Project Lead the Way Students Showcase their Ingenuity at the 2015 Senior Showcase

2015 PLTW Senior Showcase

KC STEM Alliance hosted the fourth annual Project Lead The Way (PLTW) Senior Showcase on Wednesday, April 15, 2015 at Union Station.  The Showcase celebrated graduating PLTW students and highlighted their senior capstone projects from the Engineering Design and Development (EDD) and Biomedical Innovations (BI) courses.  Robin Schott, PLTW Vice President addressed the group of aspiring engineers and congratulated them on their accomplishments.  Schott said, “With 268 students from 30 area high schools, the Kansas City PLTW Senior Showcase is one of the largest PLTW student events in the country.”

PLTW – Kansas City Engineering Design Competition

Thirty-four student teams submitted projects to compete in the first annual PLTW-Kansas City Engineering Design Competition which was judged on-line.  The top ten teams were recognized at the Senior Showcase and the top three teams were awarded scholarship prizes and awards for their respective schools.  The winning team of Jackson Daniel and Markus Gentry from Blue Springs High School designed the “Zoomy,” a creative new device for storing electrical cords and won a $5000 scholarship from KC STEM Alliance.

KC STEM Innovator Awards

Five additional teams won Innovator Awards during the Showcase.  Teams were identified and recognized for innovativeness and marketability.  Sixteen local entrepreneurs and business leaders served as investor judges and gave “Investor Bucks” to top prospects.  Commerce Bank hosted lunch for students and tallied the “Investor Bucks” to identify the winning projects, which included new inventions and enhancements for cross country runners, guitars, lawnmowers, walkers and snack containers.

Workshop on Entrepreneurship (June 11)

The top fifteen teams are invited to attend an Entrepreneurship Workshop and Product Development and Assessment hosted by mentors from KCSourceLink and the Center for Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development (C.E.E.D.) Following completion of the workshop, top teams will have the opportunity to apply for scholarships to complete the Kauffman FastTrac NewVenture program.

The PLTW Senior Showcase and scholarship awards were made possible with the generous support of KC STEM Alliance sustaining partners.