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An
idea
to
clean
up
cabins
and
lower
the
potential
spread
of
germs
during
air
travel
netted
a
first-place
prize
for
a
team
of
five
BW
students
competing
in
the
2019
SkyHack
Design
Challenge.
The aviation-themed "hackathon," sponsored by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and held at the Kent State College of Aeronautics and Engineering over the Nov. 1-3 weekend, challenged students to come up with "a solution to a challenge or 'pain point' relating to the aviation industry" in one of five categories.
BW's interdisciplinary team, led by computer science major Lucas Shalkhauser '21 and joined by computer science and mathematics major Sydney Leither '21, computer science major Sam Kratsas '21, biology major Jake Cohen '23 and physics and chemistry major Nate Bianco '21, took on the challenge of making air travel healthier for passengers.
Their
innovative
proposal
would
destroy
pathogens
on
tray
tables
and
in-flight
water
using
UV-C
light
delivered
through
a
system
they
named
"SanAir."
The team also included an app for customers to track information about the flight's water and air quality maintenance logs.
Each student worked on a particular area of the challenge and came together for a final, cohesive presentation for the judges.
According to the BW team's faculty advisor, Dr. Paul Penko, proposals were judged on "technical performance, feasibility, innovation and quality of presentation." The first-place win earned the BW team a cool $1,000 prize.
"The experience was amazing," raves Shalkhauser. "The challenge changed the way that I look at and approach different problems and how to find the best solutions."
"We all worked extremely hard with little sleep," he adds. "But in the end, we were all very proud of the work we did, and we had a lot of fun."
