Arrow Electronics honored eighth-grader Aryan Mangal with its 2020 Innovation in Electronics Award at the fifth annual Invention Convention U.S. Nationals. Held virtually, the competition showcased nearly 500 K-12 inventors and entrepreneurs from around the country.
Invention Convention Worldwide is a global K-12 invention education curricular program mapped to national and state educational standards. The program teaches students problem-identification, problem-solving, entrepreneurship and creativity skills and builds confidence in invention, innovation and entrepreneurship for life.
To participate, students are required to submit a video presentation of their invention, a prototype, an inventor’s logbook showing the journey of their invention process and a poster board highlighting key points of the invention process.
“While many things have been disrupted due to the pandemic, innovation and invention continue and are needed now more than ever,” said Patricia Mooradian, president and CEO, The Henry Ford, which hosts the Invention Convention. “We need to move forward, to create, to problem-solve and, with programs like Invention Convention, we are seeing our young people, our young innovators and inventors, leading the way.”
Mangal’s invention, Artemis: An App for Abuse Prevention by Analyzing Sound through Machine Learning, evaluated sound samples to detect patterns that could potentially determine and deter bullying. Mangal continuously scanned incoming sound using a battery-powered tiny edge device. When profanity or threatening language was detected, a red LED light on the device would start blinking and recording the language, which in a real-life application could be sent to school officials or other authorities.
“It’s crucial to support young innovators as they explore and navigate technology to solve problems,” said Joe Verrengia, Arrow’s corporate social responsibility director. “Aryan is applying some of technology’s latest capabilities such as machine learning and wearable miniaturization to address school bullying in a creative, unobtrusive way.”
The Arrow Innovation in Electronics Award is part of the company’s Innovation in Technology awards, which honor the world’s brightest student innovators and emerging technologies, transforming ideas into real and influential achievements that will help people and the communities in which Arrow works.
Competitors participating in the Invention Convention U.S. Nationals were selected from more than 120,000 K-12 inventors who first highlighted their inventions at local affiliate events across the United States.
For more information visit https://inventionconvention.org