Middle School Students Win $2000 in 'World Series of Innovation' for Smart Phone Application

Information provided by Pleasanton Unified School District—

Two Harvest Park Middle School students, Shreyas Krishnaswamy and Nishanth Narayan, were selected as the Global Champions in the Game Design category of the World Series of Innovation contest sponsored by Microsoft.

Both Shreyas and Nishanth are students in Mr. Murphy's Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Engineering/Technology class.  They designed the winning smart phone app called the “The Missing 118” to help students learn the basics of chemistry in an engaging game-like environment.

"Both Shreyas and Nishanth did a great job following the technical design process for the project that included brainstorming, user process flows and screen shots, “ said Don Murphy, the students PLTW/Technology teacher.  “Their effort was evident in the quality of the final product. In addition, they did a great job at articulating the value of their idea in writing for the contest judges."

See more about their idea on the “meet the winners” page of the contest:  http://innovation.nfte.com/challenge/entry/the-missing-118

The 2013 World Series of Innovation contest generated submissions from students in nine countries leading up to Global Entrepreneurship Week!

 “We are extremely proud of Shreyas and Nishanth for being innovative, working together and communicating the value of their design to others globally,” said Superintendent Parvin Ahmadi.  “These are all skills that will be required of these students as they attend college and join the workforce. I would also like to applaud Mr. Murphy and Harvest Park for creating a learning environment that encourages and supports this kind of innovation and creativity.”

For their efforts, the students won prizes that included $2000 in cash awards for themselves, a Microsoft suite of software and a mobile device. The school receives $500 for the classroom. There is also the possibility that the students may have the opportunity to work directly with Microsoft developers to productize their innovation.