Akron Global Polymer Academy Awards $1,000 to Winners of Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors

Parker Frye, Arts and Leisure division winner, with his invention "LIBERTY: The Sum of Our Parts"

It’s no stretch of the imagination to picture students from across the nation coming together to celebrate creativity, engineering, science, and polymers. This happens every year during the annual Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors.

Tyler Walter, Science and Engineering division winner, with his invention the "Rubber Band Powered Electromagnetic Generator"

Each year the Akron Global Polymer Academy (AGPA) hosts this event, during which students utilize rubber bands, science, math, and innovation to build inventions or create works of art. Students from grades 5-8 can enter their art, games, or useful inventions to win prizes up to $1,000. The event was made possible by the continued support of the Rubber Division, ACS, which has generously sponsored the contest each year since its inception.

Gabriel DeGuire, Arts and Leisure division runner-up, with his invention "Stretching Your Vision"

The AGPA is the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering’s outreach program for kids K-12. The AGPA provides opportunities for teachers and students to experience the world of polymers, such as school visits featuring hands-on demonstrations, family science nights, and field trips. The AGPA makes an effort to connect young students with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) through initiatives like these and the Rubber Band Contest.

Mark Leschinsky, Science and Engineering division runner-up, with his invention "One-Pill-No-Spill Medicine Bottle"

Submissions for the contest were put into one of two divisions. The Arts and Leisure division, which can include games or artwork, allows students to make a statement through art or create a fun pastime while finding creative ways to incorporate the rubber bands. The Science and Engineering division, which is for inventions with a specific utility, exercises the students’ problem solving skills and ingenuity.

The contest’s finalists submitted works of art representing American culture, the impact of social media on body image, and life itself all using rubber bands. Others built tools such as soccer training equipment, music boxes, a tabletop bowling game, and even a Gatling gun. These finalists were chosen from nearly 400 students from 19 different states who signed up for the contest, and their hard work and imagination was truly appreciated by the judges.

The winner of the Arts and Leisure division was “LIBERTY: The Sum of Our Parts” by Michigan seventh grader Parker Frye. His piece was a series of miscellaneous rubber band sculptures which, when placed correctly in front of a light, created a shadow image of the Statue of Liberty. The artwork represented liberty in America being “the sum of our parts… it takes all kinds of people and all kinds of backgrounds and experiences to complete our country.” Frye made sure that the sculptures were made of every color of rubber band that was available to show that while we may all be different, “when the lights go out and the shadow appears, color no longer matters.”

“Unbelievable,” said one of the judges about Parker Frye’s winning Arts and Leisure submission, “lovely art and excellent interpretation. I loved it.”

The runner-up was “Stretching Your Vision” by Missouri eighth grader Gabriel DeGuire. The project was a cube with black and white rubber bands stretched across the frame. The white rubber bands spelled out the word ‘life,’ while the black ones blocked it from being seen at every angle but one. The piece was based on the way that complications in life, represented by black, can cause people to lose sight of the important things, represented by white. The piece had to be observed at a certain angle for ‘life’ to be visible, which is why DeGuire titled it “Stretching Your Vision.”

“Extremely creative and well thought out and designed,” one of the judges said of DeGuire’s piece.

The winner of the Science and Engineering division was Florida sixth grader Tyler Walter with his invention, the "Rubber Band Powered Electromagnetic Generator." Rubber bands were used for their potential energy. When released, the rubber bands would cause magnets to spin, which would in turn cause electromagnetic induction. The process would create enough electricity to illuminate a string of holiday lights. It was a clean and simple way to create a small amount of electricity.

The runner-up in this division was the “One-Pill-No-Spill Medicine Bottle” by New Jersey fifth grader Mark Leschinsky. Leschinsky’s invention, a pill bottle with a rubber band and a plastic sheath to prevent spilling pills, was designed with the intention of making an everyday task simpler for the ten million people across the globe who suffer from Parkinson’s disease. The bottle he invented will keep people with Parkinson’s, such as his grandmother, from struggling to take pills out of a bottle because of hand tremors.

A judge said this of Leschinsky: “I love that Mark worked to solve a problem that his grandma and many other people have. I see a bright future for him as an engineer!”

Future scientists, engineers, and artists are what this contest was built for. This year’s Rubber Band Contest was the ninth hosted by AGPA to teach kids about polymers in a fun and engaging way. Many people don’t know it, but polymers are an important part of the city of Akron. Not only is Akron known as ‘The Rubber City’ because of its rubber polymer industry, but The University of Akron’s College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering was the first- and is now the largest- polymer college in the nation. What better way to introduce kids to the realm of polymer science and polymer engineering than with a friendly competition?

The AGPA hopes that the contest has piqued students’ interest in STEAM as well as helped the kids’ teachers meet their standards in creative and engaging ways. The next generation of engineers and scientists will take the world of polymers by storm, especially with a huge rubber industry and such a large, diverse polymer program here in Akron.

More information about the winners and the contest is available at www.rubberbandcontest.org.