“CITISYNC” was devised by junior Janise Kim and sophomores Arvind Seshan and Prajval Sreenivas.
It tracks the number of people in a specific location and helps determine the safety of public spaces based on social distancing guidelines.
The win was even more striking considering the trio was attending school virtually throughout the collaboration period.
“We didn’t have the opportunity to meet in person for this project,” Kim said. “This made things especially difficult when it came to prototyping physical components or conducting test trials of our product.
“Our team was able to overcome these challenges by effectively delegating tasks and communicating through online platforms.”
The Governor’s STEM Competition challenged 56 teams of high school students from across the state to research, design and present a device or project that would improve the quality of life for Pennsylvanians by helping to solve real-world problems.
The Fox Chapel Area High School team was named the grand champion in the Division 2 category and each received a $2,000 scholarship, a trophy and a medal.
The competition theme was “Improving Pennsylvania Through STEM.”
“CITISYNC” uses camera technology to count people in public spaces, and users are able to access the information through an app.
The system tracks the number of people in a restaurant, store or other public place and alerts people to when the counts increase.
“Our team came up with the idea of developing population-counting software after seeing how many local businesses were struggling with tracking occupancy rates and maintaining proper social distancing guidelines,” Kim said. “We also received inspiration through our personal experiences visiting stores and other public facilities. From a customer’s standpoint, we recognized the lack of transparency when it came to the broadcasting of occupancy-related information to the general public.”
Teams were required to collaborate with a member of their local community on the project.
The Fox Chapel Area team partnered with a research programmer and health experts, and incorporated ideas from local businesses.
“Competition participants have applied their skills in science, technology, engineering and math to solve an array of real-world issues,” Noe Ortega, the state’s Acting Secretary for Education, said in a release.
“I applaud all of the teams for their hard work and resilience, and recognize the educators, parents and caregivers, and community members who supported these students during an unpredictable, challenging year.”
Fox Chapel Area Gifted Education teacher Lisa Gibson said the team was committed to producing a high-quality product and that they hope to mentor new participants for the competition next year.
“I cannot be more proud of Arvind, Janise and Prajval for this accomplishment,” she said.
“They were unaware that the grand prize would be so significant, which makes it even more special.”
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