CSAS seniors win Bright Spark’s 2018 Invention Challenge

Three students from the Chattanooga School for the Arts and Sciences won Bright Spark’s 2018 invention challenge with their idea for a a light-up, GPS dog collar called the Collite.

Brennan, Will and Tyler, all CSAS seniors, won a $100 gift card and beat out 30 other inventions through two rounds of judging to take first place.

“Bright Spark does a fantastic job creating an experience for kids to participate in meaningful Design Thinking,” said Kristin Burrus, a CSAS science teacher and the team’s sponsor, in a statement. “The Collite group have plans to make a working prototype of the collar using skills learned and resources from our CSAS VWeLab. I am proud of all the CSAS teams and know that this experience has made them better critical thinkers, collaborators, and future entrepreneurs.”

Bright Spark, a project of Bridge Innovate, is in its sixth year. This year’s challenge was sponsored by Western Electric. Entries were judged by Geoff Millener of The Edney Center, Matt Harris of Walker County Schools, Tim Walsh of Western Electric, and Allison Wolfe of CO.LAB.

“The Invention Challenge is a fun avenue for students like Brennan, Will and Tyler to build creative muscle,” reads a statement by Bright Spark director Mary Kim. “We are thankful for all the students and teachers who participated this year! This challenge is a great stepping stone to our Student Design Competition where students will tackle a community-based problem through design thinking.”

The Student Design Competition is another opportunity for school teams to showcase their talents. Teams from fourth grade to post-secondary can register through Dec. 1 at www.bright-spark.org/ design-competitions.