OAK HILL, WV (WOAY) – “It still hasn’t quite registered.”
Aubrey Sparks is still in shock. He and fellow Fayette Institute of Technology Pre-Engineering student Emily Griffith made it all the way to nationals in a competition for engineering students for their work on this prototype.
“Seeing something that I started out as a drawing and 3-D modeled and then you see it in real life,” Griffith said. “[That it] got so far into a competition was just really astounding to me.”
The goal for the prototype is to help animals and humans improve their sleep cycles.
“There was an SAT question that talked about it a whole lot,” Sparks said. “And I’m like, ‘ok, I can work with that.'”
Even though Aubrey and Emily’s team finished ninth nationally last year, they’re going to look to make some improvements for the project for this year and re-enter it in the contest. Aubrey and Emily aren’t the only Fayette Institute of Technology students getting national recognition.
“I went on to compete in nationals virtually and finished seventh,” said Brooklyn Bowles.
Brooklyn and Jackie Cline also won at the state level for Community Service. Brooklyn dressed up as a bear to read to younger students…
“Due to COVID, they didn’t get their normal fall parade,” Bowles said.
And Jackie wrote a children’s book about the relationship between a service dog and a disabled girl.
“Eventually, Max was his name, he learned to be well-behaved and learned how to help her,” Cline said.
All four students are competing again this year, hoping to finish even higher.
