Beacon Elementary and their 5th grade STEM team competed in the OSLN (Ohio STEM Learning Network) Statewide Design Challenge as a selected finalist in this year’s competition. They qualified as a finalist because they had been among one of the top 20 teams in the state, K-12th grade, with a qualifying score. The statewide design challenge is a partnership with Battelle, NASA, OSU, and Starlab. Students worked to problem solve and use design thinking to solve this year’s challenge: How do we improve the sustainability of life in low-Earth orbit, such as living aboard the Starlab space station?
Beacon’s STEM team approached this problem with a focus in mental health and wellbeing by designing an AI companion bot named Sylis. Since October, students got to work with science experts from the aerospace and engineering community of NASA as they worked on their design project and prototypes. Their one-of-a-kind solution addressed the loneliness and mental health struggles that astronauts might struggle with when away from home on missions. Another part of this project was for students to transfer their design into the real world, and the Beacon STEM team provided an amazing translation of their solution. Sylis could be an AI companion bot that can help students at school. Students can use Sylis right before a test, if they get nervous and our bot can help with stress relief. Or if a student is having a medical emergency and needs an epi pen, it can inject the lifesaving medicine. Or, if a student has a disability like dyslexia, it can read books or test questions to them.
We are proud of the Beacon STEM team and all of their accomplishments. Way to go Beacon!
