Congratulations!

Claudia Cooper and Samantha Tarnopol, two 7th grade students from West Hills Middle School in West Bloomfield, MI, were recently announced as National winners in the 2011 Toshiba/National Science Teachers Association (NTSA) ExploraVision Awards, the world's largest K-12 student science and technology competition. 

The girls went to Washington, DC to meet with Congressional representatives, receive a $5,000 Savings Bond each, and meet Bill Nye the Science Guy, the spokesperson for the competition.

The 19th annual ExploraVision Awards encouraged future scientists and inventors from Kindergarten to 12th grade to envision new technologies that could make the future more environmentally-friendly, healthier and safer.  It also encourages education in vital STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields. 

Claudia Cooper and Samantha Tarnopol received a second place in the 7th-9th grade category for their project, I-TBS: Intra-trachea Breathing System, a futuristic disc-shaped device that would be surgically implanted and help restore normal breathing for the nearly ten million Americans suffering from respiratory insufficiency. The device would filter, compress and concentrate ambient air to provide patients with supplemental oxygen and help eliminate the need for cumbersome oxygen tanks.

Congratulations on this wonderful accomplishment!