Polymer-Focused Outreach Group promotes STE(A)M education in the 11th Edition of the Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors
Paige Alaishuski, Arts and Leisure division winner, with her invention "Rubber Band Guitar"
The Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors is an annual nation-wide competition that challenges young students to design and create an invention or artwork that utilizes at least 1 rubber band in some way.
The contest began in 2008 when the Akron Global Polymer Academy (AGPA) first imagined designing an educational contest that could: create an engaging pathway for teachers to introduce STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) concepts to their students; and that could utilize hands-on learning to highlight polymers and make them more relatable and exciting.
Meg Kojima, Science and Engineering division winner, with her invention "The Rist Rest"
Sponsored by the American Chemical Society’s Rubber Division, the Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors is an annual tradition for AGPA and the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at The University of Akron. Each year hundreds of 5th – 8th graders from across the U.S. enter the contest by submitting photographs of their projects along with written essays and more. The top six highest scoring entries in two separate divisions (Arts & Leisure, Science & Engineering) move on to become finalists and ship their actual projects to Akron, Ohio for a final round of judging. Cash prizes are awarded to the winners, runners-up and remaining finalists, as well as the top eight schools with the most entries.
Over 300 students from 17 different states entered the eleventh annual contest. This year’s contestants submitted a variety of creative solutions including games, artworks, inventions, and engineering projects.
Kailee Pasenow, Arts and Leisure division runner-up, "The Stop Bullying Sign"
Pennsylvania seventh grader Paige Alaishuski was the grand prize winner in the Arts & Leisure division. Her winning entry, the Rubber Band Guitar, is a cheaper musical instrument designed to introduce kids to playing guitar. Paige utilized the unique properties of rubber bands to make her invention work: “The length of the rubber band determines the sound…I used a guitar tuner and stretched the rubber bands until they reached the desired note.” Paige also designed an easy to learn song book for her Rubber Band Guitar.
In the Science & Engineering division, Ohio eighth grader Meg Kojima took home the top prize with her invention The Rist Rest (Ergonomic Wrist Rest for Typing to Prevent Carpal Tunnel Syndrome). Meg described her winning project as “a comfortable keyboard pad with elastic cushion, that promotes—and trains a person—to type in ergonomic arm/hand position.” The Rist Rest was designed to be easy-to-make using simple parts from your home and hardware store. Meg even made a video, which includes DIY instructions.
Mark Leschinsky, Science and Engineering division runner-up, with his invention "The Fire Eye"
Kailee Pasenow, a sixth-grade student from Ohio, was this year’s Arts & Leisure runner-up. She created a work of art called The Stop Bullying Sign—an abstract piece that draws attention to an important issue. Pasenow says that “the main purpose of my artwork is to remind kids to be respectful to their peers and to stop bullying…the statistics show that bullying happens to more kids than you realize.” Kailee’s art juxtaposed a background of negative words with a beautiful image of hands coming together and the statement “It Only Takes One”. “This artwork can remind kids to not be afraid to stand up for kids who are being bullied and we can all make a change in the world.”
New Jersey seventh grader Mark Leschinsky finished as the runner-up in the Science & Engineering division with his invention The Fire Eye, a device designed “to protect people from entering a room in the house with a fire inside.” As Leschinsky explained, “The device just hangs on the door handle and remains quiet unless there is a fire. If the adjacent room on the other side of the door handle is on fire, the bigger rubber band burns on that other side of the door, releasing the tension on the smaller rubber band and allowing it to compress the button—then the alarm sounds.”
The first-place winner in each division received $600, the runners-up from each division received $300, and the four remaining finalists in each division received $150. Additionally, the top eight schools with the most entries received a $200 donation. Visit the official contest website to view all of the finalists’ entries and see a list of the top eight schools: rubberbandcontest.org
Thank you to the Rubber Division, ACS for their generous, continued support of this contest!
The AGPA is the K-12 outreach division of the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at The University of Akron and focuses on providing opportunities for teachers and students of all ages to experience the exciting world of polymers.