Downey students invent innovative space suit, win national prize

DOWNEY – The Downey Space Innovators, a team of engineering students from Downey High School, came home world champions after competing against student teams from around the globe in the Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge. 

Traveling to the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, at the end of April, the Downey Space Innovators competed in the category of Aerospace and Aviation against teams from as far as Australia, Canada, China, India, Nigeria and Thailand. 

This team, advised by Downey High engineering teacher Glenn Yamasaki, consists of five Vikings: Michelle Kim, Earldrene Dubongco, Akhil Sharma, Christian Echeveste and Evan Saracay.

The Conrad Spirit of Innovation Challenge was founded by Nancy Conrad in honor of her late husband, astronaut, innovator and entrepreneur Charles “Pete” Conrad, Jr. The Conrad Challenge is an annual, multi-phase innovation and entrepreneurial competition that challenges students in four areas: Aerospace and Aviation, Cyber Technology and Security, Energy and Environment, and Health and Nutrition.  

Participants work together in teams of two to five members to develop solutions to some of the world’s most complex problems in one of the four categories.

The Aerospace and Aviation category area describes the human effort in science, engineering and business to fly in the Earth’s atmosphere and surrounding space. Aerospace organizations research, design, manufacture, operate, or maintain aircraft and/or spacecraft. The Downey Space Innovators did just this and presented an innovative space suit design, named the ZeroMAG. 

This space suit was designed and intended to help astronauts combat muscle atrophy during long missions in space. Pitching to a panel of industry experts, the team came away as world champions for their innovative design and presentation.

The Conrad Spirit of Innovation Program engages students in all 50 states and over 72 countries, reaching in excess of 100,000 students and more than 450 schools worldwide.  This program supports the conceptualization of more than 350 new products and innovations. Currently, more than 20 percent of conceptualized products and innovations are in development.

“Conrad Challenge teams learn they can make a difference in their world through innovation and entrepreneurship while applying science, technology, engineering, math, leadership, collaboration, creative thinking, critical thinking and problem solving,” organizers said. 

“Teams compete for the opportunity to be recognized as Pete Conrad Scholars in addition to possible awards from sponsors that may include funding grants, investment opportunities, patent support, business services and scholarships to support the growth of their solutions into a real business.”