Ranging from a soothing spa experience to preventing head injuries in sports to advances in wound care, more than 200 students participated in the annual Tech Expo of the Middlesex County Vocational and Technical Schools.
“Every year our students demonstrate their creativity and their innovation in their Tech Expo presentations,” Superintendent of Schools Dianne D. Veilleux said in a prepared statement. “Again, it was a pleasure to see the talent and inspiration that drives our students.”
All five MCVTS campuses participated in the expo under the direction of Sean McDonald, MCVTS director of career and technical education. The presentations were judged by visiting academics and professionals from the community, with trophies going to the best efforts. The 2018 guidelines stressed collaboration, with points awarded for working with other career majors, other schools, or outside organizations.
In East Brunswick, a collaboration between agriscience and building trades majors produced a “green wall” incorporating plants to reduce heating and cooling costs, while dancers worked with computer-assisted drafting and design students to produce a massage tool using a 3D printer, according to the statement.
Engineering students at the Edison Academy worked on coatings and monitors for football helmets to try to prevent concussions.
Biomedical science and allied health students at the Woodbridge Academy devised a phone app to help people to cut down on their consumption of sugary foods.
Receiving trophies were:
- East Brunswick Tech, first place, Performing Arts/Dance and Architecture Technology; second, Agriscience, Cosmetology and Graphic Design; third, Multimedia Art and Design
- East Brunswick Career Development, first, Basic Business Technology and Dry Cleaning; second, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning; third, Building Maintenance
- Edison Academy, first, vending machine app; second, Vertistepper exercise machine; third, artificial intelligence in medicine
- Woodbridge Academy, first, smart sutures; second, A-to-Z meal builder; third, liquid biopsies.
