Prize: Each student won a $10,000 savings bond and an all-expense-paid trip to Washington DC for the national awards ceremony on June 9, 2023.
Project abstract: We are creating a lightweight, low-cost, bulletproof backpack that solves the problem of youth deaths from gun violence. This is important because 48,023 people were killed from gun violence in the United States in 2021. Firearms are the number one cause of death for children in the United States. The backpack, MASTERPACK, will be made from graphene material, it will include an expandable graphene shield, GPS locator, radio wave communication, and will be powered by radio frequency energy harvesting. It will also include a net launcher that can trap and hopefully stop or trip a shooter. Additionally, it's a backpack - with zippers, storage compartments for your lunch and schoolwork and in cool colors and designs that kids will want to wear.
