East Greenwich High School finalist in Samsung ‘Solve for Tomorrow’ contest

From left, Kyle Riggs, Caraline Gammons, Cameron Cianciolo and Julian Wu make bioplastics in their biotechnology class at East Greenwich High School. The East Greenwich High School class is a finalist in Samsung’s “Solve for Tomorrow” contest for their project on bioplastics. / COURTESY NICHOLAS RATH
From left, Kyle Riggs, Caraline Gammons, Cameron Cianciolo and Julian Wu make bioplastics in their biotechnology class at East Greenwich High School. The East Greenwich High School class is a finalist in Samsung’s “Solve for Tomorrow” contest for their project on bioplastics. / COURTESY NICHOLAS RATH

EAST GREENWICH – A project about creating biodegradable plastics – also known as bioplastics – out of cornstarch, potatoes and milk has made a biotechnology class at East Greenwich High School a finalist in Samsung’s “Solve for Tomorrow” contest.
Through the competition, students were challenged to use their science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, skills to create innovative ways to solve problems in their communities.
The students in Nicholas Rath’s class identified the problem of plastics polluting local waterways and Narragansett Bay. To help combat that problem, the students created bioplastics from renewable sources as an alternative to petro-based polymers.
Once the bioplastics were formed, the students then subjected them to various environmental conditions, such as water, salt water, soil and heat, Rath explained.
The bioplastics will be kept in those environments for the remainder of the school year, and students will check them periodically to see if they degrade.
The students also created a Twitter account, @EGSolve4Tmw, to educate the public about plastics and their project, and met with town officials to ask them about a townwide plastic bag ban.
Now, two of the students in the 18-member class, Ben Markstone and Julian Wu, will travel to New York City on March 15 for the final part of the competition, which also features 14 other schools.
The Solve for Tomorrow project already has garnered $40,000 in technology prizes for East Greenwich High School, and the class has a chance to win an additional $120,000 in technology.
Rath said the students appreciate that plastics are an important part of what people use every day, and are economically inexpensive, but at the same time “very ecologically devastating.”
“I was really impressed with how the class came together,” Rath said. “It was a great class to begin with and they learned a lot about bioplastics in general.”
As part of their research, plastics experts from Teknor Apex in Pawtucket visited the class to provide their expertise.
The students also created a video to explain their project, which was submitted for the competition.
Samsung Electronics America said more than 4,100 school groups submitted projects explaining how they would use STEM to address community issues. The 15 finalists were selected from a pool of state winners, as well as Washington, D.C.
In addition to East Greenwich High School’s bioplastics project, this year’s projects include a smartwatch app for pedestrian safety, enhanced window screens for reducing pollution and tiny homes for homeless teens.
“This contest not only challenges students to review their STEM knowledge but also to take a hard look at some of the real-life problems people in their communities are facing,” Ann Woo, director of corporate citizenship at Samsung Electronics America, said in a statement. “This is about growing as a student and as a citizen.”
In addition to the award winners being chosen by judges, public voting also will take place on Twitter and Instagram through April 1. Members of the public can support their favorite school by posting its given hashtag. Rath said those who support East Greenwich can vote once per day, with #SamsungSolve and #SamsungSolveEGHS.
Public schools in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin also are finalists.

No posts to display