“I expect we’ll see great things from these three in the coming years.” Zac Fuller, Mentor, FTC 14400 Space Cadets

 

Abigale Haluska

This month, over 250 students – representing over 50 high schools across the state of Indiana – competed in the Innovate WithIN State Competition. Three FIRST Tech Challenge students won first and second place!

Abigale (Abby) Haluska was one of three members on the winning team,  AM Therapeutics, with their invention The Remedy Glove. The remedy glove is a therapy device equipped with vibration, compression, and heating features meant to treat people with arthritis. On Innovate WithIN, the team shared that “after witnessing several friends and family members restrict their own daily activities due to arthritis and the pain that it yields, we felt a strong desire to help individuals with arthritis combat their symptoms with ease and efficiency. Throughout this pitch, AM Therapeutics, a local start-up based out of Hobart, Indiana, aims to illustrate the impact that arthritis has and the need that individuals display. We use this pitch as a means of introducing our newest product: The Remedy Glove. Equipped with vibration, compression, and heating features, The Remedy Glove is a revolutionary form of therapy. Furthermore, The Remedy Glove combines affordability with accessibility, making it the ultimate choice for individuals with arthritis. AM Therapeutics is determined to make a difference by lending others a hand!”

This team received a $10,000 cash prize and $10,000 of in-state college tuition.

Abby is a programmer for the Space Cadets. Mentor, Zac Fuller says Abby always jumped on opportunities to solve problems. “Abby is amazing with her presentation skills and desire to learn new skills. She really enjoyed building and learning how the robot worked.”

 

Jerry Fuller & William Hall

The second place team, Trifecta Sports Solutions, earned a $2,500 prize. The winning students, William Hall and Jerry Fuller, pitched “a safer and more comfortable football helmet“. They said “in high school football, head injuries are one of the most common injuries players face. Our mission is to make high school football safer. We developed an innovation directed towards contact sports, more specifically football. Our goal is to make a helmet that not only is safer but also more comfortable than what is out on the market today.”

Jerry Fuller is a founding member of the Space Cadets. He began on a FIRST LEGO League team in 6th grade, before continuing onto FTC.  He works alongside Abby as a programmer. His father and mentor Zac shared, “Jerry amazes me every day with his ingenuity, drive, and fearlessness of all things tech. Scott Molchan, another mentor of the FTC Team Space Cadets, said “Will was driven to win whether it was for football, robotics completion or the Innovate Within Project.” Zac says that he’s “the best Human Player of the game. When he’s on the field you know he’s there as he’s yelling directions and making sure the drive teams know what’s going on. He’s a great big brother to the younger kids on the team and essential to keeping the robot running smoothly.”

Both mentors are extremely proud of their students’ performances, “These kids are fantastic. Their problem solving skills are out of this world! Abby, Jerry and Will were willing to put in many, many  hours to help us qualify for state completion. We are all super proud of these great kids,” said Scott.

 

Innovate WithIN

“The Innovate WithIN™ pitch competition is a collaboration between Ball State University, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation and the Indiana Department of Education. The need for entrepreneurial education and student empowerment is something that all three partners wanted to address. The challenge was how to engage students and make innovation tangible and fun. From this conversation a “Shark Tank for students” became a reality, and Innovate WithIN™ began in 2018.

Innovate WithIN™ is open to all Indiana high school students, regardless of whether they have completed business education coursework. The program levels the playing field by providing educational videos designed to help students generate ideas, identify opportunities, and craft compelling pitches.” For more information, please visit https://innovatewithin.org/