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East Troy girls' invention named runner up for Global Innovation Award

EAST TROY — A team from St. Peter's Catholic School in East Troy was named a runner up Monday for the Global Innovation Award, presented the X Prize Foundation.

The team, called 4th Motor, includes Rachel Hunter, Callie Vogel, Lauren Hunter and Caitlin Hunter. They designed a device that allows children with Type 1 diabetes to monitor their glucose levels without having to prick their fingers.

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The Flying Monkeys, a Girl Scout team from Ames, Iowa, will receive up to $20,000 from the X Prize Foundation toward patenting their invention, called the BOB-1.

They submitted a multi-functional, cost-effective prosthetic hand device that would enable users with limb abnormalities to hold, grip, stabilize, or secure items.

The BOB-1 prototype is currently in use by a 3-year-old child from Georgia.

The other runner up was the Blue Gear Ticks from Lincoln, Mass., whose real-world solutions help kids with congenital heart defects.

All three teams will participate in a private awards ceremony in June at the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va.

The teams participate in the FIRST LEGO League, an acronym For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. The not-for-profit organization was founded by inventor Dean Kamen to inspire young people’s interest and participation in science and technology.

“The winning team’s working prototype, which is already improving the life of a young child, proves that FIRST participants are making the world a better place with their creative problem-solving skills,” President of DEKA Research & Development and FIRST Founder Dean Kamen was quoted as saying in a news release. “Now with the help of the X Prize Foundation and the US Patent Office, the Flying Monkeys will receive the kind of support needed so more people can benefit from their invention.”

FIRST LEGO League is an international program for 9 to 16 year-old children created in a partnership between FIRST and The LEGO Group in 1998 to get children excited about science and technology – and teach them valuable employment and life skills.

Founded in 1995, the X Prize Foundation is the leading non-profit organization solving the world’s greatest challenges through creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prize competitions that stimulate investment in research and development worth far more than the prize itself.

Past prizes include the $10 million Ansari X Prize for sending the world’s first private vehicle into space and back and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize for creating safe, affordable, production-capable vehicles that exceed 100 miles per gallon.

Active prizes include the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize, the $10 million Archon Genomics X PrizeE, and the $1.4 million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup X Challenge. For more information, visit www.xprize.org.