Inventive initiative

Students earn grant for bug breeding disruptor

A team of Oakland Park’s Northeast High School students earned a $10,000 Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam grant to develop a mosquito breeding disruptor. The goal is to thwart insect vectored illnesses such as Zika.

“It will be a device that sits on top of the water and creates a vibration on the surface,” said team leader and biology teacher L. Clara Mabour. “At intervals, it will buzz for a few seconds and then stop. Mosquitoes don’t like to settle on moving water.”

The unique device will be ideal for areas impacted by traumatic events such as hurricanes, Mabour said.

“It also has an environmental management component that can measure different environmental factors for the water it’s in and the air around it,” Mabour said.

The 23-year-old educator formed the after-school group late last spring. The teens worked through the summer to find the solution to a common problem.

Mabour has experienced both sides of InvenTeam projects. Five years ago, as a Northeast High School senior, her team won a $10,000 grant for a portable water sanitation system. It was presented at the 2013 White House Science Fair where President Barack Obama operated the system by riding a bicycle.

“It’s a project that never stops giving,” Mabour said. “I still carry it with me to this day” she said referring to skills she gained navigating college and in leadership.

Mabour said the project is leading her students to explore areas they might not have tried on their own. As the team works together, they’re often enticed to try a range of roles.

“This is really a hands-on project. It gives them an opportunity to develop in many different ways,” Mabour said.

In addition to funding, the grant provides guidance from a senior engineer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. The team will build a prototype to be revealed at EurekaFest in June at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The high school was one of 15 schools nationwide selected for the award. The initiative aims to inspire a new generation of inventors.