley High School is an avid participant in this program with its Project 212 (FIRST Team 7137), which is also sponsored by Bishop-Wisecarver.
“Providing real-world experience for today’s youth can provide the basis for their success not only in academia, but also in their life-long careers,” said Joseph Alvarico, Engineering Pathway teacher and FIRST Robotics coach, Ygnacio Valley High School. “As one of the FIRST Robotics instructors, I have seen first-hand the significant difference a company such as Bishop-Wisecarver can make with these types of programs and sponsorships. As a Title I school, we rely on these commitments and partnerships to unleash a watershed of opportunities for our students, and the companies in the community who will one day employ them.”
“I enjoyed using skills learned in my engineering classes to think creatively and scientifically about an invention that could help all students be more successful with the online classroom learning environment,“ said Ramzi Latreche, Senior at Ygnacio Valley High School and winner of the first Wisecarver Innovation Award. “My submission focused on the importance of sleep to help us stay more alert and engaged so we can continue learning at our highest level. I’m glad the Bishop-Wisecarver judges saw the value in the concept and selected me as the design contest winner.”
About the Innovation Design Contest
The Wisecarver Innovation Award asked students “What would you design to make your learning experience easier?” These designs could include anything for their workstation, bedroom, desk, kitchen table, or something else to help them manage their experience. The goal was to design something that would enable them to make it easier to learn outside of the physical school building. Participants responded by providing a 60-second video that included an overview of their idea, how it helps and any drawings, prototypes or concept designs that could help provide additional explanation.
The three key areas used to determine the winner included the following:
- Innovation – How does this idea represent an important tool to help learn virtually?
- Thinking outside the box – Originality of idea
- Broad appeal – Will a large number of students find it useful?
“Bishop-Wisecarver has always been strongly committed to giving back to our community by embracing and supporting programs that help all students learn and succeed,” said Pamela Kan, Bishop-Wisecarver President. “The design ideas generated from this contest were outstanding and clearly demonstrate the sheer talent and motivation of our diverse youth who will rise up one day and lead our companies and our world. Sometimes all they need is an opportunity and we are proud to be able to give that to so many students.”
For more information, visit bwc.com.
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