STEM Sharks Team Advances to National Championships First Team from Louisiana to Advance to Nationals in Past 15 Years
STEM Sharks Team Advances to National Championships
First Team from Louisiana to Advance to Nationals in Past 15 Years
DENHAM SPRINGS, La. – The Denham Springs High School STEM Sharks Enterprise Design Engineering Team has been named a national finalist for the 15th Annual Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition, which recognizes high school initiatives that propose innovative solutions to critical issues in communities.
The Sharks Team was selected for designing a software application and device to educate and bring understanding to residents who have questions and concerns about the carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project proposed for the Lake Maurepas area. Students created an app that will allow residents to get information about CCS, current (simplified) conditions on the lake, 
conditions at a site of their choice, and information on how to contact authorities if a leak is suspected. The app is available for any device.
Team members collaborated with professors at Louisiana State University (LSU) and Southeastern Louisiana University (SLU), as well as Dr. Katherine Romanak, a world-renowned expert on CCS from the University of Texas. They also worked with scientists and analysts with the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources and Client Innovation Center (CIC) of Baton Rouge to develop their project.
“This competition challenges students to catalyze change by applying Problem Based Learning (PBL) principles, STEM disciplines, social impact entrepreneurship and environmental stewardship to addressing some of our society’s most pressing challenges,” said DSHS Biology Teacher and Shark Team Sponsor Mark Zweig.
“I’m very proud of our students for tackling a pressing issue, and for taking the initiative to collaborate with key institutions and their members. Their example shows the initiative Samsung is trying to foster, enabling students to seek novel solutions using STEM to address the many concerns that face our communities.
According to Dr. Romanak, this project model we designed can be used worldwide,” Zweig added.
The Sharks Team will travel to Washington, D.C., April 27-29 as one of only 10 national finalists selected from the 50 state winners in the competition involving thousands of high schools and middle schools across the country. The team is guaranteed a $50,000 award in Samsung technology and classroom supplies, along with paid travel for team members.
Additional winners will be selected at various levels of the competition:
Three teams will be named as winners of the live pitch presentation in Washington, D.C., on April 28, earning them a $100,000 prize package. The other seven teams will receive the guaranteed $50,000 prize package.
Teams can also compete for the Community Choice Winner, which is based on online voting by the general public. Competition organizers have posted a three-minute video of each finalist team, and viewers are encouraged to vote for their preferred team. The competition allows everyone to vote multiple times – once per day for each day through April 20. To vote for the Sharks Team, viewers should click on the school’s name, “Denham Springs High School.” The team with the greatest number of votes will win $10,000 in prizes in addition to their national finalist winnings. The link for the online competition is https://www.samsung.com/us/solvefortomorrow/.
Samsung employees will choose an Employee Choice Winner to receive $10,000 in prizes in addition to their national finalist winnings.
Other prizes awarded in the competition include a $25,000 Rising Entrepreneurship Award and a $25,000 Sustainability Innovation Award to be given to one school among the 50 state winners.
The Sharks Team will present their project to members of the Livingston Parish School Board at their 5 p.m. meeting on April 17.
